Parents Irate Over 'Passion' In School
6th-Graders Offered Counseling After Film
By Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 5, 2004; Page B01
As a teacher showed sixth-graders at the District's Malcolm X Elementary School parts of the movie "The Passion of the Christ," 11-year-old Cutairra Ransom was growing upset by the violence unfolding in front of her.
"I saw Jesus getting beaten," Cutairra said yesterday. "Needles were going in his arms. It was scary the way they was beating him."
She added: "It made me feel really bad, terrible."
After about 15 minutes of watching the R-rated film about the final hours of Jesus's life, Cutairra said she walked out of the room.
She was one of the 16 to 20 students who were shown the movie Tuesday at the public school, which is in the Congress Park neighborhood of Southeast Washington. D.C. school officials, who said sixth-graders should not be shown R-rated movies at school, have placed the teacher, Ronald Anthony, on leave with pay pending an investigation.
Among the issues that school system investigators say they are looking into is how Anthony obtained a copy of the movie, which has not been released on videotape or DVD.
The school's principal, Vaughn C. Kimbrough, said that he was dismayed by Anthony's behavior and that counseling would be provided for students who were disturbed by the film.
"You don't show the rated-R, you don't show the religious," Kimbrough said. "He knows that. . . . It was just inappropriate for him to show that."
Anthony could not be reached for comment. He has taught at the 540-student school for five years, Kimbrough said.
Kimbrough said he believes Anthony showed 60 to 90 minutes of the two-hour film. He said the teacher told him that he presented excerpts corresponding to information the students had read in a social studies book.
The principal said that he was not told in advance of Anthony's plans and that he does not believe the teacher notified parents.
Students said the movie was shown on a TV screen in a classroom and seen by Anthony's class and a few students from two other sixth-grade classes. Kimbrough said he was not sure why students from other classes were allowed to watch.
"We didn't know what it was about," said Cutairra, who is not in Anthony's class. "We just came over to see."
The Mel Gibson movie, which includes scenes of blood-drenched torture, has sparked intense interest among religious audiences, especially evangelical Christians, who have been identified by Gibson as his core audience. Some Jewish leaders have expressed concern that the portrayal of Jewish characters in the film will stoke anti-Semitism.
Parents of Malcolm X students had differing opinions yesterday about the teacher's actions.
Cutairra's mother, Devona White, said she was outraged.
"My whole thing was this: I just didn't like the fact that the parents were not asked," White said. "I feel as a parent I should have had first choice. No one knows what effect that can have on children -- nightmares or something."
White said she and her fiance had planned to see the movie this weekend and then decide whether it was appropriate for her children to watch.
Another parent, Renee Wade, said she was offended even though her daughter is in pre-kindergarten and was not shown the film. "I was appalled," Wade said. "It's nothing for a child to see."
But some other parents said they saw nothing wrong with the teacher showing the movie.
Jameal Clark, who has a 4-year-old daughter at Malcolm X, said the movie is no more violent than other films and the real-life drama students are exposed to.
"Children today are numb to violence," Clark said. "More brutal things happen out here on an everyday basis. Last Friday, someone was shot around the corner."
Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report. |
