Parents outraged after teacher accidentally shows ‘Winnie the Pooh’ slasher film to 4th graders in Miami Springs
By OLIVIA DIVENTI
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MIAMI SPRINGS, Florida (WSVN) — A teacher at a Miami Springs school accidentally showed students a slasher film that featured Winnie the Pooh, angering several parents who are now wondering how the campus mishap happened.
The film shown to some fourth graders at the Academy for Innovative Education Charter School did not depict A.A. Milne’s cute and cuddly bear. The movie selection was “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” a horror take on author A. A. Milne’s beloved creation.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I would play that for fourth grade,” parent Melissa Barreio said.
Barreio, a mother to a 7 and 14-year-old, told 7News she heard about the slasher movie that was played.
The film, which is not rated, follows Pooh and Piglet as they go on a bloody rampage after Christopher Robin abandons he them when he goes to college.
The head of school, Vera Hirsh, provided 7News with a statement, which said the video was mistakenly shown by the teacher during indoor lunch.
“I don’t know how that’s mistakenly shown,” Barreio said, ‘”’cause it’s not like – I mean, you have to choose what you’re putting on. Everything now is electric; it’s not like a VHS that could have been in the wrong cover.”
Twenty minutes of the film was played, and according to Hirsh, only one scary scene was shown. The teacher then turned it off.
“Terrible, because at that age, they are scared of everything,” Barreio said.
Hirsh went on to say in her statement, “Mental health counselors were available and continue to be available for students, at the request of parents, teachers, or students.”
As a mother, Barreio knows just how serious this mistake could be.
“They don’t know that kind of fear, They’re not used to that as of yet,” she said, “and there are so many things going on in the world that I don’t think a Winnie the Pooh movie, of all things, should have been put for them to watch.”
7News asked if the teacher received any disciplinary action. That question went unanswered.
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