[stainlessbanner]

Similar Story -

Huck Finn Petition Goes to School Board

[tom h]

The hidden message here, of course, is that it was either a black parent or a liberal parent who asked that the book be removed from the curriculum.

The most perjorative word used was "uncomfortable."

Now, had a Christian parent asked that a book about Marilyn Manson be removed because it was inconsistent with Christian beliefs, the article would have been written with a "book banning" slant.

Is anyone surprised?

[kwyjibo]

With so many school discricts strapped for cash right now, I wouldn't be surprised if the decision was made based on the assumption that a lawsuit was inevitable, and who knows how many millions of dollars that would have cost the district.

A few years ago, the Owasso, OK school district had to defend a case before the U.S. Supreme Court over whether the district's use of peer grading constituted a violation of a student's right to privacy. I'm sure that one cost quite a bit of money.

And don't forget what happened in Muskogee, OK two years ago. Someone complained about Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and naturally, it was banned. One of the HS's teachers left the district in protest over that one. There is a thread about TKAM too.

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b6a13785407.htm

Fortunately, the kids can still read Huck Finn on their own time.

[wildbill]

They shouldn't feel bad. One of my professors in a graduate class for Master's candidates restricted our reading/study of the second part of the book because it might make some uncomfortable and not be PC.

[Oztrich Boy]

"The bottom line was: There was one student who felt uncomfortable," said Principal Richard Harper. "Our feeling was: We're not here to make kids feel uncomfortable, and if he felt uncomfortable, then it was a problem."

Principal Harper is failing in his duties. Any kid who feels uncomfortable is intolerant, and needs to be immediately sent to Tolerance Camp.

South Park Rules. OK.

[Mamzelle]

That word has the power to set a murderer free, to destroy careers (even if you say a word that just *sounds* like That Word) and probably ruin your life. No wonder a kid would be afraid to read it aloud in class!

Huck Finn is a masterpiece, the Great American Novel.

[Pablo64]

What a load of manure! They act as though they're all concerned if one single student feels "uncomfortable" about reading a classic story, yet if several Christian kids were to express their "discomfort" about some class that promoted condom use, or tried to indoctrinate tolerance of unacceptable lifestyles, they would be all over those kids telling them they need be more accepting, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

My wife just finished reading Tom Sawyer with our kids (grades 3 and 5) and will be going on to Huck Finn. The kids really enjoyed the story. They had questions, but that's what made this a really teachable time. Both of our kids now understand how some people treated blacks and what they called them and they understand that that is not acceptable behavior. They are being prepared to counter any bigots they may encounter in life. No need to feel uncomfortable about any of it, if the "teacher" would take the time to work through it with the kids.

[ladtx]

Hmmmm. I always felt uncomfortable with algebra and geometry. Wonder if I had complained about them I could ..... Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Potemkin_village_idiot]

I often wonder how we ever survived growing up in the 1950s and 60s. I read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on my own over a summer when I was 10 or 11. Recently, I found the 2 hardcovered books my parents had kept. I had all but forgotten their richly illustrated pages. They brought back fond memories of building rafts, forts, the "Our Gang" clubs we formed, getting dirty and being home in time for supper or else. At that time, they were just adventures.

Uncomfortable? We had to read Kilpling's "Kim" in 7th grade. Yikes!

[Potemkin_village_idiot]

KIPLING! KIPLING! (Sorry)

[ez]

I felt slightly uncomfortable reading Huck Finn too, BUT I LEARNED. I learned about America, and I learned about racial relations, and I learned about right and wrong.

Move Huck Finn to 11th grade? OK, kids are more mature then anyway, just NEVER remove learning a subject from the classroom because it is "uncomfortable." They're gonna be REAL uncomfortable when they learn what the Germans did at Auschwitz, but learn they must.

[SauronOfMordor]

The bottom line was: There was one student who felt uncomfortable," said Principal Richard Harper. "Our feeling was: We're not here to make kids feel uncomfortable, and if he felt uncomfortable, then it was a problem."

Meanwhile, a seminar on homosexual fisting is deemed appropriate for 14-year olds...

[tnlibertarian]

Superintendent Jim Paul said he learned about the Ransom incident Wednesday

Irony abounds.

[ncpastor]

"The bottom line was: There was one student who felt uncomfortable," said Principal Richard Harper. "Our feeling was: We're not here to make kids feel uncomfortable, and if he felt uncomfortable, then it was a problem."

Actually, the bottom line is, you're not there to make children comfortable, you're supposedly there to give them an education. If your focus is on making kids comfortable, then there is your problem.

[Xenalyte]

Honest-to-God true story:

I went to a local Baptist college and majored in literature. One of my classmates in an American lit class would NOT read Huck Finn because she said it promoted homosexuality.

The passage in question: Huck is wandering around onshore somewhere, and Jim asks him to "Come back to the raft, Huck honey."

[Savage Beast]

I don't think Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be taught to seventh graders.

Few of them will understand it, even if they have an expert teacher, and the chances of that are zilch.

Furthermore, Mark Twain's "dialect" is abominable, and children should not be exposed to this "Negro dialect", use of "the N-word", etc., presented as great literature (which the book is, dispite the "dialect") and without adequate guidance, which they are highly unlikely to receive.

Unless this book is explained adequately, it is likely to reinforce racial stereotyping. The subtleties of the bitter satire can easily escape the casual reader, and how many seventh graders--or high school students--are anything but casual readers.

I think it should be studied in college, maybe high school if the students and teachers are serious, but not to students any younger than that.

[Wurlitzer]

The United States of America, home of the once free, and the comfortable.

How very PC that nobody is ever made uncomfortable except, of course, anybody on the political right.