Abortion video shocks students

2004-02-23 13:06

Zagreb - Around 30 Zagreb high school students were shocked when a religious class teacher forced them to watch a film containing explicit images of abortion, the daily Jutarnji list said on Monday.

It said the Roman Catholic catechism teacher insisted that 16-year-old children see the entire, hour-long film called "Abortus" (Abortion) which presented every detail of the act.

The report said many of the students wanted to leave the class, but the teacher did not allow them. Some girls started crying.

"For one hour, they were showing students realistic scenes of abortion. I believe this way of educating children is brutal and inappropriate because it shocks them, which they proved protesting," a father of one student told Jutarnji.

Croatia is a predominantly Roman Catholic state, and the church is seen as a very influential institution.

- SAPA