Chicago Girl Sues Teacher for Showing 'Brokeback Mountain' to Class

A 12 year old girl is suing the Chicago Board of Education for negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress after a substitute teacher led her 8th grade class to watch the film Brokeback Mountain with the warning, "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," according to the lawsuit.

The teacher then proceeded to show the 8th grade elementary school class the R rated gay themed film; a film that garnered its rating for sexual content, language and drug use.

According to the suit, a substitute teacher introduced herself as Ms. Buford to Jessica's class at Ashburn Community Elementary School, 8300 S. St. Louis Ave. She then said, "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," the suit claims. Buford then had a student close the door, and started showing the controversial R-rated film, which features two men engaged in sex.

The suit alleges Ashburn's principal, Jewel A. Diaz, was aware that the tale of the love between two cowboys set in the West of the 1960s was being shown to the minors.

Turner later told her grandfather that she was confined to her seat and felt she could not leave the room, according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

The plaintiffs accuse Diaz, Buford and the Chicago Board of Education of negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (src. Chicago Sun Times)

The AP version of the story that is being used in most papers across the country left out charges of negligence and false imprisonment while emphasizing the psychological aspect of the young girl's claims.

Turner and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking around $500,000 in damages.

"It is very important to me that my children not be exposed to this," said Kenneth Richardson, Turner's guardian. "The teacher knew she was not supposed to do this."

According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, the video was shown without permission from the students' parents and guardians.

The lawsuit also names Ashburn Principal Jewel Diaz and a substitute teacher, referred to as "Ms. Buford."

The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side school, saying: "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," according to the lawsuit.

Richardson said his granddaughter was traumatized by the movie and had to undergo psychological treatment and counseling.

In 2005, Richardson complained to school administrators about reading material that he said included curse words.

"This was the last straw," he said. "I feel the lawsuit was necessary because of the warning I had already given them on the literature they were giving out to children to read. I told them it was against our faith." (AP Feed via the Chicago Triubune)

So many things to discuss here. Since when does a substitute teacher get 2 hours and 15 minutes of free reign over a class of 8th graders? It doesn't happen without the help and knowledge of someone at the administrative level. Thus the claims about the principle's involvement are probably correct.

It will be interesting to see how the MSM treats this story. The AP version is gaining flight across the internet so the obscurity excuse will not fly.

It doesn't take a whole lot of common sense to know that you shouldn't show a film that is rated R for language, nudity and drug use to a class of 12 and 13 year olds.

But this act was done for a reason if in fact the teacher did show the film to the students. There was an agenda. Regardless of your stance on homosexuality there is no denying that the film was shown to promote a pro-gay agenda. That agenda allowed someone to override school rules, common sense concerning all the superfluous negative content and parental choice; including the R rating which comes with a parental approval mechanism of its own. This should be the story. Teachers with an ideological agenda should not be allowed to teach from that focus in public schools. Yet time and time again we are confronted with the fact that parents are repeatedly and often circumvented by agenda driven teachers. None of this can happen without help at the administrative level.

The reaction against this student and her family will be predictable among some proponents of the film. I guarantee that someone will downplay the psychological and traumatized claims of the 12 year old and her family as being cooked up. They will say that it is an over exaggeration for the sake of a lawsuit. But before you come to that conclusion I urge you to visit the comment section on the IMDB database for Brokeback Mountain. Many comments discuss the emotional exhaustion left by the film. Granted most of these comments are from people enthralled with the film but they are essentially adults who claim the film left an emotional mark. This of course can happen both ways, for some it may have been emotionally draining in a positive way and for others it may be emotionally devastating in a negative way.

This story is a unfortunate byproduct of liberal activism. It is not one of tolerance and diversity because it is intolerant and disrespectful toward those of faith not to mention those who struggle with raising children in the world of the entertainment industry's pro sex, drugs and guns mentality.

Terry Trippany is the editor at Webloggin