Alan C. Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 New Hampshire school defends sexually graphic novel “She could feel his erection, hot against her stomach.”It’s not exactly Nancy Drew but that’s the kind of sexually graphic content freshmen boys and girls are being exposed to at New Hampshire’s Gilford High School – without their parent’s knowledge."’Yeah,’ he groaned, and he pushed her thighs apart. And then suddenly Matt was inside her, pumping her so hard that she scooted backward on the carpet, burning the backs of her legs."That’s an excerpt from “Nineteen Minutes,” a novel that 14-year-old English students have been assigned to read at the local high school.. . .The novel is based on a school shooting and deals with a variety of issues ranging from bullying to sexual violence. In previous years, parents have received some sort of notification about the nature of the novel.But this year – somebody forgot to let mom and dad know their youngsters were going to parse a literary classic that includes this unforgettable line: “Semen, sticky and hot, pooled on the carpet beneath her.”. . .William Baer became furious when he learned that his daughter had been assigned the book. He said the school not only failed to notify parents, but they also failed to offer parents a chance to opt their kids out of reading the book.“I was shocked when I read the passage, and not much shocks me anymore,” Baer told EAGNews.org. “My wife was stunned by the increasingly graphic nature of the sexual content of the scene and the imagery it evoked.”Baer, who is an attorney, put it in perspective. He said if someone had been handing those passages to students off campus, they might have been arrested.Ironically, it was Baer who got arrested – at a school board meeting to address the controversy.Baer went beyond his allotted two minutes and then got into an argument with a parent who supported the book.Baer was charged with disorderly conduct. I recommend reading the rest of the article. It's unbelievable.
tasmlab Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 This barely makes sense. The PC sensitivity in the NE is so stifling that I can't believe the school would feel it was risk-worthy. Like people get fired for passing out books like this. Like, I think they already removed the word "nigger" from Huck Finn. I wouldn't think they would allow wholesale depictions of intercourse to make it in.
cab21 Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 what would the father do to his daughter if he found her reading the book on her own? these protests sometimes come from people that read the bible, which has daughters raping their fathers, among other scenes of graphic nature.
MysterionMuffles Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 It's Judy Blume all over again, except she got her book Deenie banned for having her her 12 year old main character masturbate. I don't think there's anything wrong with that explicit sexual content in the book. What matters is the overall content of the book. If it's about school shootings and sexual violence and is tackled in an objective fashion, I don't see why it shouldn't be taught in school. It's not like a smut novel like 50 Shades of Gray. The author (I cant remember how to spell her name) is known for writing relatable stories, and if it teaches a moral lesson despite the sexual scenes cited in the article, it's a good book to challenge how kids perceive their peers. And like Cab said...this kind of content isn't as bad as the goddamn Bible and that giant fuckheap of a tome is still taught in schools.
st434u Posted May 7, 2014 Posted May 7, 2014 All schools are immensely evil, and anyone who needs something like this to form such an opinion about a particular school, really hasn't thought it through, or if they did, they are morally bankrupt themselves. All schools are government-run or government-approved indoctrination camps where all children are forced to attend at gunpoint, then further forced to sit down, shut up, and memorize whatever brainwashing nonsense they're being presented with, and they are further forced to prove they can at least repeat it afterwards in an exam which they also must attend at gunpoint. This goes on for 7-12 years. Few things in modern societies are as evil, harmful and destructive as schools.
cobra2411 Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 In honors english you're compelled to read a smutty pop novel... But, if in your free reading time at school you read, say, the Bible you get threatened and told you can't read just "any" book you choose... It's free reading time after all, so we're going to tell you if your choice is ok or not... So what are public schools for again? BTW, I'm not intending to take a left turn into religion, the bible, etc... Just pointing out a little hypocrisy...
J-William Posted May 8, 2014 Posted May 8, 2014 Hey, a public school that teaches questionable content and ideas to impressionable children? But, I don't find the sex to be objectionable... I find that it is a lousy fucking book where "good parents" have a kid who is mysteriously bullied all the time and decides to shoot up a school. But, public schools would have as much use for a book that placed the responsibility for bullying on the parents as they do for an independent child who can think. The only way to be a responsible parent is to keep your kids as far away from anyone willing to use force and compulsion as you can.
Josh F Posted May 11, 2014 Posted May 11, 2014 I was assigned sexually explicit material in 9th grade, a book about Inuit people where it described the women masturbating a man to keep him warm as part of a social custom. We also saw a couple films with some nudity. I was masturbating furiously at that age. Honestly, I have zero problem with this though I understand parents might want to be informed. I think teaching children about sexuality is very important, and ESPECIALLY around puberty. I don't really know the context of this story, mind you, but sex is not evil and I don't see a problem with it being described.
MysterionMuffles Posted May 11, 2014 Posted May 11, 2014 the thing is sexuality is just one aspect of the book. There are more things covered like bullying and I'm guessing peer relationships. Jodi Pocult is a revered YA author. I haven't read her stuff, but I have read stuff that's been compared to hers. If it's anything like I've been reading, then there's more to the book than just graphic sexual content. This whole blow up just screams of a return to Victorian times.
Recommended Posts