A number of students from the Camdean Primary School in Fife, Scotland, has drawn criticisms from a number of parents after a lesson was taught that left a number of the children in the class in tears. The school, which utilizes the Curriculum of Excellence, had asked the elementary school children to draw a picture of a dead loved one in a lesson about grief.
About half of the class of nine to ten-year-olds were reportedly in tears after leaving the classroom due to the emotional nature of the activity. Apart from asking the students to draw a picture, the activity also involved showing a film involving children talking about deaths in their families, according to MSN News.
A number of parents have responded negatively to the nature of the lesson, with many stating that the activity may have left the children with "dark memories." One of the parents, Adrian Marshall, an inventory systems advisor from Dunfermline, described the incident. "My son came home and told me that a load of children had been crying in class after being shown a really sensitive video. They were asked to draw a deceased loved one," he said, according to The Mirror.
His son, ten-year-old Ryan, declined to draw anyone, but after prodding by the teacher, he instead wrote about a recently-deceased family friend. The teacher then told the students to cry if they would like to, and many did.
Marshall further states that the school should have told the parents about the activity, for the parents to at least be there to support the student due to the sensitive lesson, reports The Daily Mail.
"What I take issue with is that there were no letters sent out to us seeking our permission for the class to go ahead or to ask us if we would like to attend to comfort our kids. There's never a good time to teach kids about this stuff, but I think they could have done with the emotional support of their parents when learning about death," he said.
Though a number of parents have already submitted a letter to the Fife council to complain, the authorities have defended the school and the nature of the activity, stating that it is part of the Curriculum of Excellence, which does not only target a student's cognitive development, but their affective growth as well.
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