Reinstate Mr. Thomas Leahy

Critical thinking skills were encouraged in Mr. Leahy's class and promptly stifled by fearful parental helicoptering. This is the death of the nurturing in our children of human decency, compassion, and understanding. The teacher was cognizant of some of the film's more controversial images/scenes and spoke of understanding where students and their parents might feel upset, but that didn't seem to mollify them. It's obvious they see much more upsetting images in cable tv shows, video games, movies, and maybe even Snapchat. Life is messy and complicated and sometimes horrible things happen. Nothing is black and white. I was in elementary school and junior high in the late '70s and early '80s and I can tell you we were exposed to some really adult stuff in our public school classes. The hard stuff should be discussed! How else can children learn how to develop healthy emotional resilience? Mr. Leahy should be applauded for not accepting bigotry and homophobia and instead trying to reach the kids emotionally through film to help them empathize with a situation they might not otherwise be able to imagine themselves in. This is the hallmark of a truly good teacher--to inspire kids to see things outside of their own perspective and worldview. To expand and grow!