New York Parents Fit to be Tied Over Racy Homework Assignment

I thought the same thing. It was a HIGH SCHOOL Honors English class, not a Middle School English class. It was not the whole book, but a passage. As a teacher and a mother of teens, I can assure you this is not the worst thing these kids have ever read or discussed. You should hear the things I overhear some of the students discussing! The part I disagree with is the Sub throwing out the teacher's lesson plans. Those are well thought out plans that involve not only the teacher, but also the entire English dept in their development. There are goals, etc... that have to be met. Teachers prepare their plans a week or more in advance so that just in case they are out their students are still learning and are not held back because of them.

Reply

I'm a librarian, so believe me, I believe in reading and free access to information. In fact, if you want your child to be able to read anything they like, get him or her a library card---most public libraries make all books available to everyone, regardless of age; concerned parents must pay attention and censor their child's choices if they desire.

And that brings me to my actual point, or points.

1) Yes, authors like Poe and Bradbury include adult themes in their writings; they were able to include such themes while producing works of art which are obscenity-free and filled with literary merit.

2.) Bret Easton Ellis, while very talented, is known for obscenity and extremely graphic depictions of sex and violence, including cannibalism, torture, etc. To compare the sex and violence in his work to anything written by Edgar Allen Poe is ridiculous and dishonest.

3). I respect the right of parents to allow their children to read anything they want at any age--it's your choice. But other parents--and the school system which I fund with my tax dollars---MUST respect the rights of parents who do not wish their children to be ASSIGNED and REQUIRED to read works which are clearly recognized by a majority of people as obscene, pornographic or otherwise unsuitable. In other words, let your child read Ellis on YOUR time---leave my kid out of it.

4) The school district got it right, and congratulations to them for having the courage to take action.

And one last thought--I don't care how much they know or are exposed to, teenagers are still children. If you don't know that, you either never had a teenager or you are still one yourself.

Reply

What's with the misleading poll? It's one passage being read by high school students in an honors class. Not middle-schoolers (which if I'm not mistaken is grades 4-6, yes?, with 1-3 being elementary and 7-8 being junior high) reading a trashy dime store romance novel or some such nonsense. Frankly, to me, the context of the passage in question matters quite a lot, certainly much more than what's going on a hundred or more pages away. Also - are these freshmen? Seniors? If these are high school seniors, for example, I guess their parents must all be planning to make them go to tiny conservative private colleges if they are going to college next year, because I distinctly remember reading the Lysistrata in undergrad (it's an ancient Greek play whose premise is that, in order to convince the men to end the Peloponnesian War and sign a peace treaty, the women of the city-states on both sides of the conflict are withholding sex from their husbands and lovers for the duration - not exactly child's fare, am I right?). And we still have books included on reading lists that involve plenty of violence, cursing, and racist/sexist/otherwise-horribly-bigoted dialogue and/or narration, because they're "classics" (ie. they were written long enough ago that we don't remember a time that they weren't in our classrooms). *sigh* Hypocritical much?

Reply

I would have liked some information here, such as why the teacher did this, what she wanted the students to get from it. Given that it was a High honors class, these kids are most likely proceeding to college. If the assignment was to choose these passages, and then to discuss or write a paper about whether these are acceptable or desireable actions, and/or how to avoid falling into the same traps the that characters did, then this would be a really good assignment. You'd think parents would want their children to think ahead about the potential pitfalls at college, and problem-solve ahead of time how to avoid them. The parents are stupid and naive to think that it will take a book to PUT ideas in their heads about sex, etc. If, for some reason, this teacher just got her jollies out of having the young kids read and talk about sex, sort of like a guy who makes an obscene phone call, then this is certainly an assignment that the parents should get their knickers in a twist about. Given that this girl is fresh from college herself (@ age 22), I would tend to think it is the former; either way, a good reporter would have gotten at least an idea of why this assignment was given. As it is, the reason behind the assignment remains unclear, so there is no way to consider whether this was an appropriate assignment. Either way, parents in general are are too quick to get upset about the wrong things these days -- "My kid's a bully? He would never do anything like, and I'll sue you if try and do anything about it!" vs. "Dear Lord, my child is reading a piece of classic literature that has a controversial issue that might expand their minds by discussing it, but it will let them know that people have sex? I'll sue if you let my child read that!"

Reply

I must assume the parents involved also rigorously review the choices their children make in music, TV, movies, and web sites, and if they are Christian that certain portions of the of the Bible have been removed to protect them.

It would be interesting to know a bit more about the assignment before condeming the teacher so quickly. A few things I would ask, did she provide just the passage, or the entire book? What were the specific instructions, not just what a student told her mother the assignment was. Perhaps some investigative reporting would be helpful.

I would think the teacher's larger mistake was straying from the approved and required curriculum. As a FIRST year (obviously, as she is only 22) teacher being surpervised/mentored how? Of course thinking back on my first year in the classroom, my assigned mentor teacher was in need of more help than I was. I was able to help her get through the year. I was a retired Army Master Sergeant and combat veteran with Ranger and Infantry units, and was 10 years her senior, but they did assign a teacher to be my mentor. On another note, I have always questioned the logic of assigning a teacher that young, and new, to a high school level honors class. No offense meant to the teacher, she may in fact be exceptional, but also somewhat of a sink or swim sounding assignment.

Reply

It's important that you read something by Bret Easton Ellis before forming your opinion on this topic. His work is good, but, for literary purposes, it is intended to be dark, shocking, and very, very graphic. (If you remember the movie "America Psycho," it was based on a book by Ellis. Need I say more?) In my opinion, his work is COMPLETELY inappropriate for high school students.

Reply

Middle school kid's use language which makes me blush. 60 % have had intercourse.
Racy content???? you must be kidding!

Reply

"Rules of Attraction" was a rather poor choice for good descriptive writing. However, with that said, Mr. Henderson really should go back and read the books he uses as references for comparison.

Poe's writing was rarely as graphic as the Vincent Price films of his works or as later writers, who merely skimmed his works, gave him credit for. It would take quite a stretch by even Honors students to get to the underlying cause and effect that Henderson attributes to that particular work.

However, Farenheit 451 seems quite appropriate to the controversy. That's more, especially, true of the some comments posted here. For example, I've never felt so intimidated by a word that I bother to counting it in a novel such as Huckleberry Finn. For that poster, Twain was showing the idiocy of racism when dealing with Huck and Jim's relationship.

Perhaps we should send in government employees to make a pile of all the books these folks are objecting to; cover it with gasoline; and, start the fire. At that point, they might want to toss a beginning teacher, who appears to have been trying to expand her stuidents knowledge, on to the pile. Perhaps even install a stake to tie her to.

The most damage to the student cited will come from her parents obvious fear of her reading being unrestricted. Might have tried explaining why the book was distasteful to the news lady rather than portraying the book and its thoughts as evil!

Oh, and before anyone makes rash assumptions, my children are 42, 32 and 26 with two grandchildren 17 and 16. All were/are Honors and AP students (including those grand children). No books were ever censored. However, they were seriously discussed at the dinner table. It's much easier to confront bad ideas head on. But, it did require myself, or my wife, reading those books and getting a good handle on ouselves as both people and parents.

That's quite a bit more difficult than simply crying censorship! But, then parenting is!

Reply

"...'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,' a perfectly wholesome story about a headless horseman who rides around looking for people to decapitate." I should hope you were being sarcastic.

At least she wasn't requiring them to read about betting and genocide and such as that. Thjat's is reserved for Sunday school, when the study the Bible.

Reply

I think the parents should get with the program. Many of the racy books like F451, Clockwork Orange, Siddhartha, The Chocolate War, the Scarlet Letter, Angela's Ashes, Catch 21, Catcher in the Rye all have their racy moments if not the entirety of the book(most of these were great books) but for most high schoolers they're not looking for that kind of content. They read it to get it done with and other with. Furthermore, come on!!!! You're worried that 16 year old are going to be thinking about sex, drugs, violence, rape, abortion etc, I'm sure they already know the basis of that with all the TV shows and music videos. And if you think deeply enough I'm sure that the younger generation 12, 13 year old are already in those 'dangerous' thoughts. I say better off reading the passage! At least you'll get some artistic literary work into those kids heads, because literacy seems to be on the decline these days.

Reply

As a high school teacher, I can bluntly say that teenagers from grades 9 - 12 are, as a rule, much more worldly than their parents think. Most parents are in denial about the maturation process of teens these days. Certainly not true of all students, but a fair percentage are engaged in sex on a regular basis. Check out "the Lost Children of Rockdale County". I believe it is beneficial for teens to be exposed to "racy" ideas in a civilized environment. Better at school in a class than to be naive & ignorant when they start college or their first job. Parents can be great role models and fonts of information, but teens are experiencing a phase of liberation and independent decision making. Better to be well-armed when faced with the challenges of life, rather than being totally in the dark.

Reply

SEND THEM TO CHURCH,THEY WILL LEARN SOMETHING CLEANER THAN THE CRAP THEY TEACH IN SCHOOL.

Reply

Maybe New Yorkers aren't as liberal-minded as they think they are. Try to remember that the next time you all vote.

Reply

I like how they say parents fear some books might get adolescents thinking about sex, like adolescents don't already think about sex 99% of the time.

Reply

I'm a former English teacher had assigned "Fahrenheit 451" as a assignment - after I'd read it myself several times. If there are "racy bits" in it, I must have gotten hold of a bady copy.

The point, though, isn't whether or not the students are exposed to the questionable subjects, but WHO exposes them. If exposure is santioned by those in authority (teachers, parents, etc), then the students would rightly believe that it's okay.

Reply

"I find it quite amazing that we still allow Huck Finn to be taught which has over 240 instances of the "N" word. "
Because of two things - first, it takes place in the south in the 1840's. Second, there is an intentional irony to its use. Jim is the only person in the book who shows consistently ethical behavior, yet he's the one stuck with a title the attempts to denigrate him because of his race. Got it? If you read the book, that is pretty clear - Jim is the hero, not Huck. That's why it was so thoroughly attacked during it's heyday. White southerners hated it because it displayed the nobility of a slave amidst ignoble "masters." Read it some time, you might see why its still important.

Reply

Then again, this is NY. The reading assignment is tame compared to all the freaks that live there.

Reply