Posted on 06/23/2007 4:01:45 AM PDT by lowbridge
PEEKSKILL, N.Y. (AP) - He doesn't want to be an ogre about it, but the father of a fifth-grader thinks teachers are wasting time when they show movies in class - and if the film is a bootleg, he says, ''That's a really terrible lesson.''
Tim Trewhella, 46, said his 10-year-old daughter reported that her class watched the animated movie ''Shrek the Third'' on Tuesday and recognized it as the fairy-tale hit still showing in theaters.
''A friend hooked me up with it,'' teacher Lovell Quiroz said, according to the girl.
Peekskill schools Superintendent Judith Johnson issued a statement saying administrative approval is required before a video is shown in elementary school and ''if a pirated video was shown it is in violation of district policy.'' An investigation was under way, the statement said.
An attempt to meet with Quiroz at the school was foiled by a security guard who ordered a reporter off school property.
The Motion Picture Association of America says major American movie studios lost $6.1 billion to piracy in 2005, 20 percent of that in the U.S.
''I don't want to see the guy hung for this,'' Trewhella said. ''I would just like him to apologize.''
Trewhella also says that what really bothers him is how often teachers show non-educational videos in class, bootleg or not.
''I run a candy and toy store,'' said Trewhella. ''I completely understand about entertaining kids. But it has its time and place.''
He said going public ''might be making this unpleasant for the school district. But as a taxpayer and a parent, I don't want my dollars going for movies. It's the teacher's job to make the educational stuff interesting.''
I know what you mean. If I had my way I would show up to work around noon. Then I would bail for lunch, come back around 1500 (3:00 pm), surf the net for about an hour and punch out of there at about 16:00 - 17:00 (4 - 5 pm).
Doesn’t real life suck?
See my post #59
It’s not the movie watching...it’s the movie stealing...by an adult who’s supposed to know better than to teach young minds that it’s okay to do so.
That's exactly what it is. 'An Inconvient Truth' Kids version. One of those movies that had me going, 'if I want to go somewhere to get preached at for two hours, I'll go to church.'
Where did YOU read it was an end-of-year event? Are you actually searching for (okay) excuses for this teacher’s behavior?
America was founded on personal responsibilities...we all have a responsibility to do the right thing and tell temptation to do wrong to take a hike.
I agree. It was the movie on a flight home for me. What a crock. I actually spoke out loud at certain points, too.
I used the word “if” this was and end-of-year treat. I see nothing wrong with purchasing a video to use in the classroom for that purpose. I am not an ogre after all. LOL Folks need to lighten up.
Stealing a bootleg copy would be wrong, no doubt at all. The whole issue of downloading movies and music reeks of the same issues as illegal immigration. Since you can’t police it just make it legal. I buy my movies, unless I rent them. I don’t steal, and I do not defend those that do.
I teach my kids that the govt is ass backwards, that Govt says that making copies is stealing and punishable, but that murdering babies is just fine.
You teach your kids the gubmint is always wrong and that these two things are related?
I am not a teacher. When I grew up nothing was better than a field trip and a picnic at the end of the school year. We usually did both. I stand by my remark that I see nothing wrong with a legally purchased appropriate video being shown in a classroom for an end-of-year treat. Kids are kids, let them have some fun.
Whats more, they didnt pay me to go to school! :-)
1. The teacher shows a film to young students for which he does not have permission.
2. It is a pirated copy that he got from a friend “who hooked him up”.
3. It was Shrek.
Why is this guy still teaching?
I think film can be an important part of the school curriculum, but real professional instructors would put planning and thought into choosing a film that could enlighten, inspire, and broaden and select afilm that is not as easily accessible as a Shrek film. This clown belongs in the cafeteria where could make decisions such as should I give them hamburgers on Monday and pizza on Tuesday or pizza on Monday and hamburgers on Tuesday.
A teacher who showed kids a bootleg movie.
From that I gained: The teacher was wrong to show a stolen copy of a movie.
From that you gained: The teacher could have been treating the kids to an end-of-year event.
Do you see the difference? I'm not an ogre either. I just think I see the facts, and you see speculation.
Teacher's Union?
Yep. Could have. I heard some nice things about this movie...cute...great animation. We have a video production company, and I wanted to see them. Once I saw the obvious agenda being put on the screen, I am getting pretty sick of being so P.C. about life...thus, my reaction. -—Don’t worry...I wasn’t too loud ;-)
Hmmm.....sounds like they've got extra time to me.
I was commenting on that portion of your post. The comments you posted had nothing to do with a bootlegged copy of a movie. Follow our dialogue back and you will find it.
Great education for the children! Anyone else remember all the flickering 16 mm films we endured at school in days past: SCIENCE, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY? time for the kids to learn something in school. Besides, the kids probably already saw the bootleg of Shrek on the net.
I suppose you could. But that's not the only famous kiddie movie in the movie houses. A good teacher could even have made a lesson out of this, by asking the students afterwards to consider and discuss about plot, dramatic moments, characters. Such a treatment might have made a second viewing of the film into an educational experience.
The really unredeemable thing here was for the teacher to do something (bootleg a copy) that had a student giggling "my teacher committed a crime."
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