Just got disturbing email regarding English class for my rising freshman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally thought of the Romeo and Juliet movie we watched in 9th grade too! That's is NOTHING. Calm down. We didn't have the interenet and we weren't even that excited about it in 1989.

awwww yisssss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I totally thought of the Romeo and Juliet movie we watched in 9th grade too! That's is NOTHING. Calm down. We didn't have the interenet and we weren't even that excited about it in 1989.

I know they like to pretend the outrage is over Romeo and Juliet. But….it’s not.
Literally no one cares.
But it’s a convenient strawman so that you’ll shrug and not look at the actual material that is crazytown porn that they are giving your young teens.
These kids aren’t 17 or 18. They are freshmen.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

There are lots of movies/TV shows that would fall under this description that my kids watched in middle school birthday parties (if not earlier)_:
Mamma Mia
Grease
The Simpsons
Ghostbusters
Are you there God It is Me Margaret?

What are you afraid of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

That’s a hard no.

Why?

Because my kids are too young to be required to read pornography?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Youngkin made us go through every book in the curriculum. If ANY sexual content is in there, and that means any, we have to alert the parents. This email sounds insane and it’s actually just to tell you “Hey, your kid is reading Romeo and Juliet which contains a very obtuse joke about penises.” But legally we have to tell you.

-hs teacher

Romeo and Juliet also includes suicide, teens killing each other, and 14 year olds having sex with people they met yesterday.

If we are going to make the argument that kids should be shielded from reading about people doing things that their parents disapprove of, then acting like this book is fine because it’s “classic” is absurd.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like a good thing. It protects the teacher, warns the student, and informs the parent.

[Anonymous]

While I agree with your right to monitor what your child reads, I have to ask: do you monitor their media consumption? What they watch online? Do they have a smartphone? Because, if so, a book is the least of your worries. what do you think has more impact? Reading words on a page or watching images on a screen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Yes, the "warnings" are true, I guess. It is a beautiful book in verse and a lot of students will connect with the immigrant experience and finding your talent. But you do you. Elizabeth Acevedo is a best selling author and poet - and she's local! If you can see her in person, she is a phenomenal speaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear Parent/Guardian,

FCPS Policy 3290 requires parental notification when students may encounter instructional materials that contain sexually explicit content. According to the Policy, “sexually explicit content means (i) any description of or (ii) any picture, photograph, drawing, motion picture film, digital image or similar visual representation depicting sexual bestiality, a lewd exhibition of nudity, as nudity is defined in Section 18.2-390, sexual excitement, sexual conduct or sadomasochistic abuse, as also defined in Section 18.2-390, coprophilia, urophilia, or fetishism.”

This letter is to inform you that your student will encounter the following instructional materials that contain sexually explicit content as part of the course named below.

Course: English 9 and English 9 Honors


Omg. WTAF? Is this normal??

Con't...I also think this is not the hill you want to die on.

[Anonymous]

I’m the furthest thing from a prude or a book banner. I’m a former high school English teacher and am now a therapist. I’m also the parent of a socially immature boy with ADHD, very little filter and poor reasoning skills, and I see plenty of other boys who are similar. They don’t need the challenge of reading and discussing borderline explicit material in school. If you think Romeo and Juliet is as explicit as it gets, you are mistaken. I think the warnings are great. I like having the chance to prepare my son for challenging content. I’m not sure every parent has the time or ability to do that, though. I’m also not sure every English teacher has the skills to moderate discussions about sensitive topics. There is no SOL standard that requires the reading of books with sexual content, and there is an entire world of literature that educates and broadens the mind without presenting our kids with content they might not be ready for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the furthest thing from a prude or a book banner. I’m a former high school English teacher and am now a therapist. I’m also the parent of a socially immature boy with ADHD, very little filter and poor reasoning skills, and I see plenty of other boys who are similar. They don’t need the challenge of reading and discussing borderline explicit material in school. If you think Romeo and Juliet is as explicit as it gets, you are mistaken. I think the warnings are great. I like having the chance to prepare my son for challenging content. I’m not sure every parent has the time or ability to do that, though. I’m also not sure every English teacher has the skills to moderate discussions about sensitive topics. There is no SOL standard that requires the reading of books with sexual content, and there is an entire world of literature that educates and broadens the mind without presenting our kids with content they might not be ready for.

The harm comes when parents get a vague email and instead of contacting the school or the teacher, they post a message to a forum with "disturbing email" in the subject line. I guess I would say to the OP, what did the teacher/admin say when you requested that your student have an alternative book to read? That would be more helpful to the conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP, it's not like they're going to be reading The Happy Hooker in class.

Great post!,,