Second-graders at a Connecticut elementary school were shown a cartoon video on sexual abuse that depicted a male adult with an erection standing over a “sad” girl during a “lesson on social and emotional learning.”
The video, among other things, contains the silhouette of an erect penis. The video features two owls talking, and features imagery of parents fighting, physical abuse of children, and child sexual abuse.
The short story starts innocently enough as two cartoon owls talk about traumatic experiences for children
The short film, reportedly, is called “Alfred Jr. and Shadow – A Short Story About Being Scared”, and as per the Therapy Centre, a center of excellence in Emotion-Focused and Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, the film is a “perfect tool for describing to kids the normalcy of fears, and to teach them when to seek help about their fears”.
As per the Therapy Centre:
“The video aims to teach children about fear and anxiety through the character Alfred the owl, in a straightforward and relatable manner. It discusses 6 different ways of feeling scared: normal scared, too much scared, embarrassed scared, scared of being scared, and painful scared.” The film was reportedly produced in collaboration with the Council for Mental Health in Norway.
The students viewed the erection in the sexually graphic video for approximately nine seconds. It was aired in a virtual classroom.
The video features two cartoon owls who discuss traumatic experiences that include “stuff that’s very difficult to talk about.” These subjects are usually discussed in the therapy of abused children, not in classrooms.
The most disturbing part of the video is when it cuts to a silhouetted man who is standing over a sad-looking child. Then it gets graphic as the moderator explains:
“Some children are afraid that their mom and dad will beat them, or that their parents will fight. Other children have experienced an adult touching or putting their penis in the child’s private parts or mouth.” It’s explained that they are “terrified that this will happen again.” The video alludes to parents taking drugs or alcohol, or who are being abusive.
Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones
Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones sent an email to remote school second-grade families regarding the video. Jones said that the video was shared during a lesson on social and emotional learning.
“Around the midway point in the video there is a reference to situations in which children may become afraid, including being afraid of abuse, both physical and sexual,” she wrote. “The content at this point in the video was not appropriate for our GPS second grade classrooms.”
Jones reportedly explained that the content was instead likely meant for a private therapy session for children who have experienced trauma. As per reports, parent Carl Higbie, who is a conservative political commentator, said that he was relieved that his second-grader was not shown the video, but added that numerous “disgusted” parents had contacted him about it.
This image has been censored. In the uncensored version, the glans penis (or the head of the penis), the shaft, and the scrotum are more clearly depicted.
He Tweeted about it, saying, “In my hometown, in my daughter’s age group class of second grade, they showed an animated video today of a man with an ERECTION standing over a child!!!!! this is not OK!!!!”
He said he would not rest until the person responsible was fired.
“That somebody thought this video was acceptable for second graders was abhorrent,” he said, adding that he would push for a full investigation. Speaking to a far-right news portal, Higbie said, “The two possibilities of how this happened are; one, the teachers didn’t care enough to review this before playing it, or two, they thought it was OK… In both cases, these folks have no business teaching our kids.”
So far, the school allegedly has not taken any action to investigate the matter or to dole out disciplinary action for the teachers, Ms. Goodwin and Ms. Hanzlik, who played the video.
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