The parents of Texas high school students were outraged after a teacher subjected their children to a live broadcast of the Derek Chauvin murder trial as part of a classroom assignment.
The teacher and staff at the Cedar Hill Independent School District in the Dallas suburb received a scolding from a father who said it was “incomprehensible” that a teacher would require freshman students to act as mock jurors at the high-profile trial that included graphic images and videos the police find prosecutors claiming that he caused the death of George Floyd.
The classroom assignment at Cedar Hill High School caught many parents off guard because they said it was done without their consent. They said their children were instructed by the teacher to follow the judge’s instructions to Chauvin’s real jury not to discuss the case with anyone.
“It is incomprehensible to me that you thought it appropriate to force my son to watch George Floyd’s murder on television in his classroom and then move on with his day as if nothing had happened,” wrote a father in a letter sent to the teacher, which was obtained by the ABC Dallas affiliate station, WFAA.
The teacher, whose name has not been released, responded to the letter and complaints from other parents with an outline of the project for the communications class, stating that the students would be “acting as royal jurors at the trial,” WFAA reported.
“Therefore, every day, your child will be attentive to the real trial, listening and paying attention to the evidence from both sides, defense and prosecution, during the trial,” wrote the teacher in response to the complaining parents that was shared with the WFAA.
The teacher, according to the script, planned for students to watch the live broadcast of the trial for about 45 minutes a day.
The trial – in which the former Minneapolis police officer pleaded not guilty to charges of second degree unintentional murder, third degree murder and wrongful death – began last week. Prosecutors showed the jury several videos of spectators, surveillance and police cameras of Chauvin kneeling on the back of Floyd’s neck and two other policemen holding the 46-year-old black man in handcuffs as he repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” and shouted “Mommy”.
A group of parents sent the teacher a letter contesting the project, saying that the video of Floyd’s arrest was seen by millions around the world and left many traumatized adults who watched him, the WFAA reported.
“Still, you let students handle their own emotions and mental health when they leave your class, without the proper professional support,” according to the letter obtained by the broadcaster.
School district officials issued a statement to parents on Friday saying the project was canceled.
“CHISD is aware of a task conducted by a Cedar Hill High School teacher involving the Derek Chauvin trial. The task has not been approved by campus or district administrators,” the school district told ABC News in a statement. “The matter was discussed with the teacher and the task was removed.”
In a separate response to parents, Cedar High School principal Jason Miller wrote, “I don’t think that seeing and discussing this case at school is appropriate for the age of academics,” reported the WFAA.
While Derek Chauvin’s trial is broadcast on television nationwide and broadcast live this week, Americans have once again been exposed to the May 2020 video of the ex-cop sticking his knee in George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
Chauvin pleaded not guilty in the case and his defense lawyers argued that a combination of factors killed Floyd, including drug ingestion and heart disease.
A medical expert told ABC News that images of the Chauvin trial could rekindle feelings of racial trauma and warned that attending the trial could have profound emotional and psychological consequences for black Americans.
Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, Ph.D., LP, clinical psychologist and executive director of the African American Institute of Child Welfare, said that watching Floyd’s dramatic death again on television and on social media could have devastating impacts in mental health, a phenomenon called vicarious or secondary trauma.
“Symptoms of vicarious or secondary trauma include, but cannot be limited to, difficulty controlling emotions, feeling emotionally numb or closed, experiencing fatigue, sleep disturbances, flashbacks or intrusive memories, physical problems or complaints, such as pain , pain and decreased resistance to the disease, “said Garrett-Akinsanya.