‘Violent’ Scientology-affiliated human rights videos shown to Ithaca third graders. Parents question why. 

A classroom unit on human rights has prompted shock and concern from parents at Cayuga Heights Elementary School over the school’s use of videos with intense imagery and ties to the Church of Scientology. Third graders at Cayuga Heights Elementary were shown a series of videos, some with age-inappropriate imagery, during the week of Oct. 5 as part of a unit on human rights, according to communications sent to parents from school officials. One video reviewed by The Ithaca Voice featured images of children portrayed with bruises and bloodied faces and described as victims of torture. Another showed a narrowly avoided execution, depicting a man with a gun pressed against his neck. In an Oct. 15 email to parents obtained by The Ithaca Voice, district investigator Robert Van Keuren acknowledged that, “upon additional review,” some of the videos were “not appropriate for students of this age and developmental level.” He also confirmed that the district had “discovered that the v