A Connecticut elementary school is under fire after showing students a video on sexual abuse that included a fully erect male penis.
The second-grade students at the Greenwich, Connecticut, school were reportedly exposed to the cartoon penis for roughly nine seconds during the film Alfred Jr. & Shadow: A Short Story About Beeing Scared, which was played in a virtual classroom, according to the New York Post.
The nearly 10-minute film features two cartoon owls talking about traumatic experiences for children that includes “stuff that’s very difficult to talk about” and is typically shown to children as a part of therapy.
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At one point in the cartoon, the screen cuts to an image of a sexually aroused silhouetted man standing over a dejected-looking child, and the voiceover explains that some “children have experienced an adult touching or putting their penis in the child’s private parts or mouth” and are “terrified that this will happen again.”
“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!!!!!” Greenwich parent Carl Higbie tweeted in disgust after learning that the video was played for seven- and eight-year-olds.
“That somebody thought this video was acceptable for second graders was abhorrent,” Higbie, a conservative political commentator, added and says he is calling for a full investigation into the incident.
Higbie says that his daughter was not shown the video, but several “disgusted” parents had reached out to him and informed him of what their children had seen.
“These folks have no business teaching our kids,” Higbie said.
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Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones responded to the controversy in an email to parents on Monday and explained that the video was likely intended to be part of a private therapy session for students who have experienced trauma.
“The content at this point in the video was not appropriate for our [Greenwich Public Schools] second grade classrooms,” Jones added.
The school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment on a possible investigation or potential disciplinary action against the teachers.
