I love the horror genre because it is so diverse, and I never know quite how it will move me. Recently, I watched Mr. Crocket and Weapons, two very different horror movies, but they both left me thinking about my life as a teacher, and what lines I would cross to protect students.
I think back to my interview over ten years ago. I was a very different man. Nevertheless, my desire to help kids never changed. The principal asked me what should be a simple question. “If you see a student walking on the street, it is pouring rain, and they have no umbrella, what are you going to do?”
I teach high school, and the correct answer, especially at that time, is to keep driving. I know this, but I can’t bring myself to say it. I hesitate for a long time. One of the assistant principals nodded for me to continue.
I admit I would stop to help. “Maybe I can call someone for them.”
“No one is answering the phone.”
I confess the truth. “I would take them home.”
This apparently won me the job. The principal said, “I can make good teachers. I can’t make good people.”
That principal was promoted before I could ever work with him, but his words stuck with me. I’ve always moved with my students’ best interests in mind.
Here is a not-so-secret secret: so many kids have horrible lives.
I try to leave their trauma at the school, but it is sometimes impossible. I still carry their wounds in my heart, especially the ones I fail to help.
I love the horror genre because it deals with difficult subject matter with a raw honesty, while also providing enough distance to make it palatable (at least to someone like me). I’m struck by how often a horror movie speaks to a situation I’m figuring out in real time.
Mr. Crocket
Mr. Crocket is a 2024 horror movie directed by Brandon Espy. It drew me in because of its Black horror villain, but it kept me because of its unique vibe and relevance to my life.
Mr. Crocket is part Mr. Rogers part Freddy Krueger. Children become obsessed with his show, and he kills their abusive or neglectful parents before taking the kids back into the television world with him.
Some of Mr. Crocket’s victims mirror the parents I’ve dealt with in the recent past. One child has an abusive father and a silent mother. As the father abuses the child over family dinner, the mother runs away in distress.
Mr. Crocket sees this on the television and pulls himself out of the VCR. With the help of Mr. Chair, he teaches the father a lesson. First, he tries to force feed him a meal of dirt, worms, and hair, but when the father refuses, Mr. Crocket cuts his stomach open and shoves the meal into the wound.
I can’t help but think of a child in a similar situation. She made it to my class at the end of the day without being asked about her bruised face. She revealed to me that her mother’s boyfriend did it.
Of course, I reported the incident. DSS arrived, told Mom the boyfriend couldn’t stay there, and went on about their business. The man left for a bit, but returned thanks to a love letter, eventually just making the child’s life worse than before.
She thanked me for trying to help, but told me I would only hurt things if I continued to try to help. The child was kicked out of school (for reasons I feel weren’t warranted when compared to some of the actions of her peers), and I never saw her again. I still think about this situation regularly and hope not to make similar mistakes in the future.
Drugs may be the number one cause of neglectful parents, and Mr. Crocket targets one of those as well. Let’s just say by the end of the scene, the man is missing his head.
As a teacher, this is another common issue. I also have to visit homes to tutor, and some parents are so far gone they don’t even try to hide their extracurricular activities. It is a sad situation, no matter the outcome, and Mr. Crocket takes these very real situations and provides some fantastical catharsis.
The movie is aware the way Mr. Crocket is moving isn’t okay. In fact, the main protagonist, Summer, seems to be a good mother dealing with a child who is acting out after his father’s death. It is noticeable that Crocket does not kill Summer, but he still takes her son into the television world.
Summer eventually learns Mr. Crocket killed his own abusive father when he was a child and became a children’s entertainer in the hopes of helping other children. He later met Anthony, another abused child, and took him to his home in hopes of protecting him. It was considered a kidnapping and resulted in a confrontation with the police that led to Crocket’s death.
Crocket made a deal with the devil; he could return to life in exchange for providing the souls of abusive parents, something Crocket would happily do.
In some ways, I feel for Crocket. I know the desire to protect children from abusive parents, and I know the pain of failing them. However, I also know how it looks and what happens if you go through all the necessary red tape to help them.
As a teacher, my hands are usually tied. If I cross the line, I’ll end up like Mr. Crocket. (I mean the being confronted by police part…not the making the deal with the devil in exchange for souls part).
Weapons
Weapons is a 2025 film by Zach Cregger and one of those horror films I could discuss for hours. However, for this piece, I want to focus on Justine Gandy, the teacher.
17 children in Justine’s third-grade class suddenly run from their homes at 2:17 am and disappear. The only child who remains is Alex Lilly. Of course, the town blames Justine. Why is it only her class? Either she heard something or she is behind it.
Justine is placed on leave and told to stay away from Alex. Justine is worried about her remaining student and tries to make contact. He doesn’t want to talk to her, but Justine notices Alex’s house is covered in paper, and after investigating, she sees his parents sitting in the dark in a zombie-like state. Although understanding possible repercussions, she requests a wellness check for Alex.
The viewer learns what is going on with Alex, and without spoiling it, his experience is a metaphor for alcoholic, neglectful, abusive parents. He hides his pain in the presence of other adults while suffering at home. It is the careful eye of a teacher who witnesses the pain through his facade.
Even the wellness check isn’t enough. Again, like many of my experiences, parents are able to clean up just enough to avoid actually changing their ways. DSS will walk away, and the abuse continues.
Justine crosses lines to help, at this point not caring how it impacts her career. She places the children first.
Mr. Crocket and Weapons are very different movies, but they both capture the angst of being a teacher. It is walking the line of being a distant professional and a diligent citizen. It is the responsibility of guiding minds while protecting souls.
In the real world, teachers can only do so much. Truth be told, one teacher can't help all the children in need. It takes a village. It takes an entire system, and unfortunately, we are failing so many of them.
I know some people will tell me to shut up and just give their children facts to memorize for a test, but I bet those are the people Mr. Crocket would be watching.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of LG Ware's work on Medium.