nbruce writes “How are opt-out programs working for literature classes in public schools? Where they exist, it is still pretty rocky. Story here.
“The objections of individual families to The Bluest Eye erupted into a district-level battle over the propriety of such lurid material for any district student. In a series of heated board meetings, teachers defended their professional judgment. Parents, meanwhile, defended their right to shield their children from sexually explicit material. The dispute remains unresolved.
Curriculum-related parental notification and consent, commonly called “opt-out” policies, exist in thousands of school districts. Yet cases similar to the one unfolding in Bakersfield have in recent years popped up in other areas, including New England, Ohio, and Virginia. That raises a question: Do opt-out policies work?”
“
Objectionable Literature
This is one of those issues that gets interpreted acccording to one’s outlook. The public school has been traditionally a place where all opinions and viewpoints meet and where one outlook doesn’t or shouldn’t prevail. Is public education there to educate the student or is it to gain adherents to various and sundry ideas. The public and the parents are partners with the public school system. If a portion of the population finds something objectionable why not discuss the issue and perhaps come up with a mutually acceptable solution. When parents show concern they should not be brushed off and when children object on legitimate grounds their voices should be heard as well. The other day a young girl wrote to a company objecting to the the immodest clothing sold. To the company’s credit they gave her complaint serious consideration. The public school system should at least do the same.
Modest clothing
I’m not sure we should give the company much credit. Considering that the ’50s sexy-librarian look is apparently the coming fall fashion for girls, perhaps Nordstrom was going to have the more modest clothes anyway and is just using the kid as a PR tool.