Republic High School in Republic, Mo., banned two books, including slaughterhouse-five by kurt vonnegut, after a parent complained that the books advocate principles contrary to the Bible. After a yearlong fight, the Republic district’s school board voted unanimously monday to ban Mr. Vonnegut’s book and sarah ockler's “Twenty Boy Summer,” based on the complaints of Republic resident wesley scroggins, a professor of management at missiouri state university, and the father of several home-schooled children.
~information taken from the christian science monitor, article written by Husna Haq.
edit: msnbc's today website stated that: Up to 150 students at a Missouri high school that ordered "Slaughterhouse-Five" pulled from its shelves can get a free copy of the novel, courtesy of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library.
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label schools. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Monday, November 22, 2010
brave new world banned
Like many great works of literature, Aldous Huxley's classic novel Brave New World has, at various times, been banned, challenged as a fraud, or otherwise pissed upon by the nitpicking masses. In this particular book's case, banning it is more than a little ironic, seeing as the book itself presents a society where almost no one reads books anymore. Regardless, the latest effort at prohibiting Huxley's opus comes from right here in Seattle at Nathan Hale High School.
As KUOW reports today, it seems a Native American student who was required to read the book took issue with the its depiction of native people. The girl's mom, Sarah Sense-Wilson, agreed and wrote the school to have it removed from the curriculum, writing: "(The book has a) high volume of racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans. In addition to the inaccurate imagery, and stereotype views, the text lacks literary value which is relevant to today's contemporary multicultural society."
The school eventually agreed, promising to remove the book from students' required reading list and releasing a statement apologizing that the "cultural insensitivity embedded in this book makes it an inappropriate choice as a central text in our 10th grade curriculum."
In the book, Huxley tosses around the word "savage" frequently. His portrait of a mainstream society where babies are not born, but created in factories and bred into specific roles, is offset by a frontier-like outlying culture in which babies are still "born naturally." It's this culture which is owned by the "savages."
What Sense-Wilson and her daughter seem to be having trouble grasping is that the "savages" in the book are only called "savages" because the mainstream society which they aren't a part of is so perverted. In reality, Huxley's savages are indeed the heroes and the normal ones, while the drugged-out, apathetic test-tube people that populate the fictional mainstream culture are the oddballs.
Regardless, the parent and daughter seem content to cherry-pick various excerpts from the book as proof of its offensive nature, like: "'Remember that in the Reservation, children are born. Yes, actually born, revolting as that may seem. Those, I repeat, who are born on the Reservation are destined to die there.'"
Not only is Sense-Wilson offended by the language, she appears to think Brave New World is not at all well-written, either. She tells KUOW that it should be taken out of all Seattle schools and banished to the public library, but that even there, no one will want to read it. "Most of the kids I've talked to don't even like the book so I doubt it would even get an audience in the library."
Tell that the Modern Library who rated the book as No. 18 in its list of the "100 Best Novels" of all time, or to the tens of millions of readers who have thumbed through it since it was published in 1932.
-reported by curtis cartier for the seattle weekly blog 11/17/10
As KUOW reports today, it seems a Native American student who was required to read the book took issue with the its depiction of native people. The girl's mom, Sarah Sense-Wilson, agreed and wrote the school to have it removed from the curriculum, writing: "(The book has a) high volume of racially offensive derogatory language and misinformation on Native Americans. In addition to the inaccurate imagery, and stereotype views, the text lacks literary value which is relevant to today's contemporary multicultural society."
The school eventually agreed, promising to remove the book from students' required reading list and releasing a statement apologizing that the "cultural insensitivity embedded in this book makes it an inappropriate choice as a central text in our 10th grade curriculum."
In the book, Huxley tosses around the word "savage" frequently. His portrait of a mainstream society where babies are not born, but created in factories and bred into specific roles, is offset by a frontier-like outlying culture in which babies are still "born naturally." It's this culture which is owned by the "savages."
What Sense-Wilson and her daughter seem to be having trouble grasping is that the "savages" in the book are only called "savages" because the mainstream society which they aren't a part of is so perverted. In reality, Huxley's savages are indeed the heroes and the normal ones, while the drugged-out, apathetic test-tube people that populate the fictional mainstream culture are the oddballs.
Regardless, the parent and daughter seem content to cherry-pick various excerpts from the book as proof of its offensive nature, like: "'Remember that in the Reservation, children are born. Yes, actually born, revolting as that may seem. Those, I repeat, who are born on the Reservation are destined to die there.'"
Not only is Sense-Wilson offended by the language, she appears to think Brave New World is not at all well-written, either. She tells KUOW that it should be taken out of all Seattle schools and banished to the public library, but that even there, no one will want to read it. "Most of the kids I've talked to don't even like the book so I doubt it would even get an audience in the library."
Tell that the Modern Library who rated the book as No. 18 in its list of the "100 Best Novels" of all time, or to the tens of millions of readers who have thumbed through it since it was published in 1932.
-reported by curtis cartier for the seattle weekly blog 11/17/10
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
good news for print books
E-books and e-readers may be making headlines off campus, but a new study by OnCampus Research, a division of the National Association of College Stores, reaffirmed last fall’s OnCampus Student Watch study that 74% of college students prefer print. According to the study taken by 627 college students earlier this month, only 13% purchased an e-book within the past three months. And just over half, or 56%, did so because it was required for class.
“It seems like the death of the printed book, at least on campus, has been greatly exaggerated, and that dedicated e-readers have a way to go before they catch on with this demographic,” says Elizabeth Riddle, manager of OnCampus Research. “The college-age market is definitely a growth opportunity for companies providing digital education products.”
Nor did dedicated e-readers fare significantly better on campus. Only 8% of college students own a dedicated e-reading device, and 59% of students who don't own a device have no plans to purchase one anytime soon, i.e. within the next three months. Of those who did buy an e-book, the overwhelming majority, approximately 77%, read it on a laptop or Netbook. Currently the iPhone is the e-reader of choice with 23.9%, followed by the Nook at 21.6%. Nearly 15.7% read on the Kindle DX and the same number use the Kindle 3. Although 26% expressed interest in purchasing an iPad, only 13.7% own one, roughly the same percentage as the Sony Pocket reader.
article by: Judith Rosen for publishers weekly, Oct 28, 2010
“It seems like the death of the printed book, at least on campus, has been greatly exaggerated, and that dedicated e-readers have a way to go before they catch on with this demographic,” says Elizabeth Riddle, manager of OnCampus Research. “The college-age market is definitely a growth opportunity for companies providing digital education products.”
Nor did dedicated e-readers fare significantly better on campus. Only 8% of college students own a dedicated e-reading device, and 59% of students who don't own a device have no plans to purchase one anytime soon, i.e. within the next three months. Of those who did buy an e-book, the overwhelming majority, approximately 77%, read it on a laptop or Netbook. Currently the iPhone is the e-reader of choice with 23.9%, followed by the Nook at 21.6%. Nearly 15.7% read on the Kindle DX and the same number use the Kindle 3. Although 26% expressed interest in purchasing an iPad, only 13.7% own one, roughly the same percentage as the Sony Pocket reader.
article by: Judith Rosen for publishers weekly, Oct 28, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
stockton school board bans book from school curriculum
for those who think that books aren't banned any more, here's a real life school banning in today's age.
stockton school board (stockton, MO) voted unanimously to uphold it's decision in april to ban the novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by sherman alexie; from the school curriculum. board member rod tucker said his main concern was the book's language, that it had too much profanity to be of value. he rejected the argument that most kids are familiar with such language and use it regularly.
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" is about a young resident of an Indian reservation who decides to attend a white high school. there are descriptions of masturbation, sexual language and foul jokes, along with themes encompassing racism, alcoholism and violence. there are also descriptions of how the protagonist, junior, tries to realize his dreams while surviving both life on the reservation and at a new school.
my thought is, whatever parent thinks his child, whether its a boy or a girl, doesn't talk about these kinds of things with theirs friends, they are delusional. sorry parents but it's true. you may not want your kids to read these kinds of books, but i guarantee, they are talking about it with their friends.
stockton school board (stockton, MO) voted unanimously to uphold it's decision in april to ban the novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by sherman alexie; from the school curriculum. board member rod tucker said his main concern was the book's language, that it had too much profanity to be of value. he rejected the argument that most kids are familiar with such language and use it regularly.
"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" is about a young resident of an Indian reservation who decides to attend a white high school. there are descriptions of masturbation, sexual language and foul jokes, along with themes encompassing racism, alcoholism and violence. there are also descriptions of how the protagonist, junior, tries to realize his dreams while surviving both life on the reservation and at a new school.
my thought is, whatever parent thinks his child, whether its a boy or a girl, doesn't talk about these kinds of things with theirs friends, they are delusional. sorry parents but it's true. you may not want your kids to read these kinds of books, but i guarantee, they are talking about it with their friends.
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