Kids in Buda and San Francisco deserve an education which accurately depicts the world around them, past and present. This won’t happen if all their parents must agree on the books and curriculum, because many parents oppose accurate depictions of science, history, social studies, biology, literature, or anything that doesn’t reinforce their idealized version of the way the world works.
For example, some parents don’t think that accurate depictions of the Civil War ought to be taught or available in books in the libraries. Same for evolution, biology, origins of the universe, lynchings, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights movement, the Holocaust, etc.
The “acceptable to all” solution gives parental factions a line-item veto over any book or topic they might not like regardless of its quality and accuracy, and the veto applies to the entire school, not just their kid.
Have you heard of Life 360? Parents track their kids wherever they go!!! Many times they can see their grades, track their app use and control when they can use their phone. Parents can have access to the books they check out of the public library, if they know their library account. What internet sites they go to. I think most kids could figure out ways around. There sure are a lot of kids watching porn these days.
We never did any of these things. We were very laid back about rules. Never put parental controls on things. I warned the kids that if they didn’t want to see something they shouldn’t go looking for movies with all the warnings. I did once, at a slumber party we hosted, put on parental controls and changed our password, so only DH and I could get them in. I am fully aware that my rules are not the same as other parents and I am respectful of that.
@vpa2019 My kids have friends who are very religious and friends who are LGBTQ+. They find common ground and the majority respect the other’s choices even if they don’t understand or necessarily condone them. I do feel sorry for socially conservative parents- how do you escape even bad words or adult conversation, social media? It’s everywhere!!! I also have sympathy for LGBTQ+ parents who on a personal level I’m sure are feeling very attacked. My kids are cis gendered straight white women. Their friends live their lives and respect each other choices, they also went to many different public schools- some of them in FL! I guess schools do some things right.
@Htas I think it is nice to have everyone be able to speak. In Wake County there are 163,000 students. Most school systems in the South are very large made up of 60-150 schools. That’s why I am very wary of removing books- it affects a heck of a lot of people.
Um yes, parents are stakeholders, although it appears like many “experts” would wish the parents would remain quiet. Used to be that parents were always asked to be involved. Now they are in greater numbers. It’s a new day in that regard
Kids are the ultimate stakeholders, and their education suffers when prevailing community standards don’t accurately depict the world, past and present.
Looking at long the history of “educating” according community standards rather than reality, it hasn’t always worked out in the end either for the kids or for society.
That was my fundamental point in flagging this. It is ALL about the kids.
While I like to feel that I know it all, the older I get, the less I believe that. I am as flawed as anyone.
My job as a parent is to make our children aware of the world around them, how to deal with it, and hopefully how to make a positive difference. The imposition of my belief system on them is something I cannot countenance. Letting them choose for themselves is something that I can abide by. I am happy to show them the way as I see it; but, for not one moment, will I shield them from what is the reality of the world. That is doing a massive disservice to them
Absolutely, parents are key stakeholders. However, I don’t think there is a single parent here on CC who doesn’t agree that it is ultimately about our future: our kids.
Exactly. Add to that friends who figure ways around the controls. Or who have parents who are not into Life 360 (never heard of it until you referenced it). Your ability to restrict what your kids do online is limited by the weakest link in their friend group (and the most tech savvy of that friend group – and kids tend to run circles around their parents in terms of tech). And the more you restrict, the more appealing what you restrict becomes. Long history of that.
And even if your restrictions work 100%, your kids still have access to much more than they ever did when you were a kid. TV/Movie standards have changed a lot in terms of what is permissible. And it media, advertising, etc in general. The trend is going the wrong way even for the parents seeking total control.
Thanks for the link. I do know about all this – I have family who live in the Berkshires – but I had forgotten. Not the way it works here, for sure! To the good and to the bad, depending.
I used to work/teach in Wake County. Talk about a GIANT (geographic, etc.) area covering all types of kids and families and experiences. That was WILD. How do you meet the needs of such a community without being maximally inclusive? Super important.
Beyond volunteering in the classroom or on field trips, my spouse and I never even bothered to care what books were being read by our kids. Wow, I guess we just trusted “The Matrix.”
The back and forth between folks here reminded me of the book burning scene in the original Footloose movie.
Parents were never in school when I was a kid. I think my mom was allowed to come and bring a snack on my birthday. My parents had no clue what was going on at school.
As a parent, I was allowed in school daily in elementary school. I limited my in class time to once a week, for each kid. I was not the only mom or dad that would come in regularly. In middle school, there were fewer of us and I avoided the actual class unless there was a reason. I was still there along with a few others, answering phones, making copies for teachers, or helping shelves books. We also had instant access to teachers through email. I think most teachers would love for parents to be more involved.
I wasn’t telling them what to do though. I like to think that since they took classes and have a college degree or even a master’s or doctorate, that they could handle their job. If I thought I could do better- I would have done it myself.
For a website that is all about college, I’m baffled at how much people don’t think college educates people well enough to do their jobs.
I am not talking about books. Just responding to your concern that we are now controlling kids behavior and in the process removing temptation/opportunity. I think the opposite is true. In large part because of the internet (and in general reductions of restrictions/limitations). Talking with my grandparents and parents about their youths and looking at my youth and that of my kids and the trend is the opposite of your concern.
Without question though, different people have different experiences.
I think that would come as an extreme shock to these people:
Gisselle’s estate decided to no longer print six of his books: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” was pulled, as were “McElligot’s Pool”, “On Beyond Zebra!”, “Scrambled Eggs Super!”, and “The Cat’s Quizzer". All have images that are unquestionably racist, and since, unfortunately, Geisel is no longer with us and cannot produce new versions without those images, the estate decided to stop printing them.
The other 62 books that he wrote and illustrated are still being published.
You are also making a false equivalency argument. You are comparing books that were pulled because they offended the minorities who are depicted in the books in a negative manner to pulling books that evidently offend people by depicting minorities.
I also live in New England and have participated happily in town meeting many years. But despite endless hours debating town government I’ve never seen anyone try to debate which books should be in the school library at town meeting. And by the way you have articles on the warrant. There is only one warrant, though you can have many articles.
I should have been more precise about which Dr. Seuss books aren’t being published…that’s my error.
Yes those books are no longer being published (I’d argue that’s a permanent ban) and are not available on the site you listed as well many public and school libraries because of pressure from outside groups. It was not a spontaneous decision on the part of the estate.
My point is removing books from a school library doesn’t render them unavailable via public libraries, kindle, audiobooks and other avenues including borrowing from friends or teachers.
Books are also available to borrow for free and can be read on a phone, iPad, laptop etc….
