WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
A Florida woman claims her children were shown 20 to 30 minutes of a gory horror film during class – and says the school ‘abandoned her’ after hearing her complaints.
Michelle Diaz said her fourth-grade twins were left scarred after they were shown Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey by their math teacher at their school, The Academy of Innovative Education in Miami Springs.
The horror film was released in February and is unrated, but does contain several torture scenes and depictions of detailed injuries, as well as nudity and swear words.
Diaz claims the children asked the teacher to turn it off, but were ignored.
“He didn’t stop the movie, even though there were kids saying, ‘Hey, stop the movie, we don’t want to do this,’” she said. CBS News.
Michelle Diaz, the parent of two fourth-graders at the Academy of Innovative Education in Miami Springs, claimed her children were shown a bloody horror movie in class
The film, titled Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, reinterprets the classic fictional characters as bloodthirsty killers who stalk a group of female students.
Dressed in rubbery masks, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet kill their victims in a variety of ways, including strangling them and feeding them into a wood chipper
The children saw the film on October 2 and came home distraught. Diaz immediately complained to administrators, but her concerns, she claims, were ignored.
“I feel completely let down by the school,” she said after leaving a meeting with the director of the Academy of Innovative Education in Miami Springs.
In the film, Winnie-The-Pooh and Piglet, angry after being abandoned by Christopher Robin, go on a murderous rampage.
The killers – bloated, rubbery representations of the characters they are meant to represent – hunt down a group of female college students with machetes and guns.
Victims are bashed with sledgehammers, fed into wood chippers and strangled with chains.
Diaz claims the students chose the film, but said, “It’s not up to them to decide what they want.
‘It is up to the professor to look at the content.’
Diaz claims the teacher didn’t stop the creepy movie even though other students told him to turn it off
In addition to the gratuitous violence, the film uses profanity in nudity – in one scene, a woman’s top falls off while she is being attacked
In a statement, the school admitted that a mental health counselor had already met with several students, while insisting that administration had “taken appropriate action.”
The school issued a statement admitting that a mental health counselor had already met with some students.
“The Academy for Innovative Education has become aware that on Monday, October 2, 2023, a portion of a horror film was shown to fourth graders that was not appropriate for the age group,” the report said.
“Our administration immediately addressed this issue directly with the teacher and took appropriate action to ensure the safety and well-being of the students.”
Headmaster Vera Hirsh also spoke to the Miami New Times.
She said that “as soon as the teacher realized what was being shown, the movie turned off.”
Hirsh also denied that the students were shown any violence, adding, “Most of the gruesome murder scenes in the movie take place later in the movie.”
She said the issue had been “thoroughly discussed with teachers, students and parents” and that the affected students were “in school and doing well”.
School principal Vera Hirsh told a local publication that the teacher turned off the film as soon as he realized what was being shown
Hirsh also denied that the students saw any of the violence, adding, “Most of the gruesome murder scenes in the film take place later in the movie.”
Diaz says she feels “let down” by the school after meeting the principal and voicing her concerns
While she admitted that the students had chosen the film, she argued that the teacher should be the one to review the content and deem it appropriate.
Charter schools are nonprofit organizations that contract to provide the same educational services as county public schools.
However, they operate independently of many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools.
“At AIE, learning is focused on actively exploring key concepts, ideas and theories through hands-on learning and real-life problem solving,” the school’s vision statement reads.
“Students will be challenged to use scientific knowledge and critical thinking skills while taking ownership of their personal academic exploration and growth.”
The Academy for Innovative Education first opened in 2011, starting as a K-3 school and adding grades every year.
This past year it became fully K-12 and graduated its first senior class.
The curriculum has a tailored focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, or STEAM.
AIE claims that both the elementary and middle schools have received school grades of “A” from the Florida Department of Education. However, because the DOE has not yet released data from last year, this statement cannot be confirmed.
MailOnline asked for comment.