Just got disturbing email regarding English class for my rising freshman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately yes. Teachers are required to alert parents! However, parents can ask for specific titles, read them and opt their child out of any they feel are not appropriate. Teachers are required to provide an alternative assignment and to avoid any action or statement that would be critical of the child or parent.

But if my child is the only one doing the alternative assignment, they won’t be part of any class discussions. How would that work? Won’t it be harder?

It will make more work for the teacher, and your kid won't learn nearly enough, but you'll have saved your kid from the trauma of reading Romeo and Juliet. Plus, it's always fun to embarrass your kid!

It’s not a classic, unfortunately. I would totally be on board with a classic. It’s a woke novel with “masturbation, heavy naked petting,” etc.

they know what word from discord.

[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

This is exactly why it’s woke.

[Anonymous]

Wait til ya’ll read the fun parts of the Bible 😂 ten bucks says all the Christian pearl clutchers kids know ALL those passages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is exactly why it’s woke.

Wait, a Latin author writing about Latin culture is woke? Does that mean white people books about white culture are also woke?

[Anonymous]

Wow, I just bought the book and read it in one day. Now, I want to read it again with my high school freshman son.

What a powerful book!

First, it's a 361 page book, with hundreds of poems, about 4 of which reference sexual interactions, none of which are graphic or explicit. In one of them, the 16 year old protagonist starts to make out with her boyfriend (this is the "heavy petting" scene), realizes she doesn't want to have sex, and asks him to stop, and he gently helps her put her shirt back on and dries her tears. It's exactly what we should want our daughters and sons to hear, that they can say no, that they should respect other people's no.

I will also say, as a Catholic, that the book is not objectionable from a religious point of view. Yes, she desecrates the Eucharist. But just because a book describes something, it doesn't mean it endorses it. And while, there is definitely spiritual abuse, done in the name of Catholicism, it's super clear that it's wrong. The priest, Father Sean, is the one Xiomara turns to for help, and his actions are nothing but kind and loving and helpful. It's actually a great portrayal of what the Catholic church is at it's best.

I think it's so ironic that people on this thread seem to be saying that it's better to read Romeo and Juliet, where the Catholic priest facilitates a relationship that would be considered statutory rape if it happened today, and leads to the death of two teenagers, than a book where horny teenagers decide not to have sex, and a Catholic priest helps heal a broken family, and bring a teenager back to a relationship with God.

Anyway, thank you DCUM for introducing me to something beautiful to share with my rising 9th grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah this is the equivalent of prop 65 warnings for hazardous substances that appear on everything in California. Thanks Youngkin!

We had to do this long before current Governor. Provide trigger warnings for violence as well as sex. Not a new thing by any means

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the pp who mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird, I never said it was explicit but if you read the stock language in the letter of the OP, it references basically any reference to sex.

If you want to get an idea of what books are being banned in schools without the noise of individual school districts, here is Utah's statewide list

"A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Frost and Starlight" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Silver Flames" by Sarah J. Maas
"A Court of Wings and Ruin" by Sarah J. Maas
"Empire of Storms" by Sarah J. Maas
"What Girls are Made of" by Elana K. Arnold
"Milk and Honey" by Rupi Kaur
"Forever" by Judy Blume
"Tilt" by Ellen Hopkins
"Fallout (Crank, Book 3)" by Ellen Hopkins
"Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood
"Blankets" by Craig Thompson

My tween would be furious about the Sarah J Maas books, but you could make a good curriculum without the other books. Of course, I'm sure the local districts have far longer lists and that local book stores have banned books sections that do a brisk business

[Anonymous]

Just laughing because I went to a private school that even had weekly chapel and we read The French Lieutenant's Woman, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Crucible, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, and so on. Because our school was primarily concerned with prepping us for college. How do you expect your kid to pass classes in college if they've never encountered uncomfortable subject matter before?

[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.

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

Not even To Kill A Mockingbird or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

To kill a mockingbird is white savior complex and I think many would not consider why the caged bird sings a "classic," although it is a powerful book, but honestly not among my favorites. it does include sexual assault, by the by.

[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.

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

This is exactly why it’s woke.

Wait, a Latin author writing about Latin culture is woke? Does that mean white people books about white culture are also woke?

Yes, of course?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just laughing because I went to a private school that even had weekly chapel and we read The French Lieutenant's Woman, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Crucible, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, and so on. Because our school was primarily concerned with prepping us for college. How do you expect your kid to pass classes in college if they've never encountered uncomfortable subject matter before?

When they get to college, they will protest and force the administration to make sure they don't encounter any uncomfortable subject matter.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this informed response. Many of the comments on this forum reflect ignorance about what should be considered “age appropriate!” The book cited is not appropriate for grade 9.

In another case during my long tenure in FCPS the book most challenged was The Bible!

In order to understand literary allusions in many great works, knowledge of biblical references is essential as well as those from mythology and history. So often in ninth grade honors classes certain segments are read in order to demonstrate how creation myths are found in many ancient texts.

Unfortunately there is now a trend to not assign any full length novels as they cannot be read with the restrictions on hours of homework. Yes - reading is considered homework!

As a parent I would be more concerned about that!

[Anonymous]

The idea that anything with sexual content is "pornography" shows a real lack of understanding of what pornography is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

Not even To Kill A Mockingbird or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

To kill a mockingbird is white savior complex and I think many would not consider why the caged bird sings a "classic," although it is a powerful book, but honestly not among my favorites. it does include sexual assault, by the by.

It's not. You may have read it too young to understand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea that anything with sexual content is "pornography" shows a real lack of understanding of what pornography is.

+1