“Stuff Some Adults Don’t Want You to Read” at Langley

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have found this whole thread an insightful discussion of the pros and cons of banning books in schools. Most posters have been civil and sincere (with some exceptions, of course, because this is DCUM after all). Wouldn't it be nice if our kids could have this very same discussion with their peers at school guided by an experienced adult like a librarian? Teaching critical thinking is one of the things our schools have traditionally done best. Let's not shut it down.

Not if the librarian is self-righteous enough to believe that they know better than the parents in terms of deciding what books the kids should read. Remember that parents have the ultimate sovereignty over the education of their kids. Having met certain very-basic requirements for child welfare, the parents are free to educate their kids how they see fit. Teachers and librarians must realize that this authority is the natural outcome of a free and liberal society.

I could not disagree more with you. Knowing what kids should read and encouraging reading are literally key pieces of a librarian’s job. That’s what we pay them for. You don’t know how public schools work if you think every book a librarian recommends needs to be acceptable to every students’ parents. Your sovereignty extends as far as your decision whether to enroll your children in public schools. Beyond that, parents don’t get to set the policies.

That's demonstrably false. Opt outs exist for a reason for all sorts of policies which means parents still have a veto over what their kids experience in schools. Likewise administrators and school boards can be held accountable via elections and protests.

Fine. I would like to veto efforts by school officials to muzzle librarians by telling them not to create displays citing the fact that certain adults want to ban books. Any such efforts negatively affect my kid’s ability to experience an environment in which critical thinking is encouraged.

+1

I also VETO this attempt to muzzle librarians.

Go and try get the sign put up again. I encourage you. Please, make this a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have found this whole thread an insightful discussion of the pros and cons of banning books in schools. Most posters have been civil and sincere (with some exceptions, of course, because this is DCUM after all). Wouldn't it be nice if our kids could have this very same discussion with their peers at school guided by an experienced adult like a librarian? Teaching critical thinking is one of the things our schools have traditionally done best. Let's not shut it down.

Not if the librarian is self-righteous enough to believe that they know better than the parents in terms of deciding what books the kids should read. Remember that parents have the ultimate sovereignty over the education of their kids. Having met certain very-basic requirements for child welfare, the parents are free to educate their kids how they see fit. Teachers and librarians must realize that this authority is the natural outcome of a free and liberal society.

I could not disagree more with you. Knowing what kids should read and encouraging reading are literally key pieces of a librarian’s job. That’s what we pay them for. You don’t know how public schools work if you think every book a librarian recommends needs to be acceptable to every students’ parents. Your sovereignty extends as far as your decision whether to enroll your children in public schools. Beyond that, parents don’t get to set the policies.

That's demonstrably false. Opt outs exist for a reason for all sorts of policies which means parents still have a veto over what their kids experience in schools. Likewise administrators and school boards can be held accountable via elections and protests.

Fine. I would like to veto efforts by school officials to muzzle librarians by telling them not to create displays citing the fact that certain adults want to ban books. Any such efforts negatively affect my kid’s ability to experience an environment in which critical thinking is encouraged.

+1

I also VETO this attempt to muzzle librarians.

Go and try get the sign put up again. I encourage you. Please, make this a big deal.

Why? You didn’t get enough FoxNews airtime out of it yet? Not enough retweets?

[Anonymous]

Do you want to know what I’m really upset about?

That my 10th grader (in all honors classes) has only been required by his Langley coursework to read 1 book this school year so far. He read 2 books last year. He has not written anything over two pages long this entire school year for any class.

They have dumbed down the classes big time. THIS is what parents should be writing 22 pages over.

[yes, he reads outside of school, but to sure would be nice if his English class actually required reading vs the endless slidedecks]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have found this whole thread an insightful discussion of the pros and cons of banning books in schools. Most posters have been civil and sincere (with some exceptions, of course, because this is DCUM after all). Wouldn't it be nice if our kids could have this very same discussion with their peers at school guided by an experienced adult like a librarian? Teaching critical thinking is one of the things our schools have traditionally done best. Let's not shut it down.

Not if the librarian is self-righteous enough to believe that they know better than the parents in terms of deciding what books the kids should read. Remember that parents have the ultimate sovereignty over the education of their kids. Having met certain very-basic requirements for child welfare, the parents are free to educate their kids how they see fit. Teachers and librarians must realize that this authority is the natural outcome of a free and liberal society.

Parental authority is the "natural outcome of a free and liberal society"? What does that even mean?

PS. You're going to be in for a lot of surprises when your offspring (assuming you even have any) begin to develop their own thoughts.

I can't believe I have to explain this. In a free and liberal society, assuming you know what that means, parents have sovereignty over their children. The parents generally get to decide how their children are raised and educated, and not third parties, including the government. This right arises out of the fact that children do not have the capacity for autonomy and the responsibility for the child falls to the parents. As a reminder, a liberal society is one where the individual has sovereignty and governments derive their power from individuals and not the other way around. Certain delegations of responsibilities from individuals to the government such as education is not absolute or even durable - it can be withdrawn at any moment.

Your PS line shows you still don't understand the issue at hand, which is not about the books, or about the natural friction that arises between children and parents, or even about the friction between parents and teachers/librarians. It's about how this teacher/librarian is seeking to undermine the relationship between children and parents with this inflammatory sign. This behavior is evil and should not be applauded.

DP but the only way that librarian is sowing friction is if you as a parent agree that these books should be banned. If not, it’s a great opportunity to talk with your students about relevant current events. If you are in favor of banning them, you can explain that to your child as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you want to know what I’m really upset about?

That my 10th grader (in all honors classes) has only been required by his Langley coursework to read 1 book this school year so far. He read 2 books last year. He has not written anything over two pages long this entire school year for any class.

They have dumbed down the classes big time. THIS is what parents should be writing 22 pages over.

[yes, he reads outside of school, but to sure would be nice if his English class actually required reading vs the endless slidedecks]

I do think this is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you want to know what I’m really upset about?

That my 10th grader (in all honors classes) has only been required by his Langley coursework to read 1 book this school year so far. He read 2 books last year. He has not written anything over two pages long this entire school year for any class.

They have dumbed down the classes big time. THIS is what parents should be writing 22 pages over.

[yes, he reads outside of school, but to sure would be nice if his English class actually required reading vs the endless slidedecks]

What part of this thread would you read as a HS teacher and think, hey, I should assign more books to my students. Parents are exhausting all of our mental energy in every decision we make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you want to know what I’m really upset about?

That my 10th grader (in all honors classes) has only been required by his Langley coursework to read 1 book this school year so far. He read 2 books last year. He has not written anything over two pages long this entire school year for any class.

They have dumbed down the classes big time. THIS is what parents should be writing 22 pages over.

[yes, he reads outside of school, but to sure would be nice if his English class actually required reading vs the endless slidedecks]

Valid points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you want to know what I’m really upset about?

That my 10th grader (in all honors classes) has only been required by his Langley coursework to read 1 book this school year so far. He read 2 books last year. He has not written anything over two pages long this entire school year for any class.

They have dumbed down the classes big time. THIS is what parents should be writing 22 pages over.

[yes, he reads outside of school, but to sure would be nice if his English class actually required reading vs the endless slidedecks]

Word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you want to know what I’m really upset about?

That my 10th grader (in all honors classes) has only been required by his Langley coursework to read 1 book this school year so far. He read 2 books last year. He has not written anything over two pages long this entire school year for any class.

They have dumbed down the classes big time. THIS is what parents should be writing 22 pages over.

[yes, he reads outside of school, but to sure would be nice if his English class actually required reading vs the endless slidedecks]

The dumbing down is real.... My DC graduated last year from another FCPS HS in a high-income area and had a similar experience. My DC took only AP or Honors classes and the reading assignments in the English classes were very limited (at least compared to what I read in HS English classes). The saving grace was that DC's HS had AP Capstone and DC took both parts and graduated knowing how to research and write a 20+ page paper. This has served DC very well in college (UVA).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have found this whole thread an insightful discussion of the pros and cons of banning books in schools. Most posters have been civil and sincere (with some exceptions, of course, because this is DCUM after all). Wouldn't it be nice if our kids could have this very same discussion with their peers at school guided by an experienced adult like a librarian? Teaching critical thinking is one of the things our schools have traditionally done best. Let's not shut it down.

Not if the librarian is self-righteous enough to believe that they know better than the parents in terms of deciding what books the kids should read. Remember that parents have the ultimate sovereignty over the education of their kids. Having met certain very-basic requirements for child welfare, the parents are free to educate their kids how they see fit. Teachers and librarians must realize that this authority is the natural outcome of a free and liberal society.

Parental authority is the "natural outcome of a free and liberal society"? What does that even mean?

PS. You're going to be in for a lot of surprises when your offspring (assuming you even have any) begin to develop their own thoughts.

I can't believe I have to explain this. In a free and liberal society, assuming you know what that means, parents have sovereignty over their children. The parents generally get to decide how their children are raised and educated, and not third parties, including the government. This right arises out of the fact that children do not have the capacity for autonomy and the responsibility for the child falls to the parents. As a reminder, a liberal society is one where the individual has sovereignty and governments derive their power from individuals and not the other way around. Certain delegations of responsibilities from individuals to the government such as education is not absolute or even durable - it can be withdrawn at any moment.

Your PS line shows you still don't understand the issue at hand, which is not about the books, or about the natural friction that arises between children and parents, or even about the friction between parents and teachers/librarians. It's about how this teacher/librarian is seeking to undermine the relationship between children and parents with this inflammatory sign. This behavior is evil and should not be applauded.

Sorry, you are just plain wrong. When your kid goes to school, you lose control of controlling every message. Your job as a parent is to teach your kids your values and how to think clearly and critically, Your job is not to band them from information you find uncomfortable.

The librarian does not GAF about you and other parents. She is putting on a display of banned books that school boars, many of them not even parents, have banned. This has been done forever.

[Anonymous]

The only way the message undermines parents is if parents want to ban books. From almost adults in high school. As if they aren't going to find out about what they want to learn about on TikTok, or their friends showing them TikTok, or the big Google machine anyway. I am actually astounded that parents this controlling exist in an educated area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only way the message undermines parents is if parents want to ban books. From almost adults in high school. As if they aren't going to find out about what they want to learn about on TikTok, or their friends showing them TikTok, or the big Google machine anyway. I am actually astounded that parents this controlling exist in an educated area.

I guess you don't have tiger moms in your community, but its quite common in mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only way the message undermines parents is if parents want to ban books. From almost adults in high school. As if they aren't going to find out about what they want to learn about on TikTok, or their friends showing them TikTok, or the big Google machine anyway. I am actually astounded that parents this controlling exist in an educated area.

14 year olds are not “almost-adults”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only way the message undermines parents is if parents want to ban books. From almost adults in high school. As if they aren't going to find out about what they want to learn about on TikTok, or their friends showing them TikTok, or the big Google machine anyway. I am actually astounded that parents this controlling exist in an educated area.

14 year olds are not “almost-adults”.

They are closer to adults than not and absolutely can handle Beloved or Maus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only way the message undermines parents is if parents want to ban books. From almost adults in high school. As if they aren't going to find out about what they want to learn about on TikTok, or their friends showing them TikTok, or the big Google machine anyway. I am actually astounded that parents this controlling exist in an educated area.

14 year olds are not “almost-adults”.

My 14 yo is more mature than the toddler parents throwing tantrums.