This children’s book has sparked controversy between parents and teachers in the state of Texas
Children’s favorite bear teaches them to “run, hide and fight”
In United States school shooting cases They have become a great concern in the classroom. Faced with the increase in this problem, the educational community of Texas – one of the three states with the most cases of shootings – has decided Prepare your students to know how to react if they live this traumatic experience. a book of winnie the pooh teaches four year olds to “run, hide and fight” if a shooter enters the building.
an initiative that has sparked controversy and concerned parents and teachers in the Dallas, Texas area. All preschool and primary school children have received a copy of the book ‘Stay safe’ produced by a law enforcement consulting firm in Houston. At just 4 years old, the little ones are being educated to react to a shooting.
In the book, which is intended to be an acting manual before a shooting schoolWinnie and her friends from the Hundred Acre Wood, explain to the children how to deal with this situation.
If it’s safe to escape, they should act like a rabbit and run, if danger is near they will have to hide like Pooh until the police arrive and if they cannot escape they must fight with all their might.
The book includes illustrations of Pooh burying his head in a pot of honey to represent hiding, and Kanga and baby Roo wearing boxing gloves to represent fighting. Although this initiative seeks to prepare children for possible emergency situations, it has generated a debate on how to approach safety in schools and has unleashed controversy among the educational community.
A Dallas Texas elementary school teacher expressed her concern upon seeing the book: “I found it extremely disturbing and felt very uncomfortable with everything in the book”.
In addition, he has conveyed his disappointment with the material: “The fact that people think it is a better idea to show this book to a child instead of taking action to prevent shootings from happening in our schools, that really annoys me. It makes me feel so angry, so disappointed. hIt’s been a year since Uvalde and nothing has been done except this book. That’s putting it on the kids.”