A NORTH-EAST school has apologised to furious parents after a creepy film shown in the classroom for Halloween gave their youngsters nightmares.
The pupils – aged six and seven – watched the animation Sandman as part of the annual celebration of all things spooky.
But the pupils were left upset and tearful after sitting through the tale about a hook-nosed bogeyman who steals young children’s eyeballs visiting a boy in the night.
Parents complained to the head teacher at Kintore Primary about the decision to screen the darkly- styled short film to the primary three class.
One mother said her daughter was “very upset” and that her husband had to sleep in the child’s bedroom to comfort her. She added: “She just keeps saying she’s scared and doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Another added: “Our son has never been scared much of anything really, but he’s been genuinely upset all day and scared to go to sleep.
“He is in no way a ‘cry baby’. I would be the first parent to say ‘get over it son, it’s just a stupid movie’ – but this is not what I send him to school for.”
Another mother said her daughter was scared enough to believe there was sand in her bed.
Other parents phoned the school to demand that Sandman, which is based on an old folk tale, was not shown to their children.
Aberdeenshire Council has said the film was unsuitable for some of the children in the class.
Kintore Primary has now written to the parents of the 24 pupils affected to apologise for the “error of judgment”.
It is understood that the teacher has also personally apologised to her pupils.
Parents last night welcomed the response from the school.
One said: “I think it has really been a misunderstanding and the teacher has apologised. I am happy with that.”
A spokesman for the local authority said: “While this Oscar-nominated short animated film is recognised as an educational resource, we do not believe it was entirely suitable for some of the children who watched it.
“A small section at the start of the film was used to stimulate a writing project, but the teacher agreed when children asked her to let them watch the rest, as they had enjoyed the small clip.
“The school has written to the parents of the 24 or so pupils who watched it, apologising for the error of judgment and for any upset it caused.”
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