ALVIN, Texas – Alvin ISD leaders are defending a lesson that featured a news report from MTV about the beheadings of two American journalists.

ABC 13 reports:

The assignment was given to a sixth grade language arts class at Alvin Junior High. The task, according to parents of students who received it, was to read a summary sourced to MTV News and then reflect on it in a one-page paper.

The subject was The Islamic State of Iraq.

It was titled “What is ISIS?” and in the second line explains to the 11-year-olds the terrorist group takes credit for beheading an American journalist.

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“You get an 11-year-old who comes homes and says, ‘I didn’t know they cut someone’s head off, even showed video.’ What are you going to do?” parent Russell Pharris tells the news station.

Two parents filed formal complaints with the school district, according to KAMR.

“I think that this is a bit much for an 11-year-old. It should be more into the freshman high school, They’re still learning about life, they’re still going to the playground,” Pharris says.

The school district defended the assignment and said the teachers would not be reprimanded. In a statement, the district responds:

As educators, our intent is to provide students with a supportive learning environment where they are able to discuss factual events and gain better understanding of the world around them.

Our young people are inundated with information about tragic current events through various sources such as the nightly news report, newspaper and magazine articles, conversations with peers, and posts on social media.

Our teachers strive to find the appropriate balance when teaching students about troubling world events while taking into consideration their age and maturity level.

The sad reality is that Jr. High students are confronted with and are aware of the details related to ISIS. The goal of Alvin ISD is to ensure that students are provided appropriate opportunities to gain a factual understanding in the context of classroom-learning environment.

“There’s still a lot of things you can write narratives on and beheadings in the Middle East and American foreign policy certainly shouldn’t be one of them for sixth graders,” parent David McLendon tells KXAN.