Posted on 12/07/2006 1:21:41 PM PST by bondjamesbond
Sixth-graders at a Queens school were getting quite an education - in homosexuality, French kissing and cursing - thanks to three books widely available in classroom libraries.
But after numerous complaints from parents at Public School 150 in Sunnyside, the books - a profanity-laced poetry book, short stories about homosexuality and a novel called "First French Kiss" - were pulled from the shelves last week.
Several parents learned of the racy books after overhearing their kids snickering about the sexual themes.
The poem "I Hate School" in a book called "You Hear Me?" includes the rhyme, "F--- this s---, up the a--. I don't think I'll ever pass."
Another poem compares eating an orange to having sex, while several passages repeatedly use vulgar slang for genitalia. And the book "Am I Blue?" is an anthology of stories about gay teenagers that parents found too adult-themed for 11- and 12-year-olds.
Parent Gladys Martinez wrote a letter to her son's teacher after hearing him talk about "First French Kiss," which chronicles a teen's bumbling first makeout session in a closet.
"I mean, he shouldn't be sheltered from the world, but if he's going to learn that stuff, it shouldn't be at school," Martinez said.
Parent and leadership team member Michael Novak said the books, which are labeled "young adult" by the New York Public Library, are "material that is totally inappropriate for sixth-graders."
Principal Carmen Parache said she had not reviewed the books until she received complaints but said they were "definitely inappropriate." She said classroom materials would be more carefully screened in the future.
"As soon as I saw them, I pulled them and they are no longer in the school," she said. "This is something that shouldn't have happened and it will not happen again."
"You Hear Me?" was suggested for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders by the Columbia University Teachers College's Reading and Writing Project because it is the only anthology with poems written by minority teenagers, said Lucy Calkins, its founding director.
"It's a tricky balance to walk so we are putting books in their hands that they'll want to read," said Calkins, who had not seen the language in the book.
Ava Myint, 11, said she heard some boys in her class laughing and talking about the books.
"Maybe they're okay for some kids, but some of the boys are really immature, so maybe they shouldn't be allowed to read them," she said.
A friend of mine has a daughter and they recently when on a school trip to DC. The daughter refused to room with another girl on the trip because she was a self confessed lesbian. They are now in a possible legal problem because the lesbians mother is calling it a hate crime.
"Needless to say, any parent who puts a child in public school deserves whatever they get"
My kids were in a private Christian school, my oldest daughter, 15 at the time, had a required reading book in history, called "The State of the Arts: From Bezalel to Mapplethorpe." Knowing who Mapplethorpe was, I picked up the book and started reading. She got to learn about Mapplethorpe's photos of men urinating into mouths of other men. And about Annie Sprinkle's performance art consisting of masturbating on stage then inviting the patrons to come up and view her genitalia with a flashlight.
Just because the school has "private Christian" in the title, doesn't make it Christian.
Homeschooling is the only way to go.
It's from an OLD Saturday Night Live skit with Eddie Murphy. Early '80s, I think. You can look it up.
Let's get rid of the public "schools" altogether. Why should we pay one more dollar for abject failure?
Don't forget school prayer is also taboo.
I agree wholeheartedly. It is important to distinguish between addressing the political (and social) problems of the public schools and deciding what is best for one's family.
As far as the option of private or parochial education not being available to all, pretty much every private or parochial school has tuition assistance for for the indigent. If you have too much money to qualify for such programs, it's a matter of priorities. A lot of parents who "can't afford it" seem to be able to afford a lot of other nice things. They just choose these things over the well-being of their own children.
What you say may very well be true in most cases. However, I would add two caveats.
First, not all areas have suitable private or parochial schools. (The Catholic school in my town, for instance, comprises Kindergarten through eighth grade; there is no Catholic high school.)
Second, private schools are not always better. Some private schools adhere to the same questionable philosophies of education as do the public schools.
One more point: Homeschooling (which is often promoted here) may be a superior way to educate children, but it is not practical for all families. For instance, as one poster has already pointed out, a single parent may not have the luxury of staying home to educate his or her children.
Dang, that explains the shiner I got when I asked this redhead if she'd like to split a tangerine....
Yep I can see a Booker prize for that gem.
Oh yes. Mustn't have children exposed to anything that might teach them how to live a good life.
I agree - we should get rid of all forms of subsidized programs that are not, nor ever were, in the Constitution. Publicly funded farms, schools, shelters, charities, arts, emergency funds, pensions, etc. should be abolished. There are tons of stories of this sort in every "project" the government ever started.
It's ironic that the same swine who gripe about the military paying too much for a widget want the government to pay for something that no sane person would with his own money.
Public schools would never survive if we had to write checks for their services.
I've been stationed here in Massachusetts for several years and am amazed at how much each child costs to "educate". I'm also surprised at how many homosexuals and deviants are in the education business. Do a google search on "fistgate" and you'll see what I mean.
What is fistgate? I don't like to do searches for questionable sites, my kids use my computer, too.
As I first said years and years ago, they are more concerned about the exposure of children to prayer in the schools than to sex, drugs, alcohol and other vices.
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Now why is that a criteria for inclusion into literary studies?
Me neither. How embarrassing and sad. No wonder kids have very little respect anymore. Its not going to change until the bad guys no longer have the ability to push thier slime to our kids. Its not even informative, its just perverse. How does this stuff get into a school? Or do I even bother to ask?
Pamphlets that were handed out contained graphic descriptions of homosexual activities and "ideas" for trying them. The teachers had kids handing this stuff out, too.
There have been quite a few stories up here about parents being targeted after they objected to these events. Parents have been given "no trespassing" orders, so they can't even pick up their children from the schools, but these perverts are welcomed with open arms. Even on Hanscom AFB, where my son went to school, the teachers had some activist (not homosexual, but anti-white) come in to speak to the students without our knowledge. Boy, did my wife give it to the principal over that one. I guess the only good thing about that school is that they are on a military installation and are surrounded by heterosexual families that, for the most part, won't tolerate any fishy behavior or "teaching".
I found a FR thread on it: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/837855/posts
Since you have children too, you'll find it very scary. New England is not kind to tradition.
The black "street" culture is vicious, vile, ugly and extraordinarily evil. And NO I do not believe the record industry should be permitted to publish and sell this stuff.
"A friend of mine has a daughter and they recently when on a school trip to DC. The daughter refused to room with another girl on the trip because she was a self confessed lesbian. They are now in a possible legal problem because the lesbians mother is calling it a hate crime."
In the new millennium, refusing to let a deviant have his/her way with your child may be grounds for hate crime prosecution. You scoff now, but 20 years ago who would have thought queers would be getting married and demanding special rights.
I would like to teach high school English, but since my degree is "only" in English Literature, with a minor in history, and I've been a professional writer for 20 years, I would have to return to school for four more years to learn how to teach (even though I've taught in technical schools) and get my "certificate." It stinks!
Its even worse than that! They heard an author of certain race wrote the poem, BUT DIDN'T bother to review it for content! Unbelievable!
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