Bramlett ES grapples with fallout over screening of controversial video

However, its screening at Bramlett Elementary School (BRES) drew sharp criticism from parents with concerns about a possible political agenda behind its message.

In response to the uproar, Bramlett Elementary issued a statement clarifying the intention behind the lesson.

“As part of a character education lesson for some BRES students, a video was used as a supplemental resource to share about promoting kindness and accepting differences in one another,” the statement read. “The lesson was not intended to promote a specific agenda or ideology.”

In the video, a dog named Oliver is uneasy when he meets another dog, Berry, who acts more like a cat. Oliver tells the teacher Berry “thinks he’s a cat” and asks her to talk to him about “being more like a dog,” because acting like a cat is “weird.”

The teacher tells Oliver, “It’ not weird, just different. I couldn’t ask Berry to change who he is that would make him really sad. Accepting people for who they are is a very important skill. We accept you for who you are,” said the teacher. Oliver responds, “that’s different I’m a dog who acts like a dog. That’s normal.”

“Not normal, just more common,” the teacher responded.

Parental reactions to the video varied widely. Some echoed concerns about political indoctrination, while others defended the video’s message of openness and acceptance. Social media platforms buzzed with discussions, with one parent criticizing what they perceived as an undisclosed curriculum agenda, while another praised the video as harmless and vital for teaching tolerance.

BRES school officials responded by removing the video from its curriculum and pledged to involve families in reviewing future lesson materials outside of the board-approved character education curriculum.

However, the fallout from the video brought Bramlett Elementary national attention on social media in the days following the screening, leading to a new kind of challenge for local law enforcement as the school became the target of two consecutive bomb threats received by a news station in Atlanta via email.

Numerous deputies immediately conducted sweeps of the school and ensured no imminent danger to students or staff, with extra deputies remaining on the scene for the remainder of the week.

“The first thing that goes through my head, whether it’s credible or not, we take it seriously,” said Smith. “We never witnessed anything like this before.”

Despite no threats being found, authorities remained vigilant in determining the origin of the threats. Investigators were able to trace the threats to an IP address out of Nigeria. The FBI was notified and is working with the Nigeria Consulate to identify the individual(s) responsible.

“If someone threatens one of our children, one of our staff, or any citizen in Barrow County, we’re going to do everything we can in our power to track that person down and we will charge them how we see fit, regardless if someone agrees or disagrees about a video,” Smith said.