A couple of recent happenings spurred this topic. Curious what you guys think.

#1- http://www.khou.com/news/local/galveston/s...y.6f97d768.html
A teacher in a Clear Creek ISD high school showed Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" to her class. I heard this on the radio and one of the parents had called in, she said it was explained to her that the relevance of the movie to the ALGEBRA class it was shown in was the "charts & graphs" depicted in the movie. Pretty friggin pathetic if you ask me. There's no excuse for this kind of crap, and nothing to gain by it.

#2- http://www.kentucky.com/476/story/68870.html
A substitute teacher showed Brokeback Mountain to an 8th grade class.

All I got to say is.. WTF

Reason number 5 million why I would never send my child to a public school

So they won't learn social skills and will effectively be socially retarded?

I dont know if you are aware of this, but there are private schools out there too. I went to one my whole life until Tech and Im not socially retarded.

debateable.....

#1 - IF only clips of the video were shown and not the entire video, then yes, there is something to gain from it in a mathematical sense. Bravo to the teacher for trying to come up with something different to teach what is frequently considered the most difficult subject in high school. I realize it's been a while since you've been in a high school environment, but try and think back to how excessively boring it was.

#2 - Never seen the movie myself, so I can't comment. What kind of class was it in? When I was in 8th grade, my history teacher showed us Dances with Wolves when we got to the American Indian unit. I ended up having him as a history teacher again in the 11th grade and he showed us some other movie about man-eating lions in Africa with, I think, Val Kilmer.

Brokeback Mountain has a homosexual love scene...or so im told. I want to see it, but havent gotten around to it.

*edit* "it" being the movie...not homosexuals bumping uglies

my social skills would kick your social skill's ass any day

James (jessica stuck a damn post in between)
So you really believe that showing Al Gore's politically controversial movie with graphs was the teacher wanting to teach Algebra and not sway the kids views in that way? The article shows the district's policies the teacher violated:

And as far as brokeback mountain, never seen it myself either, but it is a rated R movie centered around homosexuals. I would be pretty outraged if this was shown to my kid in 8th grade with no consent, by a substitute teacher no less.

quit your bitchin, boy

who you callin "boy"

i was playin super mario before you were born lil girl

Brokeback mountain doesn't have too much guy on guy action (a tent scene which was a 'use your imagination about what happened' and a scene where the two made out for a little while so the wife of one of them could catch their homoness). And I don't remember any male nudity, though I do remember some female nudity. It is a rated R movie for good reason and should not have been shown in school. Though there are worse crimes and I really don't think the sub should lose her subbing priviledges.

You're mad, Impala, about Gore's movie because it shows a view you don't agree with. Well, now you know how Athiests and other Non-Christians feel when church organizations invade our schools to try to persuade them to follow their silly and most definitely incorrect beliefs. I agree, however, school is no place for politics nor religion (politics part 2). But since these rules are not clearly defined about what can and cannot be shown in schools, I do not think the teacher should lose his job. He should just get a warning (slap on the wrist). We're already having a problem keeping math teachers.

I think you need to worry about getting a girlfriend first before you throw in these hypothetical situations where you have a kid.

Do you really believe that a teacher can go a career without expressing their political beliefs in class? Whether it be on purpose or by mistake, it will happen. That district policy is a little confusing. Seems like it is written as someone's interpretation because it covers a wide range of topics, but I will address each one:

Teachers are not supposed to use the classroom to transmit personal or political beliefs: impossible. Teachers have to transmit personal beliefs at some point or they will be nothing more than mindless drones to their students.

Both sides of controversial subjects are supposed to be discussed: Prove that the teacher discussed the content of the video from a perspective other than mathematically. Then prove that the teacher didn't follow up with a video from the other side. Good luck with that one. Keep in mind that the only witnesses to the incident are the teacher and the students. Everything else is second-hand knowledge. Given a child's penchant for exaggeration, I don't see how you can rely on their statements as being completely factual.

Movies should have educational purposes only: I addressed this in my initial post. Furthermore, defining "educational purposes" is no easy task as there are many different teaching philosophies. None of the philosophies are wrong if they get results.

Parents must give consent for any movie rated PG, PG-13, or R: Wow, this rule bothers me as a potential future teacher. Obviously, I would never show an R-rated movie to my students, but there are PG movies that I was shown, Stand and Deliver for instance, that I don't feel should warrant permission slips from the parents. I suppose it is always a possibility that the teacher acquired a general permission statement from the parents at the beginning of the year. I would certainly do so to waive the PG and PG-13 requirement. Also, in almost every other country, that movie was rated G.

Given that information on Brokeback Mountain, it probably shouldn't have been shown unless it is considered to be historically accurate and then it should be properly censored to exclude any sex scenes.

even after saying "what happens in this class stays in this class" before showing the movie?


I knew one of you losers would say this. It has nothing to do with which movie it was. Nobody here can honestly say that that movie comes to mind when teaching algebra to high school freshmen. No more than having the kids listen to Rush Limbaugh would help teach geometry.


hmm... which "church organizations" have invaded our schools?


There most definitely were clearly defined rules from this teacher's district, I posted them and you obviously didn't read them. I never said the teacher should lose their job, but disciplined for sure.

I pay taxes too, I have every right to voice my opinions on how schools are run.