By Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 5, 2006
Last fall, educators in Montgomery County announced a new regulation that effectively bans high school teachers from showing R-rated movies such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" in classes. In middle schools, teachers no longer can show movies rated PG-13 to help illustrate pieces of literature or historical events.
But after complaints from teachers, students and parents, Maryland's largest school system formed a 33-member working group in January to revisit the decision to use Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings as a guide for what is appropriate to show students.
Betsy Brown, director of the department of curriculum and instruction, said the group is examining ways the policy might be altered to address some of the concerns raised. Among the ideas being discussed: allowing teachers to show the movies as long as parents have signed consent forms, or allowing clips of R-rated movies to be shown -- similar to a policy in Fairfax County public schools. An R rating by MPAA requires those younger than 17 to have a parent or guardian accompany them to the movie.
Some might question why teenagers should be able to see films in school that they wouldn't be able to see on their own in a theater, but educators say such movies -- viewed in a classroom with proper supervision -- can be important teaching tools.
For example, at Quince Orchard High School, teachers might use films to complement certain novels, such as "Lord of the Flies," said Barbara Blum, head of the school's English Department.
"Sometimes it's just interesting for students to see the different interpretations," she said, adding that clips of films can spark discussions about less concrete concepts such as tone and character in novels.
Hilary Gates, an English teacher at Walter Johnson High School, added that students "will come in and say, 'I can't tell you how much more vivid this book is to me. It comes to life so much more when I read it having seen the film.'
"We understand people are concerned and that there are teachers who might be showing inappropriate material," she said, "but our professional judgment is being overruled by the county."
The National Council of Teachers of English, which endorses the use of film in English classrooms, said individual movies should be evaluated on their educational value.
"MPAA ratings are not ratings of education value," said Millie Davis, spokeswoman for the council, which tracks the issue. "They don't claim they are, and so for a school district to use them as if they are, is using them in a way that they're not intended to be used."
The ban took many teachers by surprise. It was approved by senior staff members at the school system's central office in the fall, but because the change was a regulation and not a policy, it did not require action by the Board of Education.
Brown said the change was not prompted by any parent complaints. Rather, officials were looking to offer teachers more uniform guidelines for how they use movies in the classroom.
Alona Gutman, a senior at Richard Montgomery High School, said the ban doesn't make sense, particularly because at her school, parents sign consent forms giving permission for students to view the films.
"I've read articles that say it shouldn't be necessary to show films, but it is necessary," she said, arguing that movies help bring the material alive for students.
Her mother, Gayl Selkin-Gutman, said she was stunned when she heard about the ban.
"In Montgomery County, could they really be pulling movies off shelves?" she recalled asking herself, when she first heard the news. "I really thought I was going to get to the bottom of this, and it was going to be a joke. As a forward-thinking person, I find this to be a backward policy."
The regulation has forced many teachers to alter lesson plans. Gates said the ban means she can't show clips from "Apocalypse Now" to complement a unit on Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." Another high school teacher ended up substituting Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" with Disney's "Hercules."
"There is no gray area," Gates said. "What's really frustrating is that first of all, legally, there are plenty of classes that have all 17-year-old or older students."
Blum said that looking only at the film's rating is not the best way to make judgments about its appropriateness for the classroom.
"I feel very strongly that each film should be judged on its own merits," she said.
Parents and teachers remain hopeful the working group will come up with an alternative to an outright ban.
"You have to give [students] the tools to make their own judgments, and you have to trust your personnel to make their own judgments," said Eleanor King, another Richard Montgomery parent. "You don't just make a blanket policy that's one-size-fits-all, because it doesn't work."
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