Parents Complain About Book's Undertones (fundies gone crazy again)
March 4, 2006
Parents Complain About Book's Undertones
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:22 p.m. ET
SAVANNAH, Mo. (AP) -- A children's book about two male penguins that raise a baby penguin has been moved to the nonfiction section of two public library branches after parents complained it had homosexual undertones.
The illustrated book, ''And Tango Makes Three,'' is based on a true story of two male penguins, named Roy and Silo, who adopted an abandoned egg at New York City's Central Park Zoo in the late 1990s.
The book, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, was moved from the children's section at two Rolling Hills' Consolidated Library's branches in Savannah and St. Joseph in northwest Missouri.
Two parents had expressed concerns about the book last month.
Barbara Read, the Rolling Hills' director, said experts report that adoptions aren't unusual in the penguin world. However, moving the book to the nonfiction section would decrease the chance that it would ''blindside'' readers, she said.
posted by Name Held by Request | 3:56 AM
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ebruary 28, 2006
Complaint spurs cries of censorship
Couple's objection may lead Lawrence Township Schools to review books
By Andy Gammill
andy.gammill@indystar.com
February 28, 2006
A couple's complaint about their daughter's school assignment to read a best-selling book about children's lives in Afghanistan has prompted a new policy -- and cries of censorship from teachers and parents at Lawrence Township Schools.
Some students at the district's high schools received copies of the book "The Kite Runner," and one parent objected to graphic scenes of child rape and violence in the book. The district's response, however, is what has teachers and other parents alarmed.
Superintendent Michael Copper has recommended that all material used in classrooms be reviewed by a committee of teachers, administrators and parents. The proposal is still in draft form, and the School Board has taken no action.
More than 180 people attended the School Board meeting Monday night opposing such a review committee.
Julie and Tom Shake, the parents who complained about the book, say they've already gathered 200 signatures from district residents urging the district not to allow materials like "The Kite Runner" in the schools.
" 'The Kite Runner' contains pornography," Julie Shake told the board. "Do we really want our students to be handed books with pornography as a classroom assignment?"
Tom Shake told the board that books containing violence and sexual content ran afoul of the district's character-education program, which encourages morality.
Most teachers and parents at the meeting disagreed.
"Teachers are not happy at all," said Emily Benner, president of the district's teachers union. "They feel like this is censorship. OK if your child has a specific problem with a specific book, ask that they not read it. But don't skip to censorship."
If the committee is approved, classroom teachers would no longer have the authority to assign a new book or a classic not already approved, Benner said.
Benner also complained that the district has been drafting the review policy without discussing it in public meetings, through a district instructional committee or with the teachers union, she said.
The union may file an unfair labor practice complaint if the district persists with the committee plan, Benner said.
Jim Masur, a parent and an attorney, told the School Board he would much rather his children discuss the issues of the day in school than not learn about them.
"There's obscenity day-to-day in our community," he said. "These are issues we have to deal with. They can't be swept under the rug."
Caitlynn Donovan, a sophomore at Lawrence North, said she would rather have teachers deciding what she reads in class, not parents of classmates.
"I don't think one parent should have the ability to affect the way that I learn," she said. "If they have such a problem, censor their child, not me. This is my education."
The School Board will discuss the Shakes' complaints at a work session at 5 p.m. March 15 at the district's offices.
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