Alexiss Nazario, a middle school teacher in New York City, was fined for showing students a video of an ISIS beheading. The video was shown to students at the South Bronx Academy for Applied Media. It is reported that the actual beheading was blacked out, though students said that the severed head could be seen later in the video clip. Her defense: She accidentally played the wrong video clip.
While the Department of Education wanted Nazario fired, the arbitrator in the case ruled in favor of a $300 fine. She is now a roving substitute in the district.
Say what? A fine? You have to be kidding me.
As a former teacher, I have a few thoughts.
- How could you not verify the clip? I am pretty sure this was pulled from the Internet and streamed through her computer or some other device. She could have easily watched the clip prior to pushing play for the class to view it.
- How was a video of a beheading relevant to the curriculum? When I taught, I had to align my classroom activities with the state-mandated objectives, and I find it hard to conceive of any objective that would align with this type of video.
- Was parent permission given prior to this video being shown? This is common sense. I would sent home a parental permission slip for a movie that was rated G just to make sure parents and guardians were aware of what we were watching in the classroom.
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