Harford County public school administrators acknowledged late last week that they did not preview the content of a program called Drama Therapy before it was shown to the public and to all students in a general assembly at Havre de Grace High School in early December, 2009. After a review of Drama Therapy prompted by questions from parents, administrators said the program, which had previously been endorsed by Harford County Public Schools, would undergo a number of changes.
Drama Therapy is a series of short plays, some of which are written by Havre de Grace students or alumni. The plays change from year to year and deal with serious issues including teen suicide, incest, sexual activity, recovered memory and substance abuse. The program itself was jointly developed four years ago by two Havre de Grace teachers and the school’s guidance counselors. Students who see the plays are urged to seek counseling if necessary.
Several Havre de Grace parents who recently sought access to the content of Drama Therapy, gathered at the school on January 7, 2010 to watch a DVD of the program. Parents said the school system used “delay tactics” to thwart their efforts to view the content. School officials say they were working to get a DVD of the production all along, citing logistical and legal barriers.
David A. Volrath, executive director of secondary education for HCPS conducted the DVD screening, along with Patricia Walling, principal of the school. Volrath said he first reviewed the content of Drama Therapy over the holidays, after it had been shown to students. Ms. Walling also said that she had not previewed the material, but she attended a public performance of Drama Therapy held the day before the general assembly for students. Asked if she thought the content was inappropriate at the time, Walling said no, but “I’ve learned from this experience.”
Before playing the DVD, Volrath told the 15-20 people gathered in the school’s media center that he was planning to recommend several “action steps” to Superintendent Robert Tomback regarding Drama Therapy. Volrath’s recommendations, which he said were subject to revision, involve the formation of a committee to review the content, to ensure that the content is accurately and tastefully portrayed, and to determine whether Drama Therapy belongs in the school day. He said members of the Havre de Grace community would be key members of the committee. Changes to the delivery of the program would include the development of pre-viewing and post-viewing instruction; “leveling” or limiting access to students by grade level; providing advance notification for parents; and an opt-out provision with alternatives for students.
All this, planned before parents even saw the DVD? Clearly, administrators found something in their own review of a program formerly lauded by HCPS, to prompt an about-face. Even the name will be abandoned.
The students involved in Drama Therapy did what they were asked to do and understandably defend their work. The issue is whether administrators should have previewed the content, made judgments about the educational/therapeutic value and made appropriate plans before showing it to students aged 14-18 years, including some with special needs, during the school day. And whether parents should have been notified and/or been asked for their consent.
I attended the screening of Drama Therapy and offer the following highlights with a few caveats. These highlights represent a fraction of the nearly 2 hour program and they are not intended as a review of the students or their work. As theater, Drama Therapy combined compelling stories with outstanding performances. Plenty of the content was relevant to the life of teenagers without being controversial. Some moments were so funny, many of us laughed out loud. Other moments prompted tears.
After watching the DVD, Havre de Grace parent Chad Tate (also husband of Letter to The Dagger writer Rachel Tate) decried what he said was a lack of leadership; Volrath replied that he would take responsibility. But others have expressed support for the program as is.
Judge for yourself:
A teenaged girl is angry with her younger, special needs sister. The younger girl is alternately called “brain dead”, “dumber than dirt” and “crazy”. We learn that the older girl’s boyfriend raped the 15 year old sister (“He didn’t mean to, he was drunk”). The older girl tells her sister no one will believe her because she’s “crazy” and “You ought to be locked away somewhere. I’m not paying for a damn abortion, I’ll give you one myself” adding that their parents should have sent the special needs girl away when she was born. In the end, the younger girl recounts what the boyfriend said as he raped her (“You shut your mouth little girl… I’ll kill you.”) The older sister and a friend leave the stage. The younger sister recounts what the older sister has said (“I’ll give you an abortion, stupid girl”.). She goes to a drawer, takes out a gun, kneels at center stage and puts the gun to her temple. Lights out. Gunshot rings out in the dark.
A group of girls just graduated from high school, are playing a drinking game. During the game, one girl says she thinks she has had sex. She’s not sure, she has memories she can’t explain. “He was on top of me…’trust’ that’s what he told me before he touched me.” We learn it was the girl’s uncle. A friend, who has been getting drunk as the game progresses wants to “call the god damn police” The first girl continues to narrate her own abuse, “ …he told me he would make me a good girl. I wanted to be good…it hurt.” The girl’s friends urge her to talk to a counselor or get her parents involved. They tell her it “doesn’t change who you are” and that she is safe with them.
A boy and girl, in high school and dating each other, are speaking directly to the audience about their relationship. They are in conflict because she wants to have sex and he doesn’t. She interprets this as rejection, worries about how it looks to others and asserts “I’m wasting my time if it’s not going to the next level.” He thinks she’s special and wants to wait to have sex. She calls him to break up. He decides he hasn’t been making her feel “appreciated”, concluding “I’ve been so stupid”. He calls her, telling the audience, “I’m gonna make this night amazing.”
School Board Member Don Osman, who attended the screening, said afterwards that some teachers told him they had walked out during the general assembly. Obviously saddened by what he had just seen, Osman said “This could have been avoided, should have been avoided.”
This illustrates another aspect of HCPS that is disturbing to veteran teachers like myself. I make no judgment on the merits of the drama activity although the story is persuasive to the fact that the school administration at HHS dropped the ball on this one. But in my view many of the high school administrations are dropping the ball frequently in their constantly pulling students out of their regular scheduled classes for all sorts of other extracurricular activities like this one. One of the schools has a principal who has established “club day” where kids are pulled out of classes once a month. Another high school has an “awards breakfast” almost once a month. You guessed it, same kids all the time pulled out of their academic classes again and again. Students enrolled in several AP classes are encouraged to volunteer at Harford Glen occasionally twice a year, necessitating that they miss nearly two weeks of AP instruction. And, even AP teachers are pulled out of their AP classes because they are administrative interns or involved in coaching extracurricular activities. On the federal level, the Obama administration has suggested linking teacher compensation to student performance. That would be just fine with almost every serious content teacher – provided you allow us to actually teach the students and stop pulling them out of our classes for all of these social activities and athletic contests. This is not to say that those activities don’t have value. Just that they should not occur DURING regular scheduled class time.
I Agree. I watched the Board Meeting last night, its now on the website. No one ever asked for the Drama Program to be cancelled.
Parents were absolutely correct to request the video. Parental rights were the issue, then, some of the content became a concern especially after viewing the production last week.
Watch all the way through to Board Member Don Osmans comments.
Need to watch, fast forward through the 2 hrs of the budget hearing before the real meeting and comments.
JCA – that is incorrect. You may not have been involved in the weeks prior to the meeting at HCPS. It was in fact asked that Drama Therapy be stopped. I was personally dragged into and involved in one of those conversations.
That said – this crap going on and on and on…it’s redundant and ridiculous. A solution was instituted, apologies were made. Bottom line – it’s time to move on. It’s become nothing but venom at this point. What more do people want? Blood? It seems to me it is no longer about anyones point – it’s been beaten to death and a LOT of people are tired of hearing about it. Now it is solely about ego and havoc. What a shame.
Tom Barnes, Since when has justice been about ego and havoc!?!? Its really quite plain and simple, the teachers, principal, and Harford Board of Education broke the law!!! Our educators sending the message to our kids that breaking the law is OK as long as its fun and titillating is totally unaceptable!! This fight will be over when justice is served, its the American way!!!
I am amazed at the amount of anger and hate that is displayed toward any parent that asks for the law to be upheld. HCPS administration broke the law and they know it. This is not speculation but has been confirmed by employees of HCPS System.
Originally, I was only concerned because of the reaction of my children and their friends. This is what brought the whole Drama event to my attention. The response that was given by the HCPS system is what has made me appalled for all current and future students. At this point I do not care about the content. I care that adults in a position of authority over my children decided that THEY had the right to do whatever they wanted to with out parental permission. Last month it was therapeutic medicine (without a license). What will it be next year? Selective testing, experimental curriculum , or something else?
I would like to see the posts on Facebook made by the Tate children. I have not been able to find them and I am a member of the group and pages. I would like the poster that commented about the children doing inappropriate postings to please provide them. If they are not allowed to post on facebook in a group that they were allowed to join then maybe the creator of the group should have called it “Supportors Mr & Mrs. Cummins”.
I also do not think that it is appropriate for these 2 teachers to be telling the students in the school their financial and job problems. If I do something at my job that puts it in jeopardy that is my adult problem. It is not right to inflict that stress on the students in the classroom.
When people in positions of authority, anywhere in this country, do not honor what is right, follow the law, and decide to do things their own way they must be held accountable.
Yesterday most of the USA celebrated the birthday of a Christian Man that strove for all laws to be upheld and everyone to be treated fairly. Freedom of speech and fighting for what is right was his platform.
I may not agree with everything said by every person in this debate. I do think that all the people in Harford County that are attacking Mrs. Tate and those that support her need to think deeply about the underlying issue and release the Drama Therapy content issue.
You’re absolutely correct! Thanks for the clarification! Hope you’ll be at the next scheduled screening of the production which was announced by letter to parents of HHS students received Friday, 1/22/10. The re-screen is scheduled for Wednesday, 1/27/10, 7pm, HHS auditorium
With regards to “an apology has been issued, let’s move forward” type of mentally- This is just a way of saying, “Shut up and get on with things…..” This is unacceptable, and until the school board stands up, admits this was an egregious wrong, both against the students involved and the parents, plus a horrible misuse of tax-payers money, this fight will continue. Also, the teachers involved should be professionally reprimanded; either fired or transferred to another county. (Although I would not want them in any county) They are assumed to be in loco parentis, which means, looking out for the welfare of the children in their care; they most certainly are not! Tenured teachers also should not be protected in cases where they are in blantant violation of state laws or school codes. Period. I am writing as a former teacher, who has taught at both elementary and middle school levels. If this is not addressed now and stopped, it will not only continue, but be escalated. I have seen the “edited” videos of the performances, and they are not appropriate for high school students, period. If students wish to perform such skits, then they can wait until they are of legal age, and at community college or in a privately-funded theater project, not in a tax-payer funded school where minors are in attendance!
HCPS can not transfer teachers to another county. School maybe not county.
Incidently schools may not act in loco parentis in a public school. If they did then they would have the right to make decisions about all of this with out your consent. A school must care for the welfare of a kid but that is not “in loco parentis.”
This is absolutely insane – we need to watch what these agenda driven teachers push on our kids.
I am sick of this kind of trash being forced on my kids at school.
Who gave these IDOTS the right to indoctrinate our kids instead of teach them reading, writing and arithmetic?
Embarrassingly, it has been the parents not able/willing to check into exactly what our kids are being taught…my eyes have certainly been opened! Gladly, before my children were sent to the high school! We’ve, the parents of publicly educated children, been too trusting of our public school systems and now we are seeing what comes of such blind trust: failure to abide by/enforce the rules and regulations we signed on for when we entrusted our children to these people to teach them reading, writing, and arithmetic. No one told me they were going to also perform experimental therapeutic intervention on my children! Whether it is this performance or some other infringement on our parental rights, it is imperative that parents keep their eyes open and be diligent watch dogs of the curriculum put in front our children. Please make every effort to attend the screening, Tonight, Wednesday, January 27th, 7pm at the Havre de Grace Auditorium. The high school administration and the BoE are hoping that there will be few in attendance tonight, otherwise they would have made a better effort to inform the parents and all other interested parties. Sorry, but I am pretty ticked about their mailing the notice on Thursday, January 21 in a plain white envelope with no return address indicating that this mail was from the High School and an uncancelled stamp. So many parents thought it was “junk mail” and threw it in the trash without even opening it…it was a “blind mailing” intentionally sent as it was to discourage attendance. It gave only 3 business days’ notice to attend when they knew for at least two weeks when they were scheduling the 2nd screening (note that they chose the date in order to avoid distracting from mid-terms and HSA testing). Come see for yourself how your children may be “experimented” on! TONITE, 7PM, HAVRE DE GRACE HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM
It’s an Imperial conspiracy to ruin our children and turn them to the dark side!
Luke: It’s all too possible! Hopefully, you’ll be there to see for yourself…Tonight, 7pm, HHS Auditorium!
Did Havre de Grace parents get an Alert Now call in addition to the blind mailing to notify them of the 1/27 screening?
Not Yet! ? ! It was requested by Mrs. Tate at the BoE Meeting on Monday night if you watched that. She specifically requested that the BoE put it on the Alert Now System. It is 11:43 on 1/27/10…waiting, waiting, waiting.
Lisa no point in having a battle of wits with an unarmed man!! When people attack others instead of the issue then there is no issue 😉
No. If you watched the BOE meeting, you will see that Mrs. Tate did make that specific request. Unless it goes out today, there will be no use of the HCPS high-tech notification system for this matter.
i think its insane that they show kids with special needs this in paticular. i am a former student at havre de grace high.my little brother was affected in a very serious way. he was crying and extermely upset that the girl on stange shot herself. being a child with special needs he really thought he watched a girl commit suicide. he didnt understand that it was fake. i think that permission slips should have been sent out to the parents. if they can send permission slips for something like sex ed where you lean about something like puberty and sexually transmitted disease why didnt they send a permissionslip out for this. its a much more serious subject. im also extremely annoyed at the fact that the play was on december fifth and my mom didnt find out about it till last week. why werent we notified that he was so upset and they had to remove him from the auditorium. they will notify parents about something as stupid as throwing food or spitting spitballs but they couldnt call to tell us about my brother. i dont think that kids with special needs like my brother should have attended this. kids that are perfectly normal wouldnt be affected. they understand that its fake. however my brother didnt. he is now traumatized because he literally thought she killed herself right in front of him. i used to have huge respect for the school and i was proud of the school that i went to. now everything i felt for that school is gone. i hope they rethink how they do their plays and who can see it and send permission slips out. let parents see the content before showing it to the kids. it isnt the schools job to teach the kids about these subjects. its the parents job. the schools job is to teach reading writng math and science. let the parents talk to the kids about these subjects. if anything at all they should only urge stundents to talk about thier problems through counseling.