Slavery Film Controversy in Winnetka

After skimming through an edition of the TribLocal, I found an article that jumped out at me because of it's headline. It read: "Slavery film controversy results in District 36 policy change." This jumped out at me because it reminded me of recent Huckleberry Finn controversies we have been discussing in class. However, this article was about a movie shown, rather than a book read.
A couple of weeks ago, a fourth grade class at a middle school in Winnetka was shown a movie called "The Middle Passage", a movie about the journey Africans were forced to take to North and South America. The movie depicts the journey in a very realistic way, resulting in some intense scenes. Some parents were infuriated, calling the scenes "too intense for youngsters". One parent stated of the movie, "it's so off limits, I can't even talk about it, it infuriates me so much". However, other parents were completely supportive of the movie being shown. One mom sarcastically stated "About 20 million Africans were taken from homes and families and sold into slavery...but the real tragedy, really and seriously, is that a privileged little girl from Winnetka had to see some scary pictures of it".
I personally believe in this point. Growing up on the North Shore, we are immediately sheltered from so many things happening all around us, but we shouldn't have to be sheltered from what has already happened. I understand some parent's concerns that their children were just too young to be shown this material, but I wonder when the right age would be? Our past defines our country, and there is no need to be sheltered from it