Can you say abuse of power - seems like even the president of the local school board is drunk on power. One parent (the school board president) complained about a book and poof it's out of the curriculum, my guess it has to do more with homophobia than language but they would never admit that.
If anyone see a debate in this article I'd like to know - one parent doesn't like a certain book and another says he understands, not really a debate.
Parents debate appropriate books
By Beth Burger
Wausau Daily Herald
[email protected] And one parent's concern recently spurred the evaluation of a book, "Athletic Shorts" by Chris Crutcher, which was pulled from an advanced seventh-grade English class at Horace Mann Middle School in Wausau.
"Athletic Shorts," a collection of six short stories, broaches topics like AIDS and homosexuality.
The Wausau School District discontinued the book that was being read aloud in a class due to its language, sexual references and because it too mature for seventh-graders, according to officials.
Wausau School Board President Patrick Keefe and his wife, who made the complaint, for taking an interest in what their child is reading.
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061029/WDH0101/610290509/1580/WDH01Author responds to decision to pull book
Chris Crutcher: I wrote each of those stories in response to something that was happening out in the real world. ... There have been a lot of people who read it and felt like it had a lot of merit. ... And it's humorous and it takes on some really tough subjects. I've never been in a school anywhere where any individual parent or any individual child was offended by a particular story where they wouldn't give that child another book to read in place of it. But the idea that you take it away from everybody is pretty offensive to me. I don't take it personally. I really don't. I understand these people want the best for their kids. I understand they don't know me, so it's not a personal attack on me. But what I do think is that so often, people don't realize what kids are capable of reading, watching or discussing. And having it pulled, it seems like one of those things that happens where people are wanting to protect their kids in ways they can't protect them. ... You protect your kids by engaging in those conversations, engaging in tough conversations, going ahead and allowing that information and letting kids know how you feel about it, and understanding how they feel about it. So pulling a book out of a curriculum always seems to me like kind of a lazy idea, kind of a scared idea when I really believe we get a lot better information and conversation with kids if we opened ourselves up to having those kind of conversations.
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061030/WDH0101/610300604/1580/WDH01
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