Teacher Is Scolded After Class Sees Horror Movie

A teacher was reprimanded and forced to call several parents to apologize for allowing the horror film “Nightmare on Elm Street” to be shown to her second-grade class, the principal of the Hamlin Street Elementary School in Canoga Park said Friday.

Parents of frightened second-graders said their children had nightmares and became withdrawn after seeing the movie. One mother reported that her daughter has refused to take a bath by herself because a scene in the movie graphically depicts the murder of a teen-ager in a bathtub.

One 7-year-old girl was transferred to another second-grade class at Hamlin at the request of her parents, who told principal James Grover they no longer trusted the judgment of the teacher who showed the movie.

“Nightmare on Elm Street,” released in 1986, was described in newspaper reviews as a bloody “slasher” movie.

A Los Angeles Times critic called the movie “perhaps the scariest picture of its type in years.”

Deadly Freddy

The movie’s plot centers on a monster named Freddy who randomly attacks youngsters.

Freddy is a hideous creature with rotting clumps of burned flesh hanging from his body, who walks with a distinctive lurch. He carries a long metal-fingernail apparatus that he scrapes across walls before plunging it into his victims.

The film received an “R” rating, meaning that persons younger than 17 should not be admitted to theaters to see it unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

After receiving several telephoned complaints from parents, Grover called the teacher to his office to explain why she had shown the movie to her class.

The teacher said the incident occurred two weeks ago when a student brought a videocassette recording of the movie from home, Grover said.

The teacher, who has 20 years’ experience, did not watch the movie with the students, Grover said. Instead, she allowed students to watch the 96-minute film alone while she moved boxes of materials to a new classroom, he said.

Verbally Reprimanded

The teacher, Marjorie Eisenberg, was on sick leave for most of this week and could not be reached for comment.

Grover said he verbally reprimanded Eisenberg for showing the movie. He also ordered Eisenberg to personally apologize to parents who called the school to complain.

“This was a gross error in the teacher’s judgment,” Grover said.

“The parents have every right to be upset. I would be upset if this movie was shown to my children.”

Grover said there are no plans to punish Eisenberg by formal administrative action, which could include suspension without pay or a letter of reprimand.

Call for Punishment

Grover added that he decided against taking further action because Eisenberg was extremely remorseful when he described the movie’s content and explained that some parents were upset that their children were allowed to view it.

But some parents called for formal punitive action against Eisenberg and for all parents to be informed of the movie’s screening.

“There should be a very strong reprimand of the teacher, some kind of written policy on showing movies in class, and I think the principal should write letters to parents of every child who saw the movie explaining what happened,” said Christine Scoggins, who said her daughter was frightened by the film.

“I could see a situation where children could be having nightmares and parents not knowing why the nightmares were occurring,” she said.

“Here we are sending our children to a school where we think they will be safe only to have them abused in this way.”