- A teacher in Florida has announced that he is under investigation for showing “Strange World” to his students.
- “Strange World” features Disney’s first openly LGBTQ protagonist.
- Jenna Barbie said she showed the film to her students because it was relevant to her Earth Science curriculum.
A Florida teacher says: State Board of Education An investigation is underway for showing Disney’s “Strange World” to fifth-grade students as part of a “brain rest.”
Released in 2022, ‘Strange World’ follows a family of explorers as they travel through various jungles and other ‘unknown’ lands. Fascinated by the “strange world” backlash from conservatives Post-launch, as one of the characters is Disney’s first openly LGBTQ protagonist.
First grade teacher Jenna Barbie confirmed in a TikTok post on Sunday that the state is investigating her. In the video, she said that when she showed the film, several students who weren’t normally in the class were present, one of whom “went on a rampage to rid our school of all forms of expression. I was the child of a member of the board of education who was there.” school. ”
“Members of the school board called the Department of Education to educate me before coming to school to discuss the situation with me and the administration,” Barbie said.
Florida has been at the forefront of pushing for Republican-led states to remove content they deem “controversial,” such as LGBTQ-themed books and race debates, from public schools. Mom’s for Liberty is a group of conservative parents who advocate: book banwas founded in Florida and campaigns to elect a conservative school board.
Barbie said she showed “Strange World” to her class because it was related to how we interact with ecosystems, plants and humans in the Earth Science unit she was teaching. She said on TikTok, “I would never coerce anyone into following my beliefs.”
“My thought process was that what would be a better way to showcase all of these criteria, along with the big lessons of overcoming differences, spreading kindness, communicating, and following your dreams?” It was included in Florida’s highest social and emotional (learning) standards,” she says in the video.
Barbie said she didn’t show the film because one of the characters is LGBTQ, but some students have expressed themselves as part of the LGBTQ community, and she welcomes them. said.
Barbie works at Winding Waters Kindergarten through 8th grade in Hernando County School District, the school said. website. Barbie, Winding Waters and the school district did not immediately respond to requests for comment from insiders on Monday.
“The LGBTQ aspect of this movie? They’re harmless,” Barbie said. “It’s just a topical crush.”
Barbie said she believes that state agents pulling students into closed rooms and interrogating them might actually traumatize them.
“Their teachers showed them movies so that they could connect to our curriculum and learn valuable life lessons. , the administrator is in their room and is pulling the teacher,” said Barby, who called the students one by one into the office in the middle of class to interrogate them.
On May 11, Twitter user Carl Zee posted a photo of a letter from the State Board of Education with the recipient’s name obscured. The letter says the teacher who received it is under investigation for “improper conduct”.
In a tweet, Gee suggested that a schoolteacher friend was under investigation after showing “Strange World” in class.
The Florida Department of Education also did not respond to repeated requests for comment from insiders.
Barbie said some students asked why she started removing classroom decorations after several Florida laws were passed. Ban the teaching of critical race theory And the topic of LGBTQ.
“I said, ‘Well, this is what’s going on,'” Barbie said in the video. “And they said, ‘Why don’t you give us a floor?'” That’s a good point. Would you like to speak up too? ”
