What the hell??? DMR "Limit 'risky' book, couple says"

[Debi]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081117/NEWS/811170325

Cindy and James Dacus should know by early December the outcome of their months-long fight to restrict elementary students' access to a book about two male penguins that raise a chick together.

Officials at Ankeny's East Elementary School, where in late February the couple's kindergartner found the book, "And Tango Makes Three," denied the couple's request to remove the book or move it to a parents-only section. The couple's
appeal to the school board is expected to be acted on next month.

Cindy Dacus told school board members Nov. 3 that the book tries to normalize homosexuality to children too young to understand the "risky lifestyle."

"My question is: How did this book get in our library?" James Dacus asked the board. "This book should never have been allowed in our school libraries."


<snip>

:crazy:

[progressoid]

1. That one tops the list of "most challanged" book of 2006 and 2007.

Wonder if it will make it to 2008's list?

http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2008/may2008/penguin.cfm

American Library Association

Children’s book on male penguins raising chick tops ALA's 2007 list of most challenged books

CHICAGO – For a second consecutive year, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s award-winning "And Tango Makes Three," a children’s book about two male penguins caring for an orphaned egg, tops the list of American Library Association’s (ALA) 10 Most Challenged Books of 2007.

Tree books are new to the list “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes; “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman; and “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle.

“Free access to information is a core American value that should be protected,” said Judith F. Krug, director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. “Not every book is right for each reader, but an individual’s interpretation of a book should not take away my right to select reading materials for my family or myself."

For more than 15 years, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has received reports on book challenges. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. In 2007 the OIF received 420 reports on efforts to abolish materials from school curriculum and library bookshelves.

Public libraries, schools and school libraries report challenges to OIF, but a majority of challenges go unreported.

The "10 Most Challenged Books of 2007" reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:


1. “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence

3. “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

4. “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint

5. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain
Reasons: Racism

6. “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,

7. “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

8. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
Reasons: Sexually Explicit

9. “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris
Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit


10. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group


Off the list this year, are two books by author Toni Morrison. "The Bluest Eye" and "Beloved," both challenged for sexual content and offensive language.

[Debi]

2. I feel like going out and buying 100 copies and donating them to each and every classroom

in that school district. x(

READING BOOKS IS BAD FOR THE CHILDREN - GO HAVE THEM PLAY HALO INSTEAD!!

[progressoid]

3. Some of the comments on DMRs report are, well, depressing.

I want to believe that we (Iowans AND Americans) are becoming more sophisticated but I keep getting proven wrong.

I guess it takes time.

[CornField]

4. Isn't it interesting

how the children of parents who typically dislike such material often pick it out willy-nilly it in the school or public library?

I've had three children go through the public schools, all of them attending the same elementary school. In the 7+ years that my children have been bringing home library books from the elementary school (two books a week), not one of them have brought home a book that held any message in relation to gay marriage or sex. In addition, there have only been a few instances when my older and younger children found the same book. But, since the library is filled with hundreds of texts, I guess this shouldn't be surprising.

Then again, it brings me back to my original question: How do the children of parents who find such content objectionable manage to so often just pull it off the shelf?

[CornField]

5. This quote from Hurley is the bomb

"Thank God there's some parents who have the care and love of their children to such a degree that they would stick their neck out in a PC world and ask that this agenda not be promoted in their child's school," he said.

WTF?!? How dare Hurley assume that only the parents who object to such material have "care and love of their children." If there were true justice in this world, Hurley would be tormented by ghosts of all the gay people who have been killed in hate crimes. Maybe, just maybe, he might then understand how he failed at loving all of God's creation.

[Debi]

6. Obviously that shows just how much YOU don't love and care for your children

2 books a WEEK? I'm calling CPS RIGHT NOW!!!

Bigots have always shown superior parenting skills....