This was my first time having a book I’d written banned
June 26, 2022 5:04 PM Subscribe
Dave Eggers' Anatomy of a book banning is a detailed look at how his novel was removed from school reading lists in Rapid City, South Dakota, US. [SL Washington Post]
Alternative archive.org link to the same.
Alternative archive.org link to the same.
"it’s unlikely that the Rapid City school board is genuinely trying to restrict what high school students see. More important is the symbolism. More important is bullying the district’s teachers away from assigning challenging books."
posted by stevil at 6:36 PM on June 26, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by stevil at 6:36 PM on June 26, 2022 [10 favorites]
The consequence of this is having teachers leave, and replacing them with incompetent teachers, or none at all, and then having students not learn.
Which I think is the intent, as the conservative goal is to get rid of public education as a means for democratic class mobility. They want kids to be taught only in parochial schools, or homeschooled.
posted by suelac at 6:45 PM on June 26, 2022 [32 favorites]
Which I think is the intent, as the conservative goal is to get rid of public education as a means for democratic class mobility. They want kids to be taught only in parochial schools, or homeschooled.
posted by suelac at 6:45 PM on June 26, 2022 [32 favorites]
They want kids to be taught only in parochial schools, or homeschooled.
And funded with tax dollars.
posted by rhizome at 7:04 PM on June 26, 2022 [9 favorites]
And funded with tax dollars.
posted by rhizome at 7:04 PM on June 26, 2022 [9 favorites]
And all this is happening in the state whose government is headed by Kristi Noem, tireless defender for personal choice?!! Shocked, i tell you. SHOCKED.
“I think it’s interesting that this side, this political party, the Democrats, who embrace getting abortion on demand, are accusing us of embracing death when we’re just allowing people to make personal choices and have personal responsibility …”
posted by armoir from antproof case at 7:46 PM on June 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
“I think it’s interesting that this side, this political party, the Democrats, who embrace getting abortion on demand, are accusing us of embracing death when we’re just allowing people to make personal choices and have personal responsibility …”
posted by armoir from antproof case at 7:46 PM on June 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
I constantly wonder, "How far can they push this before systems everyone relies on totally collapse?" but the answer keeps turning out to be "FARTHER THAN YOU THINK" and I'm getting a little scared of thinking how far it could go.
We had a similar situation where people without kids in the district ran an extremely regressive slate of school board candidates who wanted to remove all the thinking parts of high school. Fortunately this is a relatively progressive area that was able to rapidly mobilize a base of voters, but also Republican voters (including Trump voters) in our area were majority horrified. A minority of GOP voters sided with the no-thinking-in-school, make-school-dumb brigade, but the majority of GOP voters were like "But I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on extracurriculars so my kids can apply to Harvard!" and recognized that without the CRT and the APs and the challenging curriculum, their kids would not be going to Ivy Leagues. Turns out wealthy Trumpy voters are with Fox News right up until Fox News impacts their kids' ability to go to Harvard.
But in districts where most kids go to the state U? or a directional state U? If it's a majority-GOP school district, I'm not sure there's enough resistance to dumbing down the curriculum to prevent it. And then 10 years from now, nobody in Rapid City can go to the State U, or get into an out-of-state college, because Rapid City's curriculum is a disaster that fails to prepare students for college. But most of these activists don't CARE whether students are ready for college -- they'd like them NOT to be ready, because college makes people liberal. And that keeps feeding in on itself. But I just don't know how long that can keep feeding in on itself before a) communities revolt or b) schooling entirely collapses or c) the Republic itself collapses.
HONESTLY THOUGHT WE'D ALREADY BE AT B, but apparently we're all stanning for C.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:01 PM on June 26, 2022 [26 favorites]
We had a similar situation where people without kids in the district ran an extremely regressive slate of school board candidates who wanted to remove all the thinking parts of high school. Fortunately this is a relatively progressive area that was able to rapidly mobilize a base of voters, but also Republican voters (including Trump voters) in our area were majority horrified. A minority of GOP voters sided with the no-thinking-in-school, make-school-dumb brigade, but the majority of GOP voters were like "But I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on extracurriculars so my kids can apply to Harvard!" and recognized that without the CRT and the APs and the challenging curriculum, their kids would not be going to Ivy Leagues. Turns out wealthy Trumpy voters are with Fox News right up until Fox News impacts their kids' ability to go to Harvard.
But in districts where most kids go to the state U? or a directional state U? If it's a majority-GOP school district, I'm not sure there's enough resistance to dumbing down the curriculum to prevent it. And then 10 years from now, nobody in Rapid City can go to the State U, or get into an out-of-state college, because Rapid City's curriculum is a disaster that fails to prepare students for college. But most of these activists don't CARE whether students are ready for college -- they'd like them NOT to be ready, because college makes people liberal. And that keeps feeding in on itself. But I just don't know how long that can keep feeding in on itself before a) communities revolt or b) schooling entirely collapses or c) the Republic itself collapses.
HONESTLY THOUGHT WE'D ALREADY BE AT B, but apparently we're all stanning for C.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:01 PM on June 26, 2022 [26 favorites]
Which I think is the intent, as the conservative goal is to get rid of public education as a means for democratic class mobility.
See also: No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Act. They've been at this for two decades.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:02 PM on June 26, 2022 [4 favorites]
See also: No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Act. They've been at this for two decades.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:02 PM on June 26, 2022 [4 favorites]
>>This has nothing to do with democratic education.
But everything to do with their "Christian nation" image of education.
Where forced birth is the rule, no matter the opinion of the parents. Going on the dole? So what?
Where nobody younger than 18 are even allowed to read about sex. (See above)
And I'm afraid this will get worse. Because when teachers leave, guess who will take up the slack? Folks with agendas like those who took over the school boards. Parents "volunteering" as TA's in schools. But instead of helping the teachers, they're really the commissars informing on anything the teachers' doing to the school board so any teacher who doesn't fit their mold be forced out. The rest of the teachers either don't give a **** any more or rather have a job than not. Education? Who cares about that? They have IDEOLOGY! It'd be the Christian version of the *madrassas*.
The ONLY way to get this turned around is for those who do NOT want to see this continue, either get elected or help elect someone and displace these agenda-driven people.
posted by kschang at 8:15 PM on June 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
But everything to do with their "Christian nation" image of education.
Where forced birth is the rule, no matter the opinion of the parents. Going on the dole? So what?
Where nobody younger than 18 are even allowed to read about sex. (See above)
And I'm afraid this will get worse. Because when teachers leave, guess who will take up the slack? Folks with agendas like those who took over the school boards. Parents "volunteering" as TA's in schools. But instead of helping the teachers, they're really the commissars informing on anything the teachers' doing to the school board so any teacher who doesn't fit their mold be forced out. The rest of the teachers either don't give a **** any more or rather have a job than not. Education? Who cares about that? They have IDEOLOGY! It'd be the Christian version of the *madrassas*.
The ONLY way to get this turned around is for those who do NOT want to see this continue, either get elected or help elect someone and displace these agenda-driven people.
posted by kschang at 8:15 PM on June 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Another log for the America has become a Christian shithole bonfire.
posted by Windopaene at 8:26 PM on June 26, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 8:26 PM on June 26, 2022 [8 favorites]
It's always worth pointing out that Betsy Devos, who somehow became Secretary of Education, comes from the Dutch Reform church, which believes that education is solely the purview of the church, and that there should be no public education.
Conservatism thrives when people are shielded from ever being confronted by the "other" in the flesh. The "other" is supposed to remain a terrifying boogeyman, and any attempt to humanize the other is directly opposed to conservatism. "Us" and the idea of inclusivity, or of making space for difference is the death of conservative thought. So, yeah, they target the schools. They remove curriculum that promotes empathy and understanding. They ban books that expose students to the lives of people in different circumstances.
And, yeah, I get the idea that it's in general to say who can and who can't be a part of a democratically elected body, by why in the everliving fuck should people who have removed themselves entirely from the public school system (by choosing homeschooling or private schools) have any goddamned say in how the public schools are run? At the very least, anyone running for school board against one of these assholes should hammer them absolutely non-stop, demanding to know what earthly reason they might have for demanding the right to interfere in the lives of others, while refusing themselves to participate.
They bought an election for less than $20,000, and will have total say in how it's run, and what is taught. The jaw dropping incompetence involved in the lack of any national level party strategy to fight against this is astounding. Instead of responding to the fight where it's happening, we wait for articles from writers and teachers to tell us how badly we've lost and how untenable it is. Unfuckingbelievable.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:42 PM on June 26, 2022 [12 favorites]
Conservatism thrives when people are shielded from ever being confronted by the "other" in the flesh. The "other" is supposed to remain a terrifying boogeyman, and any attempt to humanize the other is directly opposed to conservatism. "Us" and the idea of inclusivity, or of making space for difference is the death of conservative thought. So, yeah, they target the schools. They remove curriculum that promotes empathy and understanding. They ban books that expose students to the lives of people in different circumstances.
And, yeah, I get the idea that it's in general to say who can and who can't be a part of a democratically elected body, by why in the everliving fuck should people who have removed themselves entirely from the public school system (by choosing homeschooling or private schools) have any goddamned say in how the public schools are run? At the very least, anyone running for school board against one of these assholes should hammer them absolutely non-stop, demanding to know what earthly reason they might have for demanding the right to interfere in the lives of others, while refusing themselves to participate.
They bought an election for less than $20,000, and will have total say in how it's run, and what is taught. The jaw dropping incompetence involved in the lack of any national level party strategy to fight against this is astounding. Instead of responding to the fight where it's happening, we wait for articles from writers and teachers to tell us how badly we've lost and how untenable it is. Unfuckingbelievable.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:42 PM on June 26, 2022 [12 favorites]
We had a similar situation where people without kids in the district ran an extremely regressive slate of school board candidates who wanted to remove all the thinking parts of high school.
Please don't slam people or dissuade them from caring about or becoming involved in local schools simply because they don't have children currently in them. Everyone should be invested in education and encouraged to be invested in their local public schools, even those without children currently in enrolled in them.
posted by ElKevbo at 9:20 PM on June 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Please don't slam people or dissuade them from caring about or becoming involved in local schools simply because they don't have children currently in them. Everyone should be invested in education and encouraged to be invested in their local public schools, even those without children currently in enrolled in them.
posted by ElKevbo at 9:20 PM on June 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is a well written, damning piece.
The only path out of this nightmare I can see would have to start with a powerful, participatory courageous union of teachers and school staff. Right now these assholes are taking down teachers once by one..
posted by latkes at 10:03 PM on June 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
The only path out of this nightmare I can see would have to start with a powerful, participatory courageous union of teachers and school staff. Right now these assholes are taking down teachers once by one..
posted by latkes at 10:03 PM on June 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
>>It's always worth pointing out that Betsy Devos, who somehow became Secretary of Education, comes from the Dutch Reform church, which believes that education is solely the purview of the church, and that there should be no public education.
I know you meant the statement "somehow" as a rhetorical question, but basically, she's RICH, and she's already active in Michigan GOP as someone who campaigned for charter schools.
Betsy Devos is wife of Dick DeVos, former Amway CEO. Her brother founded Blackwater USA. Her father was billionaire and among Top 100 richest in the US. She has plenty of money to spend on pet issues, and back then GOP vote partyline, no matter how sucky their candidate is. If Trump says jump they only ask how high.
posted by kschang at 11:28 PM on June 26, 2022
I know you meant the statement "somehow" as a rhetorical question, but basically, she's RICH, and she's already active in Michigan GOP as someone who campaigned for charter schools.
Betsy Devos is wife of Dick DeVos, former Amway CEO. Her brother founded Blackwater USA. Her father was billionaire and among Top 100 richest in the US. She has plenty of money to spend on pet issues, and back then GOP vote partyline, no matter how sucky their candidate is. If Trump says jump they only ask how high.
posted by kschang at 11:28 PM on June 26, 2022
Never forget the white supremacy angle. Kids not learning about sex and then not having access to abortion leads to more white babies. That might not be the whole game, but it's the paper the rules are printed on.
posted by regularfry at 1:51 AM on June 27, 2022
posted by regularfry at 1:51 AM on June 27, 2022
Did you know Lauren Boebert completed her high school diploma just a few months before entering congress?* She had to drop out to raise her child while her peers went off to college. Everything she's achieved is without an education, and she's learnt exactly the wrong lesson from this, resenting the 'elites' with their fancy degrees. After all, she struggled, worked hard, cared for her kids, all while being denied the kind of jobs that require an education. It's so unfair.
Ideally, she would have had access to contraception. Failing that, childcare so she could complete her education. That's the real injustice here Lauren.
A lot of people feel the way she does, and they love it when they see her 'punching up'. The educated living on easy street, they don't really deserve it, they don't know the struggle. In fact, education sucks. Who needs it? Not them, they do honest work, not pampered latte sipping fake office jobs. It's not a real job if you don't sweat. It's so unfair. For these people, education is the cause of class division, not the solution.
Oh Lauren, I won't go as far as saying it's not your fault, but for the sake of a condom...
*just to be clear, getting your GED as an adult is nothing but a good thing. No shade on that.
posted by adept256 at 2:31 AM on June 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
Ideally, she would have had access to contraception. Failing that, childcare so she could complete her education. That's the real injustice here Lauren.
A lot of people feel the way she does, and they love it when they see her 'punching up'. The educated living on easy street, they don't really deserve it, they don't know the struggle. In fact, education sucks. Who needs it? Not them, they do honest work, not pampered latte sipping fake office jobs. It's not a real job if you don't sweat. It's so unfair. For these people, education is the cause of class division, not the solution.
Oh Lauren, I won't go as far as saying it's not your fault, but for the sake of a condom...
*just to be clear, getting your GED as an adult is nothing but a good thing. No shade on that.
posted by adept256 at 2:31 AM on June 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
kschang, trust me, I’m aware of the money, the Amway, and all of the rest. Their stench is all over southwest Michigan, and at least partly the reason I got out when I could.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:52 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Ghidorah at 2:52 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh I must add, while an abortion may have changed the trajectory her life took, that decision should not be made for the sake of education. The solution for that is childcare.
posted by adept256 at 2:53 AM on June 27, 2022
posted by adept256 at 2:53 AM on June 27, 2022
while an abortion may have changed the trajectory her life took, that decision should not be made for the sake of education.
An abortion can be for any reason a woman wants one.
posted by biffa at 3:53 AM on June 27, 2022 [53 favorites]
An abortion can be for any reason a woman wants one.
posted by biffa at 3:53 AM on June 27, 2022 [53 favorites]
Meanwhile, a British university has dropped its English literature degree in response to a government funding crackdown on "low value" courses. Today's Guardian has the story.
posted by Paul Slade at 7:46 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Paul Slade at 7:46 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh I must add, while an abortion may have changed the trajectory her life took, that decision should not be made for the sake of education. The solution for that is childcare.
I think you accidentally left out a couple words that radically change the meaning here: "that decision should not have to be made for the sake of education"
That is, a person should be able to get an abortion if they want one, but it should not be the only option if they want to continue their education.
Oh Lauren, I won't go as far as saying it's not your fault, but for the sake of a condom...
And to be honest, this is kind of gross. Lauren Boebert didn't become who she is because she had a child and didn't go to college. Plenty of people have children and don't go to college and don't become gun-obsessed grifters with a casual relationship to food service health permits. She was already a hateful person.
Acting as though college is some kind of magic pill people take to become enlightened is, ironically, actually the kind of elitism that you say Boebert claims y'all suffer from. Sure college is an education and an opportunity, but not going to college isn't what makes people like Lauren Boebert lacking. Getting pregnant and having a child is not what makes people like Lauren Boebert lacking.
I'm having a hard time putting this into words because it is nuanced. Obviously, having a child has costs and can change the trajectory of your life (including in negative ways). But snide comments about how a woman should have just used a condom isn't the way to talk about this.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 8:19 AM on June 27, 2022 [13 favorites]
I think you accidentally left out a couple words that radically change the meaning here: "that decision should not have to be made for the sake of education"
That is, a person should be able to get an abortion if they want one, but it should not be the only option if they want to continue their education.
Oh Lauren, I won't go as far as saying it's not your fault, but for the sake of a condom...
And to be honest, this is kind of gross. Lauren Boebert didn't become who she is because she had a child and didn't go to college. Plenty of people have children and don't go to college and don't become gun-obsessed grifters with a casual relationship to food service health permits. She was already a hateful person.
Acting as though college is some kind of magic pill people take to become enlightened is, ironically, actually the kind of elitism that you say Boebert claims y'all suffer from. Sure college is an education and an opportunity, but not going to college isn't what makes people like Lauren Boebert lacking. Getting pregnant and having a child is not what makes people like Lauren Boebert lacking.
I'm having a hard time putting this into words because it is nuanced. Obviously, having a child has costs and can change the trajectory of your life (including in negative ways). But snide comments about how a woman should have just used a condom isn't the way to talk about this.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 8:19 AM on June 27, 2022 [13 favorites]
Never forget the white supremacy angle. Kids not learning about sex and then not having access to abortion leads to more white babies. That might not be the whole game, but it's the paper the rules are printed on.
I mean, sure I guess, if we assume white supremacists aren't that smart. If they were, they'd realize that abortion restrictions will fall disproportionately on lower-class women and women of color, and probably have the opposite effect on overall demographics. If you were a rational long-game white supremacist, you'd want contraceptives and abortion readily available, to help push POC fertility rates down closer to white ones. But it's not a rational cause.
I see it as being the other way around: they hate POC and women in general so much, they're willing to tolerate policies that will actually produce more black and brown babies, as long as they're impoverished and the women having them are sufficiently punished for their audacity to have sex (particularly with non-white men). Having that practical control over women seems to take precedence over actually believing in Great Replacement theory.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:39 AM on June 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
I mean, sure I guess, if we assume white supremacists aren't that smart. If they were, they'd realize that abortion restrictions will fall disproportionately on lower-class women and women of color, and probably have the opposite effect on overall demographics. If you were a rational long-game white supremacist, you'd want contraceptives and abortion readily available, to help push POC fertility rates down closer to white ones. But it's not a rational cause.
I see it as being the other way around: they hate POC and women in general so much, they're willing to tolerate policies that will actually produce more black and brown babies, as long as they're impoverished and the women having them are sufficiently punished for their audacity to have sex (particularly with non-white men). Having that practical control over women seems to take precedence over actually believing in Great Replacement theory.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:39 AM on June 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
But snide comments about how a woman should have just used a condom isn't the way to talk about this.
if there is a "way to talk about this" I wonder what that way is. What is the way to talk about this? is it the way where we pretend Roe v. Wade didn't just get wiped out? Are we not allowed to be snide and fucking angry and all kinds of negative ways about this
posted by elkevelvet at 9:03 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
if there is a "way to talk about this" I wonder what that way is. What is the way to talk about this? is it the way where we pretend Roe v. Wade didn't just get wiped out? Are we not allowed to be snide and fucking angry and all kinds of negative ways about this
posted by elkevelvet at 9:03 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I guess replacement theory is only a threat if the POC will have an equitable place in society. if they are rather, being bred to be a cheap exploitable workforce, bring the brown babies!! they don't need educating, they are meant to be military and factory fodder.
and as always, wealthy women will have access to whatever repro health services they need, including abortion.
posted by supermedusa at 9:05 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
and as always, wealthy women will have access to whatever repro health services they need, including abortion.
posted by supermedusa at 9:05 AM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Are we not allowed to be snide and fucking angry and all kinds of negative ways about this
I am fucking angry and scared and I still do not think the way to handle those emotions is to be gross about people's reproductive choices, regardless of who those people are
I can't "disallow" you from saying what you want but I can say how it makes me feel: bad
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:46 AM on June 27, 2022 [11 favorites]
I am fucking angry and scared and I still do not think the way to handle those emotions is to be gross about people's reproductive choices, regardless of who those people are
I can't "disallow" you from saying what you want but I can say how it makes me feel: bad
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:46 AM on June 27, 2022 [11 favorites]
The "way to talk about this" isn't to shame women, even women we don't like, for anything regarding reproduction. That would be my preference.
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:52 AM on June 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 9:52 AM on June 27, 2022 [6 favorites]
Candidates for the school board should run on the sole platform of making teacher's jobs easier. I think the teacher's will rally around them and they will win.
Teachers will provide them with the "hows."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:39 AM on June 27, 2022
Teachers will provide them with the "hows."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:39 AM on June 27, 2022
BTW, for any who haven't yet read the story, it's well worth your time. Eggers makes this brilliant observation, which I never would have picked up on:
There is an interesting wrinkle to the banning of sexually explicit books in South Dakota, given that the age of consent in that state is 16. In South Dakota, a 16- or 17-year-old can also be married, if they have signed permission from one parent. That means that in Rapid City, young people aged 16, 17 and 18 can legally have sex, and can legally be married (an arrangement that often includes sex), but they’re not supposed to read about sex in books.posted by martin q blank at 12:02 PM on June 27, 2022 [11 favorites]
My main takeaway from this article was that the right-wing organization was basically recruiting and training candidates to take over these open positions in the public office which was what was granting them power... so how do we do the same?
posted by vespertinism at 12:26 PM on June 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by vespertinism at 12:26 PM on June 27, 2022 [4 favorites]
> Candidates for the school board should run on the sole platform of making teacher's jobs easier.
There are plenty of teachers who should not be setting policy.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:34 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are plenty of teachers who should not be setting policy.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:34 PM on June 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
My main takeaway from this article was that the right-wing organization was basically recruiting and training candidates to take over these open positions in the public office which was what was granting them power... so how do we do the same?
Run For Something
posted by rhizome at 2:06 PM on June 27, 2022
Run For Something
posted by rhizome at 2:06 PM on June 27, 2022
I am against all the shade he threw *because* board members had no kids in school for several reasons: people with kids are just as batshit damagingly religious as those without, so you'll always have whack jobs who do this shit as long as we make it legal. As long as we allow religion to run its dirty, filthy little hands over our government it doesn't matter a damn who has kids in the district or who doesn't. I have...personal experience. Unfortunately.
Another reason it bugged me is that I've lived in a country where EVERYONE gives a shit about kids and the future . You shouldn't have to have kids to want to serve on a school board (if American religious lunacy weren't at stake). Additionally, healthy parents (not homeschooling housewives and ignorant religious dirtbags) often wouldn't have time to serve on a board.
That little uncomfortable blip aside, I really appreciated the writeup, and the fact that they made sure any kid who wanted a book, got one.
(I earned the right to hate christians. Christ got me a fuckload of brutal beatings and then severe suppression and bullying in religious school. If it were up to me...)
And why are people so slow. Do these parents really think their kids don't read whatever the fuck they want? There's not enough control on the planet to keep someone 100% controlled, especially teenagers.
He mentioned online stuff not being controlled. Maybe not for kids in public school, but boarding schools can and do. When I was in boarding school we weren't allowed to have radios or walkmans or anything that played music, and they searched our rooms regularly. Decades later and I still don't understand music. But by God, I read what I wanted, no matter how many times my things got thrown out.
Kids find a way. And I can't think of anything more provocative and exciting as a teen than hearing about a book my parents didn't want me to read. I honestly feel worse for the teachers than the kids. Having the rug yanked out from under you and trying to figure out how to teach in that environment, on poverty wages and no respect...
posted by liminal_shadows at 10:10 PM on June 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Another reason it bugged me is that I've lived in a country where EVERYONE gives a shit about kids and the future . You shouldn't have to have kids to want to serve on a school board (if American religious lunacy weren't at stake). Additionally, healthy parents (not homeschooling housewives and ignorant religious dirtbags) often wouldn't have time to serve on a board.
That little uncomfortable blip aside, I really appreciated the writeup, and the fact that they made sure any kid who wanted a book, got one.
(I earned the right to hate christians. Christ got me a fuckload of brutal beatings and then severe suppression and bullying in religious school. If it were up to me...)
And why are people so slow. Do these parents really think their kids don't read whatever the fuck they want? There's not enough control on the planet to keep someone 100% controlled, especially teenagers.
He mentioned online stuff not being controlled. Maybe not for kids in public school, but boarding schools can and do. When I was in boarding school we weren't allowed to have radios or walkmans or anything that played music, and they searched our rooms regularly. Decades later and I still don't understand music. But by God, I read what I wanted, no matter how many times my things got thrown out.
Kids find a way. And I can't think of anything more provocative and exciting as a teen than hearing about a book my parents didn't want me to read. I honestly feel worse for the teachers than the kids. Having the rug yanked out from under you and trying to figure out how to teach in that environment, on poverty wages and no respect...
posted by liminal_shadows at 10:10 PM on June 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
This brings up so many bad memories for me. This shouldn't be about books. This should be about saving children. Leaving kids with ultra-religious households shouldn't happen ever. It is abuse. It ruined my life, and it's one of the reasons I think about suicide all the time.
At least young adults today have the 'net. But I still feel a horrible hurricane of emotion every time I read about it. I should stay out of these threads. I really cannot handle it.
These people are insane, and they should be locked up: an asylum, prison, i don't care. If there's anything that makes me believe in sterilization for subgroups it's christians.
posted by liminal_shadows at 10:17 PM on June 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
At least young adults today have the 'net. But I still feel a horrible hurricane of emotion every time I read about it. I should stay out of these threads. I really cannot handle it.
These people are insane, and they should be locked up: an asylum, prison, i don't care. If there's anything that makes me believe in sterilization for subgroups it's christians.
posted by liminal_shadows at 10:17 PM on June 27, 2022 [3 favorites]
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