Just got disturbing email regarding English class for my rising freshman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I might ask for an alternate book just to avoid reading a novel in verse, which my kid hates as much as I do.

I'm very left wing, but I'm actually a little disappointed that the schools are trending so hard away from reading the classics. I feel like kids will have lots of opportunities to read the controversial new lit-crit darling books. But when will they read The Grapes of Wrath, or The Crucible, Slaughterhouse Five, or Long Day's Journey Into Night, or anything by Hemingway or Wharton? (Seems like some of the classics, like Ray Bradbury, George Orwell and Toni Morrison continue to be popular among schools.) I subscribe to the "Make New Friends, But Keep the Old" theory of literature -- I feel like we are tossing out all the old friends. It would be easier to mix in the new ones if kids read 6 novels a year, but it seems like a lot of classes really only have 2-3, plus maybe some poems or short stories.

As a person of color, I get very little out of reading the "classics."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a fan of book banning and would let my kid read whatever they wanted and/or was assigned. I read a different Elizabeth Acevedo book and can see where this author uses sexualized language that is worth warning parents about. Curious if it’s in curriculum or an extra the teacher chose?

I was part of a fcps book review committee last year. I did not review that particular book, but it was on the FCPS curriculum list for required 9th grade reading.

I am unsure if it was a "The class will now read and discuss chapter 5 of Poet X and explain how the sexual and anti Christian themes relate to our personal lives" or if it was used in a "Choose one of these 10 book options on identity, and write a paper explaining how the themes of your chosen book relates to identity."

There is a very big difference between the former and the latter. Given the subject matter and the age, one is completely unacceptable, and one is slightly more acceptable.

I am pretty open about reading any books, but I do think there is something really icky about the adults in FCPS trying to create situations that normalize our minor kids discussing books with graphic sex scenes with random adults. Our school pyramid has had multiple high school and junior teachers fired in the 12 years I have had teens enrolled in FCPS middle and high school for inappropriate behavior with teenagers and older elementary kids, including discussing sexual topics with the kids on social media, up to soliciting sex online from actual teens. Other pyramids have this happen too, most lately the Langley football coach, with enough regularity across the entire district, that makes it pretty clear that creating a curriculum that desensitizes our teens about appropriate boundaries and encourages them to discuss sexually explicit materials with teachers is probably not the direction FCPS should be moving in.

Well said.

+100 Thank you to the poster who served on the committee for articulating all this.
And for clarity, I will confirm that for my child’s school all classes were assigned this book. It was not among choices. It was a scenario where my child opted out and left the room for three weeks during English class. We didn’t make a huge deal about it but one by one, at least six of her friends told her they wished their parents had opted them out because it was so awkward and creepy to be in class discussing this book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

So you've read it?

The Poet X should not be a class required book due to the desecration of the most sacred part of Catholicism, the Eucharist.

FCPS would not allow a book anywhere near a classroom that denigrated Mohammed in the same way that this book desecrates the Eucharist.

Leave it as a classroom book for kids to choose on their own, but remove it from the class reading lists.

The book is required reading?

Not “required” per se. You can opt out and the teacher has to provide an alternative and your kid leaves the room.
So technically not required but yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This regulation was specifically written to make parents think their kids were being exposed to bestiality or weird fetishes as a political stunt. I love how the never comes up extreme sexual practices bookend the broad and purposely vague sexual excitement or nudity. It’s a MAGA stunt to get more book banners. Don’t fall for it.

Ummm wut?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

The amount of awards this book won is staggering. People more knowledgeable than you think it's a yes.

I’m all about the awards for its literary style. Adults should read it and support this authors work.
She’s talented.
It’s just not a book for 9th graders.

You know not of what you speak. The awards are related to youth. Stop coddling your kids.

The Poet X was awarded The Printz Award, which "honors the best book written for teens this year."

The Poet X was also recently awarded the Pura Belpré Award, which is presented anually to a Latinx writer "whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth."

In November, The Poet X was the recipient of the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

So you've read it?

The Poet X should not be a class required book due to the desecration of the most sacred part of Catholicism, the Eucharist.

FCPS would not allow a book anywhere near a classroom that denigrated Mohammed in the same way that this book desecrates the Eucharist.

Leave it as a classroom book for kids to choose on their own, but remove it from the class reading lists.

The book is required reading?

Not “required” per se. You can opt out and the teacher has to provide an alternative and your kid leaves the room.
So technically not required but yes.

Just checking - because the poster says that this book should not be a class required book. And it's not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did none of you go to High School? I'm genuinely confused by these responses.

Confused by this question.
What explicit masturbation scenes did your teachers require you to read in high school?

The scene you refer to is hardly explicit. No more than the scene in The Giver.

Are you impaired?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a fan of book banning and would let my kid read whatever they wanted and/or was assigned. I read a different Elizabeth Acevedo book and can see where this author uses sexualized language that is worth warning parents about. Curious if it’s in curriculum or an extra the teacher chose?

I was part of a fcps book review committee last year. I did not review that particular book, but it was on the FCPS curriculum list for required 9th grade reading.

I am unsure if it was a "The class will now read and discuss chapter 5 of Poet X and explain how the sexual and anti Christian themes relate to our personal lives" or if it was used in a "Choose one of these 10 book options on identity, and write a paper explaining how the themes of your chosen book relates to identity."

There is a very big difference between the former and the latter. Given the subject matter and the age, one is completely unacceptable, and one is slightly more acceptable.

I am pretty open about reading any books, but I do think there is something really icky about the adults in FCPS trying to create situations that normalize our minor kids discussing books with graphic sex scenes with random adults. Our school pyramid has had multiple high school and junior teachers fired in the 12 years I have had teens enrolled in FCPS middle and high school for inappropriate behavior with teenagers and older elementary kids, including discussing sexual topics with the kids on social media, up to soliciting sex online from actual teens. Other pyramids have this happen too, most lately the Langley football coach, with enough regularity across the entire district, that makes it pretty clear that creating a curriculum that desensitizes our teens about appropriate boundaries and encourages them to discuss sexually explicit materials with teachers is probably not the direction FCPS should be moving in.

Well said.

+100 Thank you to the poster who served on the committee for articulating all this.
And for clarity, I will confirm that for my child’s school all classes were assigned this book. It was not among choices. It was a scenario where my child opted out and left the room for three weeks during English class. We didn’t make a huge deal about it but one by one, at least six of her friends told her they wished their parents had opted them out because it was so awkward and creepy to be in class discussing this book.

I also appreciate the insight, but this goes back to the intent of the post. Clearly if it was meant to stir the pot, it succeeded. Now, what are people going to do about it? Perhaps it's best to see how you can serve on the committee selecting resources or perhaps student representatives should also be allowed to serve if not already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

So you've read it?

The Poet X should not be a class required book due to the desecration of the most sacred part of Catholicism, the Eucharist.

FCPS would not allow a book anywhere near a classroom that denigrated Mohammed in the same way that this book desecrates the Eucharist.

Leave it as a classroom book for kids to choose on their own, but remove it from the class reading lists.

The book is required reading?

Not “required” per se. You can opt out and the teacher has to provide an alternative and your kid leaves the room.
So technically not required but yes.

Just checking - because the poster says that this book should not be a class required book. And it's not.

Well the pledge of allegiance wasnt required either, but wouldnt you agree that it’s uncomfortable to have to be the only one who opts out?
Why not just choose class selections that don’t require the “sexually explicit content” notification letter? Are there not enough quality book choices that meet that requirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did none of you go to High School? I'm genuinely confused by these responses.

Confused by this question.
What explicit masturbation scenes did your teachers require you to read in high school?

The scene you refer to is hardly explicit. No more than the scene in The Giver.

Are you impaired?

No. You act like she describes it in detail which she does not. Don't give a false impression. It's posts like yours that drive sales of "inappropriate" books through the roof.

[Anonymous]

They see worse in movies or YouTube.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is my question to any parent worried about what their kid might read in school: does your kid have a phone or a device with the internet on it? If so, your child has EASY access to the most horrific things on it, the worst porn, etc. it is EASY for kids to circumvent parental controls. So, unless you are willing to eliminate phones ,Internet and cable in your house, you are a hypocrite

Why is it so important to you to have kids read explicit content in class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They see worse in movies or YouTube.

Including violence. And active shooter drills. Please opt my child out of those - they're more terrifying than any story in a book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I might ask for an alternate book just to avoid reading a novel in verse, which my kid hates as much as I do.

I'm very left wing, but I'm actually a little disappointed that the schools are trending so hard away from reading the classics. I feel like kids will have lots of opportunities to read the controversial new lit-crit darling books. But when will they read The Grapes of Wrath, or The Crucible, Slaughterhouse Five, or Long Day's Journey Into Night, or anything by Hemingway or Wharton? (Seems like some of the classics, like Ray Bradbury, George Orwell and Toni Morrison continue to be popular among schools.) I subscribe to the "Make New Friends, But Keep the Old" theory of literature -- I feel like we are tossing out all the old friends. It would be easier to mix in the new ones if kids read 6 novels a year, but it seems like a lot of classes really only have 2-3, plus maybe some poems or short stories.

Have them read these classics on their own.
This summer, my ninth grade child read Scarlett Letter, As the Bell Tolls, and The Crucible. Last summer, she read Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace, Old Man and the Sea, and Of Mice and Men. She likes to shop the bookshelves in our family room, and she found most of these on our shelves. We only had to download one.

List. If you had such books around you would know the actual titles. Such as For Whom the Bell Tolls. Not to mention your dislike of “The.”

I am an engineer who reads, but I am not an aficionado of literature. My daughter's other parent is the literature lover. Yes, we have a rather expansive home library, but that doesn't mean everyone in this house, myself included, has read every title.

If it, pathetically, makes you feel better about yourself, continue to judge others for errors they make. I am sorry that you never matured past the developmental age of approximately 12-13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

The amount of awards this book won is staggering. People more knowledgeable than you think it's a yes.

I’m all about the awards for its literary style. Adults should read it and support this authors work.
She’s talented.
It’s just not a book for 9th graders.

You know not of what you speak. The awards are related to youth. Stop coddling your kids.

The Poet X was awarded The Printz Award, which "honors the best book written for teens this year."

The Poet X was also recently awarded the Pura Belpré Award, which is presented anually to a Latinx writer "whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth."

In November, The Poet X was the recipient of the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature

Cool.
You do you.