Openly Gay House
I must say that it was a shock to have our open house this past weekend. It’s just so early in the year, and usually they wait until the end of the first grading period. You guys know how I’ve felt about that. By that time parent involvement has waned. This year, though, the parents filled up my classroom. That’s a shame.
I say that because an increase in attendees leads to an increase of jack-a-ninnery. Like this one mom wanted to know what this year’s reading list consisted of. That information was on the handout I passed out, so she could have been the mother to about 88% of my students. Anyway, before I could review that with them she went on to say she was concerned that some of the titles could have, “morally offensive material that you usually find in literature.”
She went on to say, “I mean homosexuality and rape—are these things we want to promote?”
Yikes, lady—I understand that stances on homosexuality vary in this country a great deal, but putting it in the same breathe as rape—whoa. That’s a big ol’ bag of objection that she’s carry around and it seems to be full. And who promotes rape?! The whole thing gave me the creeps.
Fortunately, I was able to maintain my composure and point out that the district selects the books we read and use a selection policy with a goal to represent multiple views that is posted on the district’s website for one’s review. There they can also see the instructions for challenging any of the titles found on the reading lists.
Still, I couldn’t help but to wonder if she did have the choice of eliminating only one of those topics from school reading, which one would she choose?
I say that because an increase in attendees leads to an increase of jack-a-ninnery. Like this one mom wanted to know what this year’s reading list consisted of. That information was on the handout I passed out, so she could have been the mother to about 88% of my students. Anyway, before I could review that with them she went on to say she was concerned that some of the titles could have, “morally offensive material that you usually find in literature.”
She went on to say, “I mean homosexuality and rape—are these things we want to promote?”
Yikes, lady—I understand that stances on homosexuality vary in this country a great deal, but putting it in the same breathe as rape—whoa. That’s a big ol’ bag of objection that she’s carry around and it seems to be full. And who promotes rape?! The whole thing gave me the creeps.
Fortunately, I was able to maintain my composure and point out that the district selects the books we read and use a selection policy with a goal to represent multiple views that is posted on the district’s website for one’s review. There they can also see the instructions for challenging any of the titles found on the reading lists.
Still, I couldn’t help but to wonder if she did have the choice of eliminating only one of those topics from school reading, which one would she choose?
- H.T. at 7:00 AM
