Responding to a parent complaint about a young adult book with inappropriate content, the Salem (IL) elementary board will require parents to sign off on their children’s access to print content at the school library, according to this article in the Salem Time-Commoner The district currently requires parents to sign off on Internet access and movies, but not books.
Alisha Ambuehl, the parent of an eighth grader brought forth the complaint about the play, “Leslie’s Journal.”
When she began leafing through the book just to see what it was about, she noticed several spots where the language was not suitable for young people. In fact, in her mind, it was extremely inappropriate. She then took the time to read the entire manuscript and was shocked at its’ content.
hmmm
Not such a bad idea. Protects the libarians and schools. Parents can “protect” their kids from whatever they want. Other parents don’t have their kids deprived of something because of the wishes of other parents.
Win-win. Right?
Re:hmmm
It’s better than demanding parental permission to let the students sign out some books I suppose. I have to wonder about where this parent and the principal are coming from, though. At what age do they imagine this book will be appropriate for young adults? After a student becomes mired in a similar situation or well after it could be of any benefit because they’ll be too old for the book?
I’d think that a better course of action would be to hold some workshops and discussion groups based on the story.