Teacher Faces Discipline for Showing Students R-Rated Film
by Jim Brown
October 22, 2004
(AgapePress) - A public school English teacher in Tennessee has been suspended without pay for showing clips from Michael Moore's controversial film, Fahrenheit 9/11, in her class. The educator broke school policy by having her students view portions of the R-rated movie in class, and she angered many parents in the process.During dinner table conversation, Cindy Stewart heard her stepson comment that filmmaker Michael Moore was an "idiot." After asking the youth why he said that, she learned he had watched Fahrenheit 9/11 along with his class at Knoxville's Central High School. The movie, which criticizes President Bush's response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is rated R for violent and disturbing images and for adult language.
According to the school system's own guidelines for showing videos, R-rated films are "under no circumstance" allowed. So, after learning that her stepson had been forced to view segments of the restricted political documentary, Stewart contacted Central High School's assistant principal to voice her concerns. She says she has yet to hear back from anyone at the school and is somewhat dismayed by the apparent nonchalance of the administration.
"I was very surprised at the principal," the Tennessee parent says. "When the media first contacted him about this, his basic response to them was, 'Look, it's homecoming night, and I'm not going to deal with this right now.' And so I wasn't very happy about that. He since then has come back and made some comments."
Meanwhile, Suzanne Miller, the English instructor who decided to show the film to the students without gaining parental or administrative consent, has been suspended with pay. Next week the school will decide whether the high school teacher will face further disciplinary action. Miller has made controversial choices as an educator before, and only last year received a two-month suspension.
Although upset by what occurred, Stewart insists she does not necessarily want to see her stepson's teacher lose her job at Central High School. She says Miller should not be fired, even though the school administrators apparently have a loose cannon on their hands.
"I just don't want it to happen again," the Knoxville-area mom says, "but she's made some poor decisions in the past on other issues, and I feel like she really needs to be held accountable for this." Although she asserts Miller has made "some very poor judgment calls here," Stewarts says she intends to trust and support whatever decision the school administrators make.
Once the school has completed its investigation, Central High's principal will recommend to Superintendent Charles Lindsey whether Suzanne Miller should be penalized. A school district spokesman says the possible outcomes range from no disciplinary action being taken to the teacher being dismissed.
