A high school government and law teacher in Eureka, Illinois, is coming under fire for showing his students three segments of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." Rhett Felix, a first-year teacher at Eureka High School, reportedly showed segments that made fun of Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain and allegations of his sexual harassment. The segments, from the October 31 and November 2 episodes, feature Stewart making multiple sexual euphemisms about Cain's pizza chain. Cain served as the chairman and CEO of Godfather Pizza from 1986 to 1996. When parents were made aware of what their kids had seen in the classroom, they started complaining about bleeped obscenities and sexual content being shown in the classroom as well as the teacher's perceived liberal bias. Monday night, the Eureka-based District 140 school board held a two-hour executive session to discuss the complaints against Felix. Even Eureka Mayor Scott Punke criticized how the situation was handled, advocating for Felix to be suspended pending an investigation. One of the parents, Thomas Enterline, called the content of the videos "deplorable" and said he "didn't find any humor in what he saw." School Superintendent Randy Crump suspended Felix on Tuesday and announced that he would be given a new teaching assignment upon his return to the classroom. Felix, who is on paid leave, is expected to return to the classroom November 28.I think the penalty is a bit harsh, especially for a rookie teacher. The appropriate penalty is a stern talking to, at least the first time.
Education, politics, and anything else that catches my attention.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Teacher Suspended For Showing Jon Stewart Clips
Here's what happened:
"they started complaining about bleeped obscenities"
ReplyDeleteI am always amazed whenever I visit Ireland (well technically Northern Ireland, so it's UK television) and I am exposed to their much more lax standards about what is obscene on TV. Meanwhile in America, parents complain about their high school kids (who I am certain NEVER swear or ever use remotely foul language) hearing obscenities THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN BLEEPED THE *bleep* OUT! These kinds of people make me want to never have kids; having kids would probably mean spending time around other parents and if this is how parents these days are acting, then no thank you. Unless of course I have it wrong and they were complaining that those words should never have been bleeped and that such FCC regulations are just more big government intrusions into daily life. Somehow I think not.
I saw both shows referenced. It was tame. And, for the most part . . .despite the fact that Jon Stewart is clearly a liberal, he's also fair, and funny. His show is a great way to get people to care about politics. He also doesn't make any bones about his bias, so it's out in the open. Were I teaching government? I'd use clips from his show in a heart beat.
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