Banning porn in a high school is a good and proper example of banning being good. Its no different with killing. Some people need killed. Killing some people is ordained by God Himself.
Would your child's mind be warped for good if they read the word "Damn"?
It doesnt matter, Admin. If parents are uncomfortable with curriculum content that has cuss words in it (it's against school policy for the kids to say the word. They will get disciplined for using it) and it has nudity(Maus is not the same as the sexually graphic material that parents are getting removed from libraries elsewhere btw) and there are other materials from which to teach the holocaust that do NOT contain cuss words and nudity.....then removing Maus and using other materials is reasonable.
Maus isnt "banned". Its simply not part of the 8th grade curriculum. You know things are not banned just because they are not part of 8th grade curriculum.
The kids are still being taught the holocaust. Maus is not the only book about it. It's not even the best book about it. I read Animal Farm as part of MY 8th grade Language Arts curriculum. Guess who got that removed from the curriculum? Is Animal Farm banned because it's no longer part of a curriculum? Democrats had that taken out. And if I recall right, Republicans had a harry shit fit about it. It's not banned, it's still widely available. So is Maus.
I have actually ordered Maus so I can put it on the reading list for my 16 year old. She still attends public school but as part of a program and she will be doing dual enrollment next year and take classes at the community college. I have always supplemented at home with literature and there is quite a bit of material I've had my daughters read that I know for fact would make other parents cringe.
When I was young I had a very dysfunctional home life. Not as bad as some other people and in many I was very blessed....but I did escape a lot with reading and music. When I was 14 I read Stephen Kings It. So my oldest daughter read it at 14. They read everything from Stephen King to Koontz to Terri Pratchett, Edgar Alan Poe, Clive Barker, The Anne series, Shakespear, Orwell....even Wuthering Heights. And more. I expose them to different sorts of thinkers from various ends of the political spectrum even to Karl Marx. Theyve atheists philosophers to to Christain ones and of course CS Lewis.
I want them to be well read, critical thinkers able to deeply emphasize with others and with the world.
I actually cringe when books are removed from libraries. But I keep in mind.....this is a public school. There are all kinds of people who rely on it to provide a basic and fundamental education to their kids. We cant expect every parent to be comfortable with the same things we are comfortable with. While I think some parents maybe over shelter(and sadly under prepare) their kids, there are people who would criticize me not sheltering enough. Who is right, here? Of course i think i am. And the other side believes they are. And both of us have good points.
If there is certain material in the school library or curriculum that parents have reasonable issues with (and no matter how silly you and I may see the word "damn" or the nudity may be), and I do believe its reasonable.....let's go ahead and use other material. If this were the holocaust itself on the chopping block I would be the loud mouth i am about why that's fucked. But its not. It's just changing to other materials.
And parents more like me can and SHOULD order this book and have their kid read it. It's a sad thought to think I'm just one of few to expose their kids to a variety of literature and I genuinely hope that's not the case and if it is....perhaps this controversy will encourage more parents to fill their homes with books and start encouraging their kids to get into them. And not just read them....but discuss them.
All that being said? The fact that that IM disgusted and horrified by material that is just vulgar and sexually graphic? Describing sex acts between children and a minor and an adult? I mean come the fuck on. That benefits and helps NO ONE. In fact giving kids that age material like that can ONLY harm them. The SAME with teaching kids the Equity narratives as if that's how they should view the world. Its politcal PLEASE ASS BOX ME! and it should not be in schools anymore than teaching through the lense of religion.
