A Coquitlam teacher who showed a video montage combining violence, sexual content and sexist imagery has been given one-day suspension in a disciplinary outcome.
In an review carried out by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation — the oversight body that overseas teacher disciplinary action — Shane Gordon Ashley Kennedy was found to have “failed to establish a positive learning environment by using material that was not age-appropriate.”
Kennedy, who has been a certified teacher in the Coquitlam school district since Sept. 1, 2006, was initially put under investigation on June 4, 2019, after SD43 made a report to the commissioner about a media violence project assigned to his Grade 6 Health and career Education classes in June 2018.
Kennedy had his students watch a video in preparation titled “Impact of Media Violence on Today’s Youth.”
But the video was meant for adults and educators, according to the decision, and at one point shows a “media montage” of physical violence, assault, sexual content, gender stereotyping and the use of drugs and alcohol.
Next, the Coquitlam teacher told the students to work with a partner to find an advertisement from the video, something on YouTube or a poster and analyze it what it’s purpose was, any message it was trying to convey, as well as any negative images or desensitization that came along with it.
“Kennedy put no restrictions on the students’ internet research for this project,” reads the decision.
Students came back with “age-inappropriate advertisements on the internet,” including images and references to simulated oral sex, oral sex and racist epithets. Some were later presented in class.
When five parents complained that the video was inappropriate for Grade 6 students, the teacher responded saying it was optional, though this was not the same message that other students or parents got, according to the decision.
On Nov. 2, 2018, Kennedy was suspended without pay for three days. SD43 “suggested” he take a course at the Justice Institute of B.C. about creating a positive learning environment.
That was not enough, according to the commissioner. In October, the Coquitlam teacher will serve another one-day suspension.
