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November 1, 2004
Fahrenheit 9/11 in the Classroom
Michelle Malkin worries that several public high schools have allowed teachers to show Michael Moore's documentary to their students. She cites a Seattle Times article reporting that a Mill Creek, WA, teacher planned to show the film:
A high-school teacher's classroom showing of the controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11" has some local Republicans fired up.While I do not have any immediate plans to teach Moore's film, I'd like to defend this teacher's choice. In this particular case, I see little reason for controversy. The teacher obtained permission from the students' parents before they were permitted to see the film, and students who objected were free not to watch.Judy Baker, a teacher at Henry M. Jackson High School, showed the anti-Bush documentary last week to students in her government class as part of a lesson in propaganda and politics. She adhered to district policy that requires permission from both the principal and a parent for students to see the R-rated film.
"We're supposed to be training kids to be informed voters. It seems appropriate to help kids critically dissect information and analyze it," Principal Terry Cheshire said.
Only one parent opted for their child not to view the movie Thursday, but the local GOP headquarters received a call from a concerned parent and an e-mail about the movie, said Darcy Cheesman, coordinator for the Snohomish County Republican Party's get-out-the-vote campaign.
The staff called Cheshire to complain because of the film's portrayal of President Bush.
"I have a 13-year-old out in Monroe and a second-grader, and I would be up in arms if a teacher decided to show this movie, even if it's [labeled as] propaganda," Cheesman said.
The film was taught in the context of a course on politics and propaganda, and it's perfectly reasonable to assume that students and the teacher may very well have been critical of some of Moore's arguments and techniques in the film (I found his use of the "My Pet Goat" footage to be pretty ineffective myself). In fact, it's not necessarily clear from the article that the teacher endorses all (or any) of Moore's positions. Finally, I'm uncomfortable with the continued attempt to curtail any political discussion in the classroom. If Moore's film does anything, it provokes political conversation, and with an upcoming election, that seems like a worthy goal. It's not the case that students will automatically accept the arguments in his film without questioning them. In fact, in my experience, many of my students are willing to engage critically with the texts they encounter, especially when it's clear that in this election there is so much at stake, and I think it's important to encourage that tendency rather than stifle it.
Posted by chuck at November 1, 2004 1:55 PM
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Comments
I don't have a problem with this teacher showing Fahrenheit 9/11 in a classroom setting, as long as FahrenHype 9/11 gets shown also.. Let's present both sides, and let the students decide what "school of thought" jibes with their belief system.... Showing only one of the movies, and not the other is wrong...
Posted by: Tetzman at November 1, 2004 3:21 PM
Today's schools are places where students get expelled under zero tolerance laws for carrying Advil in a backpack. So this sort of thing shouldn't be surprising. The teacher sent home a permission slip, so I don't see what Michelle "Internment Camps Are Neat-O" Malkin is bitching about.
Posted by: Rusty at November 1, 2004 3:55 PM
Yes, how dare we let parents decide what to allow their own damned children to see. That is SO EVIL. Obviously, ONLY THE REPUBLICANS KNOW HOW TO RAISE CHILDREN.
That's why that Reagan boy spoke at the DNC, after all, innit?
Posted by: Cassie at November 1, 2004 4:24 PM
Tetzman, I'm not sure I would show Fahrenhype 9/11 *after* Moore's film (in part because I haven't seen it), but I would be willing to show a documentary/news broadcast that "supported" Bush's position on the war, such as the new doc, "Voices of Iraq," which was filmed by several Iraqis after the war and conveys (from what I hear) a fairly optimistic vision of conditions in Iraq.
For many documentaries, it wouldn't be reasonable to give "equal time" to an opposing viewpoint, and I don't think documentaries are required to fulfill the same standards as journalists conducting news broadcasts.
Posted by: chuck at November 1, 2004 5:50 PM