Saturday, March 19, 2016

What Kind Of Idiot Teacher Does This?

I've shown questionable videos in class before.  For example, yesterday--the last day of school before spring break--towards the end of one of my classes, we were done with instruction but I didn't want the class to start loitering near the door and get loud.  They respond to music, even my 80s music, and somehow we got on the topic of Billy Idol.  I showed a Billy Idol video--and part of it had Billy in the shower washing coloring off of his face.  Nothing below his chest was shown, but it was a little awkward when I'm projecting a large image of Billy in the shower.  Fortunately the bell rang rather soon after that.

I actually hadn't seen the video before, I just knew and liked the song, so mine was an unintentional mistake.  This teacher's mistake was intentional:
A Bronx middle-school teacher rattled her students — including one who was near tears — by showing an ISIS video of a terrorist beheading a journalist, documents show.

South Bronx Academy for Applied Media veteran Alexiss Nazario faced termination, but was let off with a $300 fine last summer after acknowledging she made a mistake by not previewing the clip or getting the principal’s permission...

The students testified that the video blacked out the actual beheading but showed its gruesome aftermath: the man’s severed head placed on top of his own chest.

1 comment:

Ellen K said...

I don't know what planet you have to be on to think this is appropriate, but I know I don't want to go there.