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To: Neeka who wrote (44630)	5/15/2004 5:18:05 PM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793698

Teacher Shows Students Clip Leading Up To Beheading Parents Are Angry At Teacher For Showing Clip POSTED: 6:50 pm PDT May 14, 2004 UPDATED: 10:41 pm PDT May 14, 2004 SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A San Jose schoolteacher is under fire for showing eighth-graders a clip of the moments leading up to the beheading of an American hostage by Iraqi militants. Parents are outraged that Gary Giauraud showed his eighth-grade social studies class the video clip. The controversial lesson in war has Piedmont Middle School in San Jose taking a long look at how Giauraud teaches his history class. Some students in Giauraud's class told their parents they saw the actual beheading of Nicholas Berg. However, it turned out it wasn't the actual decapitation that was shown. But what the teacher did show is still raising a lot of questions in the Berryessa community, NBC11's Damian Trujillo reported. Interim Superintendent Jack Owens showed NBC11 the video that Giauraud showed his students. It's a network news clip that runs 14 seconds. It shows the knife-wielding moments before the extremists decapitated Berg, Trujillo reported. "My personal preference as a parent, and as an educator, is I don't think this is necessarily appropriate for eighth-graders. I would prefer it not be seen. I would prefer not to see it," Owens said. Giauraud has turned down NBC11's requests for an interview. The district says it's a personnel matter, and therefore, it won't comment. Administrators sent a letter home to parents who thought the children had seen the decapitation. The letter reads: "The clip aired does not include these graphic details." Some parents had an opportunity to view the video that was shown to their children. "Oh, I don't think that's for schoolchildren to see -- even 13 (year olds). I really don't," said parent Irene Taylor. "I wouldn't want my child to see that in school if I didn't know about it. It's violent, you know, and I want to control that," said parent Janelle Walsh. However, one parent, who wouldn't speak on camera, feels maybe it's a good thing for her son to see the real face of war. "For my son, I think he could handle it. And I would like him to see sort of the horrible things that happen during war," the parent said. Owens says his district will look more closely at its curriculum to see what teachers should or shouldn't be showing their students. "This is an area we're going to have to explore as a staff," he said. "As a district, we're going to have to explore how we treat this kind of information and how we share it with our students." The school board is also taking a close look at how Giauraud handled a classroom lesson on life and war. Owens says this is also a sensitive matter because it raises the issue of academic freedom and the rights of the teachers. Meanwhile, a school district in San Diego is dealing with a similar issue. The superintendent of the Grossmont Union High School District removed two teachers from class after students reported seeing the actual beheading. Students from one class say a teacher showed them still photos from a Web site, while playing the audio portion. Another student says his teacher showed the entire decapitation video during a photographic arts class. "We absolutely think that this is inappropriate, out of line and unacceptable," said Terry Ryan, the high school district superintendent. The district is offering counseling to students who may have seen the video. "(Even) if you're not there in person to see it, through film in a classroom can be very traumatic to the kids," said psychiatrist Dr. Michael Lardon. Sign Up For Breaking News E-mail Alerts Copyright 2004 by NBC11.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

To: Neeka who wrote (44630)	5/15/2004 8:14:46 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 793698

I saw some of the students interviewed. They said they thought it was appropriate because it was important to understand why we were there. They couldn't understand why everyone was making such a fuss over it. I was impressed with the level of maturity these students conveyed in their responses. Yes it was on Fox, so I suppose that means they found the few students who felt that way & only showed their POV.