Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
Some of the comments in the thread have ventured perilously close to religious territory.
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I assume that was aimed at my short post above and/or fallout therefrom. It was in no way intended as a pro- or anti-religious comment, something I studiously avoid online in this or any forum, rather simply the best example to which most readers could relate that came to mind. I stand corrected and will seek alternate examples of unsubstantiation. Sorry...
My point was that, in order to justify the decision, the school board should be required to explain to me, as a parent, their rationale for eliminating the work of a highly regarded author. Failure to do so would suggest that either they have no reason other than a knee-jerk response to a parental complaint (a single parent or minority of parents no doubt), and/or that the members of the school board, who voted or decided as a group, had not
all read the material, or had not read
all the material, and were unable or unwilling to voice a rational objection based on the known rather than assumed content and its supposed deleterious effects on the tender minds of exposed students.
As a resident from another part of the state in question, it is embarrassing to see such censorship taking place in which supervisory personnel override decisions of teachers trained in their specific disciplines. Few school administrators or school board members have advanced degrees in literature ... and how do we evaluate the potential 'harm' vs. 'enlightenment' value of a specific literary work?
My suggestion to parents who wish to continue to try to shield their offspring from the workings of the real world is home schooling.