District Probes Viewing of Death

An Orange County English teacher was placed on paid leave Friday while school officials investigate complaints that he allowed students to use his classroom computer to view the beheading of Nicholas Berg in Iraq.

The Villa Park High School teacher, Stephen Arcudi, is one of at least three California teachers who have come under fire for allowing students to view the graphic footage.

Officials at the Orange Unified School District and some of Arcudi’s students said that in two of his classes the teacher wrote on a blackboard the address of a website where the grainy video of Berg’s death could be viewed.

About 10 to 15 students in each class then watched the video on a computer at Arcudi’s desk.

“He did not instruct the students to watch it, but apparently he was aware of what was happening and did nothing to stop it,” said Assistant Supt. Cheryl Cohen. “Because of our concern over his judgment and the way he handled the situation, we have put him on leave while we continue to investigate.”

Cohen said school officials learned of the incidents when a parent and student complained.

School officials plan to question Arcudi next week.

In an interview Thursday, Arcudi, 46, denied wrongdoing, saying he did not provide the website to students. The teacher acknowledged finding a student at the start of class who was trying to access the Berg footage, but said he discouraged the student and taught his lesson as planned.

Students disagreed with Arcudi’s account.

“He said: ‘This is the enemy we’re up against and these are the things you don’t get to see,’ ” said Naim Dujak, 17, who watched the beheading and described Arcudi as a great teacher.

“People who didn’t want to see it, didn’t have to see it,” Naim said. “He did not force anyone to watch it.”

Another student, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, gave a similar description of the incident.

“It was inappropriate to give the [web] address. I don’t see why he had to do that in class.”

The student declined to join the others in watching the killing but heard their reaction to it.

Two teachers from Grossmont Union High School district near San Diego also were placed on paid leave Friday while officials there investigate similar accusations, said district spokeswoman Catherine Martin.

In one case, a teacher is accused of showing several photographs and playing an audiotape of the beheading to a class of 15- to 17-year-old students.

In the other incident, an art teacher allegedly did not stop a group of students from watching the video on a classroom computer.

Such dilemmas are troubling but not surprising as teachers struggle to strike a balance between appropriate classroom content and access to the Internet, education experts said.

“Teachers must always be guarded now about what is permissible in the classroom,” said Eloise Metcalf, director of UCLA’s Teacher Education Program. “There is a tension between what should be used in the curriculum and what is off-limits.”

Regardless, Cohen said that, if true, such indiscretion would be unacceptable in a high school setting.

“We are not a college campus here,” she said. “This is very, very serious. The media has been very careful not to show this video and now here in a school we have breeched that.

“This is a sad day for this district,” Cohen said.