B.C. teacher disciplined after showing 'age-inappropriate' film to Grade 2 and 3 students

A substitute teacher who showed an "age-inappropriate" short film to students in a Coquitlam French immersion class has been reprimanded and ordered to take a remedial education course.

B.C.'s Commissioner for Teacher Regulation reached a consent agreement with Amira Mounir Abraham earlier this month. The agreement was posted online Tuesday. 

In it, Abraham acknowledges that her actions on May 9, 2022, constituted misconduct.

According to the consent agreement, Abraham was working on that day as a teacher on call for a Grade 2-3 French immersion class.

She was asked to "mark a class dictée and record the marks," and decided to show the class a short film while doing so.

While the students were eating their snack, the teacher put on an animated short film called "Life is Beautiful."

"Abraham had not seen the film before and therefore did not know its content before showing it to the class," the agreement reads.

The nine-minute short contains "scenes depicting sexual intercourse and suicide," according to the agreement.

"On two occasions, Abraham became aware that the Film was not age-appropriate," it reads. "However, she did not intervene or stop the film. Instead, she continued grading."

The school district issued a letter of discipline regarding the incident on June 6, 2022. The consent agreement indicates the district had issued a similar letter in February 2019 after allegations that Abraham had "failed to adequately supervise a Kindergarten/Grade 1 class."

In the consent agreement, Abraham agrees to a reprimand for her misconduct, and to complete the course "Creating a Positive Learning Environment" through the Justice Institute of British Columbia.

If she fails to provide proof of completion of the course by March 31, 2024, the commissioner may order the suspension of her teaching certificate until she has done so.