World Trade Center Images in Educational Video for Kids Stir Up Debate: Should the Towers Come Out?

Images of the Twin Towers appearing in the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island episode of the children's video series "Dave and Augie's Home Movies" have stirred up a recent debate at schools in Central New Jersey and at an online educator's forum. Some teachers feel that brief scenes of the towers at the beginning of episode one of the puppet-hosted history series are disturbing to its K-4 viewers and need to be edited out while others are greatly opposed to their removal.

Aberdeen, New Jersey (PRWEB) February 20, 2004 - Images of the Twin Towers appearing in the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island episode of the children's video series "Dave and Augie's Home Movies" have stirred up a recent debate at schools in Central New Jersey and at an online educator's forum. Some teachers feel that brief scenes of the towers at the beginning of episode one of the puppet-hosted history series are disturbing to its K-4 viewers and need to be edited out while others are greatly opposed to their removal.

Gregory Ciano, the owner of Freggie Entertainment, the company that produced the video, was first approached about editing out the Towers after he performed an assembly at a South Brunswick school in New Jersey: "When I read the school's feedback form comments I was shocked. They were vehemently against the images remaining in the video." Despite the negative comments, Ciano decided to leave the Towers in believing that it was important to remain faithful to reality even if it was disturbing to some young viewers. However, several months later, when teachers at an East Brunswick school made the same request, Ciano began to seriously rethink his initial decision: "I didn't know what to do when I remembered that my sister Dawn, our Head Researcher and Education Specialist, participated in an online teachers forum, so I asked her to do a survey." All of the teachers who responded to the survey were greatly in favor of leaving the Towers in, and some were incredulous that anyone had even suggested editing them out.

The positive response was a great relief to Ciano who commented: "When we first produced the tape we had no idea it would one day become so controversial. We just wanted to do a fun, educational show about an important American monument. But, I don't have any regrets. The post-9/11 significance of those two towers is too important to leave them on the cutting room floor. We have an obligation to tell children the truth about our history even if it's sometimes painful."

About Freggie Entertainment:
Freggie Entertainment, a video production company based in Central New Jersey, was founded by Gregory Ciano in 1999 to provide high-quality, educational entertainment for children. Although children are the primary audience for most Freggie Entertainment productions, the company's videos and DVD's appeal to the entire family with their fast-paced and sophisticated mix of humor, information and music. All of the company's products are available at www.LibraryVideo.com

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Gregory Ciano
Freggie Entertainment
tel. 732-801-8452
fax. 732-583-3506
http://www.DaveandAugie.com

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