Classic, groundbreaking books being banned from honors class

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MK
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Classic, groundbreaking books being banned from honors class

Postby MK » Thu May 25, 2006 9:14 pm

Remind me never to live in Arlington Heights. After all these years, people still don't have a fucking clue.

Explicit move is made to ban books from reading list

By Jamie Francisco
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 24, 2006

A bid to remove nine books from the required-reading list of the second-largest high school district in Illinois has triggered debate over whether works praised in literary circles are high art or smut.

The issue arose this month when Township High School District 214 board member Leslie Pinney flagged books that she said contain vulgar language, brutal imagery or depictions of sexual situations inappropriate for students.

The board is scheduled to vote Thursday night on whether to keep the books as part of the curriculum.

"If the media are bombarding our children with explicit sexual images and graphic violence and prolific profanity, can't a school relent from that?" Pinney said. "Is there a different level of standards? That's my question."

The titles on Pinney's list are "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin, "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World" by Michael Pollan, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky, "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers and "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez.

It is the first time in more than 20 years that a reading list has been challenged in the Arlington Heights-based district, said Chuck Venegoni, who heads the English and fine arts departments at Hersey High School. The district uses an extensive review process based on established national reading lists, and the suggestion that teachers are using materials on par with porn is insulting, he said.

"This is not some serendipitous decision to allow someone to do what they felt like doing because they had something about talking about something kinky in front of kids," Venegoni said. "It's insulting to hardworking people who really do care about kids."

Pinney, the mother of a District 214 graduate, admits she has not read all the books. She is not seeking to ban them from district libraries, but in class she would like to replace them with books that address the same themes without explicit material.

Among her objections are a bestiality scene in "Beloved," graphic violence in "The Things They Carried" and masturbation references in "Wallflower."

Venegoni said he has received dozens of e-mails of support from parents but also has had to explain that pornography is not part of the lesson plan.

"For however edgy a few passages taken out of context, there is nothing in any of those books that even remotely approaches what an objective person would call pornography," he said.

Several conservative groups have rallied to Pinney's cause, saying that the books promote porn, which has prompted community members on both sides to flood board members and teachers with e-mail.

In 2005 the American Library Association received more than 400 requests to pull books from the shelves of school and public libraries, a spokeswoman said.

The call to ban books is timeless, but it is important to continue supporting literature that makes readers think, said Mary Dempsey, commissioner of the Chicago Public Library.

Mayor Richard Daley selected "The Things They Carried" in 2003 for the One Book, One Chicago city reading series. The book, about the Vietnam War, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. The themes--love, hate, war, kindness and cruelty--along with the author's ability to convey the harshness of war outweighed concerns, Dempsey said.

"I cannot imagine that language in that book is not said on a battlefield and, candidly, is not said in the corridors of most high schools in the suburbs of Chicago today," she said. "Good literature is supposed to get people to think. And sometimes, good literature takes you out of your comfort zone."

District 214 officials rely on the expertise of teachers and other members of textbook selection committees to scrutinize reading lists used nationwide, said board President William Dussling. The books are geared for juniors and seniors in honors or Advanced Placement courses to prepare them for college, he said. Parents can have their students opt out if they find reading material objectionable, he said.

"There will be accommodations made of something else to read that will still meet the learning points in the class," Dussling said. "It's not a matter of this is it."

The district's six schools have nearly 13,000 students in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mt. Prospect, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows and Wheeling.

Pinney said the system needs to be modified so parents are better informed.

"The opt-out clause is flawed because unless you're digging around the student's backpack, looking at the books and reading them, how exactly will you know what your student is reading?" Pinney said.

Terri Brightwell, whose son is a senior at Rolling Meadows High School, agreed.

"Their standards may not be my standards," she said. "It should be open to a process where parents are involved."

On the other side, Sharon Neff said she trusts the judgment of educators compiling the lists and believes they are introducing subjects to her daughter, Valerie, that will prepare her for life beyond Hersey.

"That's not a watered, diluted version of reality. Without it, the literature isn't as effective," she said. "[Pinney] needs to read the books."
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Bennett Cerf
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Postby Bennett Cerf » Thu May 25, 2006 10:53 pm

The issue arose this month when Township High School District 214 board member Leslie Pinney flagged books that she said contain vulgar language, brutal imagery or depictions of sexual situations inappropriate for students.

Pinney, the mother of a District 214 graduate, admits she has not read all the books.


So how does she know what's in them? Did she just read the good parts?

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Rspaight
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Postby Rspaight » Fri May 26, 2006 7:55 am

She probably used this site:

http://www.sibbap.org/

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MK
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Postby MK » Fri May 26, 2006 10:55 am

Fortunately, the bans got voted down. A lot of the ban-supporters wore pink to show their solidarity - they looked like the Stepford fucking Wives for Christ's sake, which probably explains a lot.
"When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war." – Dwight D. Eisenhower



"Neither slave nor tyrant." - Basque motto