A middle school teacher in South Carolina was placed on administrative leave and could lose his job because he read aloud to his class from Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game.
According to the Aiken Standard, the teacher read aloud from three books including Ender’s Game as part of a literacy initiative program. A parent objected to the book, calling it “pornographic.”
While Ender’s Game is listed on numerous web sites as recommended and suitable for readers ages 12 and above, the teacher in question failed to follow his school’s guidelines for the book. The books read had to first be reviewed before being read to students.
Joy Shealy, school district academic officer for middle schools, said there is a policy that defines steps teachers ought to take when presenting supplemental material.
“One of the things that teachers are supposed to do is preview material for appropriateness for any questions that may come up,” Shealy said. “By doing that, we make sure the materials that are presented to students are age and instructionally appropriate – all the things that make a good instructional program.”
A student and his or her parents objected to the book, calling it pornographic.
The administration gathered a written statement from the student, which is normal procedure, and initiated an immediate investigation, according to the administration.
After reviewing the student’s statement, school officials indicated that the investigation would continue, school administrators stated this week.
Administrators were reportedly concerned with the report that the books had curse words and terms in them that might not be age appropriate.
The same parent referred the complaint to the Aiken police department. The school’s principle said the complaint would be “handled in-house.”
Police have not filed any criminal charges against the teacher at this time. The investigation is still ongoing, said Aiken Public Safety Lt. David Turno.
After the teenager’s mother contacted police, investigators contacted the school.
School officials have since said two of the three books the teacher read were determined to have materials (primarily swear words) and, in some instances, subject matter and terminology that school administrators consider inappropriate for the middle school.
[quote] and, in some instances, subject matter and terminology that school administrators consider inappropriate for the middle school. [/quote]
Then I assume these same parents and school administrators will ban the following books on similar grounds: The Bible (i.e. the old testament) and the complete works of Shakespeare.
Exactly! Shakespeare is raunchier, dirtier, more pornographic than anything read in schools, but parents INSIST that their children reads his works! The problem? They don’t actually understand half of what he’s saying.
he read from three books, one of which was ender’s game. Something is missing….two other book titles. They could be the pornographic ones. kinda a bad article.
I can only think of one scene where one of the squad leaders and his “desk” on his lap with an animated image (and it blows my mind a bit to think you can do that now with an iPad… whoa)
I have had 5th graders (10 – 11 yo) read Ender’s Game on their own. I never thought twice about it. We had a girl in 2nd grade, who brought Twilight to school for DEAR time. My 2nd graders are currently reading Harry Potter and Hunger Games on their own. I contacted 1 parent about these choices and that was because of an personal issue the child had.
I guess it’s time to raise the nazi flag in south carolina, bring out the book burners!!
There go the turbo-christians again. This is the south
Have the Nazi’s from the moon landed already? I thought that wasn’t suppose to happen until 2018!
This sounds more like that student/parent have a personal issue with that teacher and where looking for anything to get rid of them
A parent called the police because of a book? I mean, I realize it’s from Orson Scott Card and he’s … well, a nutjob … but still, the police? Really?
There are phrases in the book that can be considered unsuitable… and of course, that’s the reason they’re there. It’s meant to make the reader uncomfortable to read about a NINE YEAR OLD in a military school without hope for seeing his family ever again. On top of this, the “school” itself has a culture which belittles and abuses the students, a culture supported by the leaders of the school. It’s an example of THE WRONG THING TO DO when raising and educating children, and so is COMPLETELY APPROPRIATE in the context of the book. So, naturally, the South Carolina school just doesn’t get it.
Here is the complaint, complete with the mother’s name and address, as well as the name of the teacher involved:
http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/SchofieldSchool-PornInvestigation.pdf
Here is where she works:
http://www.myvetonline.com/silverbluffah/general-information.html
…if Mr. Culp’s name and work place is out there, HER name should be out there as well. What an idiot.
Perhaps the author of the article would provide the name of the other 2 books from which the teacher was reading? The complaint noted in the police report was definitely not from Ender’s Game…And frankly while I was initially incensed about this teacher being put on leave, I wouldn’t want my middle grader hearing about prostitutes having their faces covered in ejaculation either…