Parents are up in arms after a teacher at a K-12 charter school in Miami Springs showed his fourth graders the horror movie "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey," CBS News Miami reported.
The film, which is not suitable for children given it depicts Winnie and Piglet going on a violent rampage after Christopher Robin leaves them for college, was shown to fourth graders at the Academy of Innovative Education on Oct. 2.
"I feel completely abandoned by the school," Michelle Diaz, a parent whose twins were in the class, told CBS News.
She added that it was a "careless teacher" who showed the children the movie. It played for about "20 to 30 minutes" before the teacher shut it off, she said, noting that the children had picked the movie to watch but it was "not for them to decide what they want. … It’s up to the professor to look at the content."
"He didn’t stop the movie, even though there were kids saying, ‘Hey, stop the movie, we don’t want to watch this,'" Diaz added.
In a statement to CBS News, Vera Hirsh, the head of the school, said that a mental health counselor had met with students who "expressed concerns."
"The Academy for Innovative Education has become aware that a segment of a horror movie was shown to fourth graders, Monday, October 2, 2023, that was not suitable for the age group. Our administration promptly addressed this issue directly with the teacher and has taken appropriate action to ensure the safety and well-being of students," she said.
"We are actively monitoring the students and our mental health counselor and principal have already met with those students who have expressed concerns."
"Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" was distributed without a specific age rating, which might clarify why it became one of the choices available for fourth-grade students to view, Variety noted.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.