There is a protest against the local high school for showing Schindler’s List as part of the state’s requirement to include the Holocaust in the American History class, which is taught in tenth grade locally:
A winner of seven Academy Awards recently shown in a sophomore history class has struck a nerve with one Grand Haven High School parent.
Last week, sophomores in 20th Century History classes at GHHS watched “Schindler’s List” over the course of three days. The R-rated movie depicts Oskar Schindler’s portrayal of how he first used Jews to start a factory in Poland during World War II, but discovered the horrors they were subjected to under the Nazi regime and begins to save them. It includes scenes with full frontal nudity of men and women, violence, adult intimacy, and profanity.
The mother of a student who lodged the protest is concerned about the language, apparently oblivious to the language which high school students are already exposed to on a daily basis:
As a parent, DeWitt questions why the school’s student code of conduct, which does not allow harassment or profanity on the premises, is not adhered to during the classroom viewing of an R-rated movie.
“If my son were to stand in the hallway and yell profanities, there would be disciplinary action,” DeWitt said. “… Yet they can sit in a classroom for 70 minutes hearing words that the school does not condone. … We don’t use that language at home and we don’t use that language at Grand Haven High School.”
While the intimate adult scenes in “Schindler’s List” were edited out for the classroom viewing, Evink argued that editing out the film’s violence and profanity would alter the historical and tragic lesson that is the Holocaust. She said showing the film in an educational setting provides students with the opportunity to raise questions and discuss their feelings about the film among their peers, as well as discuss how the message relates in today’s society.
This all started with former Republican Governor John Engler. The school district continued making an exception for this R-rated movie with a policy which certainly makes sense:
When “Schindler’s List” debuted in movie theaters nationwide in 1993, Gov. John Engler provided grant money to allow GHHS teachers to take their 10th-grade history students to watch the film at a nearby movie theater, school officials said. The movie has since been shown in the American history class every year, GHHS Principal Scott Grimes said.
While the school district has a policy to not allow R-rated movies be shown in classrooms, films deemed to have an extraordinary educational value are allowed.
“It is our practice to now allow R-rated movies in classrooms,” GHAPS Superintendent Keith Konarska said. “In the case of ‘Schindler’s List,’ an exception has been made because of the tremendous educational value it brings to the classroom. I believe it allows students a better understanding and feeling for what occurred during the Holocaust than what a textbook could.”
When we have a G-rated holocaust we can limit instruction to G-rated shows from the History Channel. Otherwise we should consider movies based upon their educational value, not based upon whether they tone down the language.
