Is it me or is the NJEA and the Demonrats of NJ being paid off to actually believe this is appropriate? Can someone from the NJEA respond with common sense and a logical reasoning behind this? Inquiring minds want to know.
I am totally with you but I will say that Beloved, The Bluest Eye and The Kite Runner do not belong on that list if they are taught in higher grades. There is a world of difference between those books and ridiculous pieces of pornographic and insane trash like Gender Queer. I have also seen Slaughterhouse Five named in some banned lists, which is crazy to me. Older teenagers should be able to handle some challenging literature. I think our cause gets watered down if we include really fantastic books with legitimate value on these lists. The average liberal parent hears someone say, "Ban Toni Morrison." and they totally tune out and never look into the junk like Lawn Boy and others. I bought ( with pain) a copy of Gender Queer and showed it to a few liberal friends who are in denial- they were shocked. I think we should stick to the seriously dangerous literature. With the good books I mentioned, it's a shame in my opinion to throw the baby out with the bathwater-If the teacher is really good and the literature is high level, it can allow for very appropriate discussion about real issues. I wouldn't recommend Beloved to my 12 year old but I think my 18 year old could read it. I read those books in early college. But, I am not surprised to see some good stuff here- I expect that there will be a backlash to the horrific left lean of school and I am afraid that some great books and maybe teachers might get swept up in that.
The public libraries go out of their way to display this garbage, too. Seems like they're begging us to react from every corner of society
Is it me or is the NJEA and the Demonrats of NJ being paid off to actually believe this is appropriate? Can someone from the NJEA respond with common sense and a logical reasoning behind this? Inquiring minds want to know.
I am totally with you but I will say that Beloved, The Bluest Eye and The Kite Runner do not belong on that list if they are taught in higher grades. There is a world of difference between those books and ridiculous pieces of pornographic and insane trash like Gender Queer. I have also seen Slaughterhouse Five named in some banned lists, which is crazy to me. Older teenagers should be able to handle some challenging literature. I think our cause gets watered down if we include really fantastic books with legitimate value on these lists. The average liberal parent hears someone say, "Ban Toni Morrison." and they totally tune out and never look into the junk like Lawn Boy and others. I bought ( with pain) a copy of Gender Queer and showed it to a few liberal friends who are in denial- they were shocked. I think we should stick to the seriously dangerous literature. With the good books I mentioned, it's a shame in my opinion to throw the baby out with the bathwater-If the teacher is really good and the literature is high level, it can allow for very appropriate discussion about real issues. I wouldn't recommend Beloved to my 12 year old but I think my 18 year old could read it. I read those books in early college. But, I am not surprised to see some good stuff here- I expect that there will be a backlash to the horrific left lean of school and I am afraid that some great books and maybe teachers might get swept up in that.