Tenth grade world history. Their assignment: continuing watching the movie Swing Kids.
Natalie claimed the bean bag cat on the teacher's desk. She said she needed it. It was hers. While the request was a bit odd, it wasn't terribly out of the ordinary. And I didn't see the point in arguing.
The reason for the comfort stuffed animal soon became apparent.
In case you're not familiar with the movie (via IMDB):
A close-knit group of young kids in Nazi Germany listen to banned swing music from the U.S. Soon, dancing and fun lead to more difficult choices, as the Nazis begin tightening their grip on Germany. Each member of the group is forced to face some tough choices about right, wrong, and survival. Written by Susan SouthallWe got to a scene where some Nazi youths beat up one of our central characters. It's rather brutal. They pummel him and kick him when he's down. Repeatedly.
That's when I noticed Natalie. She was turned away from the screen, tossing the toy from hand to hand. Ah. It was too much for her.
I can relate. There's a point where certain scenes get to be too much for me. I've become a bit desensitized to a lot of what we see as normal on TV, but when I was younger, I had a lower threshold.
So, when her classmates were telling her it was okay to turn around when the beating was still happening... Not okay. Not nice at all.
I let her know when it was actually safe to turn around.
Some friends...
Some friends indeed! Glad you "wised" up and caught that and told her when the scene was actually over. Sounded like an interesting movie/book. Got to check it out.
ReplyDeletebetty
Poor Natalie. that movie sounds intense.
ReplyDeleteIt has intense scenes. There are some lighter scenes too. And a bit of dancing :)
DeleteSensitive little lass. And mean classmates.
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed in her classmates, for sure. Be well!
ReplyDeleteDisappointed, sure. I wasn't too surprised, though. I'm sure they thought they were being funny.
DeleteHopefully their behavior will receive some correction before they turn into the jerks who scream about others being triggered and needing safe spaces.
ReplyDeleteDoes that generation understand what a "Nazi" is, what Hitler did? Are they so desensitized by the violent entertainment and games that they torment others who do find it horrifying? Grrrr
ReplyDeleteOh, they understand. This same class does a genocide project. (At least, they did last year.) They spend quite a bit of time on the subject. And they have a Holocaust unit in both 8th and 10th grade English.
DeleteI usually close my eyes when it comes to scenes like that. Shudder.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for allowing her comfort and working with it. And for stepping in when kids were mean.
ReplyDeleteI married a man with very different taste in movies from mine, but sometimes I will watch one of his grotesqueries in order to spend time with him. I keep my cell phone handy, to distract myself from the gross bits.
Knitting. It serves the same purpose...
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