|
|
|
March 17, 2007
Ravenna, Ohio
STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES
For now, mother Angela Calo is focusing on AMERICA by E.R. Frank. She says her daughter, a seventh grade student at Brown Middle School, is too immature to deal with the "sexual content and profanity," used to describe the tortured life of a fictional abuse victim named America.
Like most censors, Calo isn't content to deny her daughter access to the book. She wants it removed from the entire school district. "Yes," Calo said in a local newspaper report, "it was not suitable for any child." She suggested only college level students be allowed access to the book.
Teacher Cathy Adler told her class of gifted students the content was "raw" -- at times painful to read. But national statistics suggest 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be sexually abused before they reach the age of 18 -- before they would be allowed to read a story reflective of their life experiences, by Calo's proposed standard. Kids not victimized sit next to kids who are.
We object to the censorship of E.R. Frank's exceptional novel, and offer both teacher and author our support. But AMERICA is not the only book on Calo's radar. She's also "concerned" about SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson, and STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES, both approved for the 2007/2008 district reading list.
Many Ohio readers, including education professionals and Adler's students have visited this website to express their defense of free speech and to warn that SARAH BYRNES may be next.
We applaud those people, and teacher Cathy Adler. And we promise, if Calo turns her focus to the books of Chris Crutcher, he'll be ready and able to meet her challenge. You will not be alone in your battle to protect your First Amendment rights.
To be continued...!
PRESS COVERAGE
Mom Seeks to Ban Books
Record Courier, March 14, 2007
|
|
MISSOURI VALLEY, IOWA
FEBRUARY 22, 2007
WHALE TALK
UPDATE: 3-2 vote protects free speech.
The Rev. Nathan Slaughter called for the removal of WHALE TALK from Missouri Valley High School 10th grade curriculum in local press reports . He called it "war" on his personal blog.
Many of the facts were misrepresented in Slaughter's statement.
First, he said the book was "required reading," with no alternative book available for parents who objected. "Requiring the reading should not be done at the expense of parents who wish to minimize their children's exposure to this material," he said. He also called the book "trash."
Second, he said "most parents" objected to the book and demanded it be removed from the 10th grade curriculum. But more than a dozen students and parents told us teacher Leo Bertelsen warned of the book's gritty passages and offered other options to anyone who didn't want to read it. These parents and students wrote to express their support for both Bertelsen and WHALE TALK.
Several students even started a petition drive to restore their First Amendment rights and finish the book. We applaud those students for standing up for their beliefs, just as we respect the students who asked to be excused from reading WHALE TALK.
On March 6, the committee appointed to review WHALE TALK voted to recommend keeping it in library circulation and as an option for 10th grade curriculum.
On March 12, the school board voted 3 to 2 to retain the book in the school library and as possible curriculum to 10th, 11th and 12th grade students as long as an alternative title was offered to students and parents who objected.
We are pleased with this outcome, and thank the board members for trusting their teachers to do what they were trained to do -- teach. But beyond that, Chris would like to say thank you to the people of Missouri Valley.
He received so many wonderful letters praising the book and his statement to the city and Rev. Slaughter (available HERE), he is truly grateful. In fact, he is hoping to visit Missouri Valley when he's in Iowa in October, if time permits.
What's best for the kids and their parents was clearly at the heart of the school board's ultimate decision. Bravo, Missouri Valley. Bravo.
NEWS COVERAGE
Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil - Feb. 22, 2007
|
|
Wausau, WI
October 25, 2006
ATHLETIC SHORTS
Wausau School District School Board President Pat Keefe made almost immediate contact with Chris Crutcher when news of the decision to pull ATHLETIC SHORTS from a 7th grade advanced English class curriculum hit the Wausau Daily Herald. Discussion, he said, was important. Understanding was his aim, and the effort was appreciated. But in the end, his wife's complaint against the book for her Horace Mann Middle School 7th grader was not answered by giving that student another book to read. All students in the class were denied the right to read the award winning collection of short stories, at the request of a single parent -- even those who expressed a desire to continue, with parental support.
We think that was wrong.
Again, Pat Keefe seemed reasonable and moderate in all correspondence. But we wonder why he missed the opportunity to open a dialogue with the students he clearly cares about -- a discussion of important issues facing young people today in an attempt at real and meaningful education. Why run from talking about hard truths, when children need to learn from us how to face and understand them?
Keefe wanted it clear that the book was not banned. And it is still on the library shelves. But the message conveyed remains clear. Do not talk to adults -- not your parents or the people hired to teach you -- about these hard topics. They are too tough for grown-ups to handle, even if kids are, too often, literally dying to learn how to protect themselves and aching to grow up safe and aware. What a sad choice -- to blindfold rather than enlighten. What a wasted opportunity.
Press Coverage:
October 25, 2006
Wausau Daily Herald
Wausau School Ends Use of Book
October 29, 2006
Wausau Daily Herald
Parents Debate Appropriate Books
October 30, 2006
Wausau Daily Herald
Audio Interview with Crutcher
or HERE (mp3).
(Transcript also ran in print)
November 2, 2006
Wausau Daily Herald Live Chat
With Opinion Editor Peter Wasson
Transcript Available HERE.
November 2, 2006
City Pages -- Weekly Alternative
Feature article (unavailable online)
|
|
 | | Challenged in New York. |
| | | |
Rochester, NY
RUNNING LOOSE
August 2006
New York is progressive -- a forward thinking state that believes in preparing its young people for life in a real world, right? Not always.
In Rochester, NY parent Theresa Floramo seems prepared to take the community back in time by calling for the ban of quality books she considers "soft-core pornography" -- books like RUNNING LOOSE.
This challenge came on the heels of a challenge to the work of David Sanchez for its representation of authentic gay teen characters. To read more about the challenge, click these links. And watch for more developments to come.
Press Coverage
Democrat & Chronicle
August 27, 2006
Debate Continues Over Required Reading
Democrat & Chronicle
August 31, 2006
Parents, Pay Attention
|
|
|
 | | Banned along with RUNNING LOOSE in Ohio. |
| | | |
Rootstown, Ohio
July 2006
RUNNING LOOSE & CHINESE HANDCUFFS
You've never heard of Rootstown, Ohio, perhaps. It's a tiny district not far from Akron. But during the 2005/2006 school year, they quietly opted to remove two of Crutcher's books for high school shelves without much fanfare. We heard about it in July from a concerned reader.
The Rootstown Local School District website doesn't seem to work, but the Superintendent is Dean E. Mizer and his address is 4140 State Route 44, Rootstown, OH 44272, his phone number is 330-325-9911 if you'd live in or near Rootstown and want to know why two books were pulled, allegedly without debate, though this couldn't be confirmed.
Chris will be providing books to the Portage County District Library in nearby Garretsville, Ohio to give teens the chance to read what adults think they're too little to handle.
|
|
|
 | | Crutcher in Lexington, South Carolina, where they don't silence authors. |
| | | |
Anderston District 5, South Carolina
CRUTCHER HIMSELF
August 22, 2006
In the winter of 2006, representatives from Hanna High in Anderson District 5, South Carolina -- the school that so beautifully embraced developmentally disabled towny Radio, a movie was made about their generosity (with the title character played by Cuba Gooding, Jr) -- invited Chris to speak to 3200 students.
They were eager and enthusiastic about his speaking and tirelessly planned for his arrival. But in the summer of 2006, just weeks before his August date, the invitation was withdrawn. Seems one powerful district voice didn't approve of Crutcher's realistic work and forbid the interaction.
Silencing the author is just as surely censorship as is banning the book. So we post the report here for your consideration. One question...Hanna High kids, are you too young to read Chris Crutcher? How do YOU feel about this decision? We'd like to hear from you, if you have something to say.
|
|
|
|
Hillsborough County, FL
ATHLETIC SHORTS & IRONMAN
June 15, 2006
UPDATE: Chris filmed a DVD in support of Brandon Pride and in opposition to Ronda Storms in the summer of 2006. Excerpts will be part of a new documentary to air in the county soon. For more information, visit this website: www.unBANNED.org. To see an early version of the film without CC's comments, click here: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2751154.
In June of 2005, Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms insisted a book display including two Crutcher books in her local library be removed -- and soon after, they were.
Although the covers were not in any case sexually graphic, they fronted books for teens that treated homosexual characters with respect and dignity and were posted to mark the regions celebration of gay pride.
Storms demanded the display be dismantled and, eventually won the battle to end any public gay pride demonstrations.
“I do not want to have to explain to my [6-year-old] daughter what it means to be questioning one’s sexuality … or what a transgender person is, or what a bisexual is or what a gay or lesbian is,” said Storms. The library, she said, shouldn’t be “used as bully pulpit to introduce those concepts to a child outside of their parents’ purview.” Only one county commissioner voted against the ban, which resulted in the removal of the shelf of books, as well as a larger display in the central library.
On June 15, 2006 and throughout the month of June, dozens of organizations joined forces under the banner "Hillsborough Pride is Back," to protest the ban of books and gay pride expression and invited Crutcher to attend a special reading. Unfortunately, he was unable to make the trip, but he fully endorses the protest and wishes he could have been there in body as well as in spirit.
LINKS
Un-BANNED
http://www.libfolio.com/
Pride is Back
http://www.eqfl.org/active/prideback.php
Library No Place for Gay Pride, Storms Says
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/09/Hillsborough/Library_no_place_for_.shtml
Hillsborough Bans County From Recognizing Gay Pride
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/16/Hillsborough/Hillsborough_bans_cou.shtml
Storms Bid for State Senate
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBKN5TO3OE.html
|
|
|
|
Junction City, Kansas
CHINESE HANDCUFFS
April 2006
For years, teachers at Junction City High School and other local Kansas schools used Crutcher's books, including CHINESE HANDCUFFS without complaint to help explore challenged lives of teens and great literature. But in 2006, a conservative school board member's child wound up in English class, and the push to ban the book was on.
It was formally challenged and members of the English department had to meet to discuss the worth of the story to prepare for the controversy. At least one staff was allegedly offended by the tough content after review.
But the Principal moved forward, selecting an evaluation team of parents, teachers and council members. After careful consideration, they voted unanimously to retain the book.
The principal saw one teacher who had hosted Crutcher at Junction City High School in the hall after the deliberation and said, "I guess that Chris Crutcher knows what he is doing, huh?" He nodded.
This time, the kids won. If it were only always so.
|
|
|
|
Westmoreland, NY
STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES
December 2005
(Text from the School Library Journal, December 2005) The Westmoreland Central School District has denied a parent's request to remove Chris Crutcher's novel Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (Greenwillow, 2003) from the high school curriculum. Upset by the young adult novel's graphic language, the parent sought to ban the book after discovering her son reading it for a ninth-grade assignment. Initially dissatisfied with a compromise made by her son's English teacher to substitute the Crutcher book with another title, the parent took her book challenge to Superintendent Toni Kulak, who denied the request. The parent then went before the school board, which also recently voted to keep the book in schools. "It was not an issue," says Kulak. "We're going to continue to use the book because we think it's valuable to our students."
Here's to Toni Kulak, a superintendent who puts the good of the whole student population ahead of the fears of one parent.
|
|
|
|
November 28, 2005
ATHLETIC SHORTS
Though the teacher who alerted us to this challenge has asked us not to go into specifics on the website, another challenge has been mounted against ATHLETIC SHORTS, this time inspired by "A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune;" more to the point, the gay characters warmly represented in the short story.
But in brief, an 8th grade language arts teacher who had used "A Brief Moment..." and Bruce Colville's short story, "Am I Blue?" to support a diversity curriculum for many years had them challenged in November by one mother who felt teaching tolerance for gays and lesbians was not Christian. And she brought 30 of her church friends to make the argument louder.
Though the teacher put up a strong defense, the principal and curriculum director insisted the word "gay" could no longer be said in the classroom and "A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune," and "Am I Blue?" could no longer be used as curriculum support.
Crutcher's complete -- and pointed -- response will be available later this week. But sufice to say, he has as little tolerance for bigotry against gays and lesbians as his critics have for this short story.
More to come, but for now, a sneak-peek. Crutcher on the struggles of gay and lesbian teens in today's extremist environment:
"Because they are forced to lead repressed lives, gay kids have a three times greater suicide rate than heterosexual kids. We cannot, as educators, pretend not to know those statistics, and when we know them and still choose to bow to the censors, we become accomplices in the results of their depression, because when we censor these stories, we censor these kids. We tell them loud and clear that they have good reason for that depression, and for thoughts of looking for a way out. We can’t pretend to not know what we know.
"Educators, particularly social studies teachers, are fond of repeating the old saying, 'Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.' I couldn’t agree more. Overwhelmingly, modern censors are made up of conservative Christians. You might want to visit some Ku Klux Klan history and listen to them evoke the name of God to back their bigotry. And make no mistake about it; if you engage in policy that diminishes a tenth (or even a hundredth) of a population that is born into their circumstances, you are a bigot. I don’t care how many houses you build in Latin America or how many days you volunteer to work at the local Food Bank or how much money you tithe or give to charity. We believe in equality or we don’t; we believe in justice or we don’t, and hiding the truths of people’s lives is unjust.
"A thirteen year old gay boy that I worked with recently (who has given me permission to air his views) told me the thing that hurts him most is that for the next four years he will be unable to let anyone know who he really is. He can’t allow the most powerful forces of his adolescence to be made evident even in harmless flirtation because of the possible consequences. Nobody wants to be Matthew Shepherd. But he also told me the kids these days aren’t as bigoted as the adults. That gives me hope for our kids, but shames me as an adult. It should shame us all. "
~~Chris Crutcher
Crutcher is not alone in this belief.
"I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation."
-- the late Coretta Scott King
|
|
|
|
UPDATED
October 8, 2005
Mongomery County, Texas
IRONMAN, SARAH BYRNES & ATHLETIC SHORTS
NOTICE
Chris Crutcher will be in Montomery County
on January 20 & 21, 2006. We are working with
Jerilynn Williams to set up a little get together
while he's there. More on that SOON!
We originally reported it was the Library Patrons of Texas behind the challenge of IRONMAN and ATHLETIC SHORTS. But they are not alone. AVIDD is also swinging its axe.
According to American Libraries Online, Jim Cabaniss who heads up the American Veterans in Defense of Democracy joined 14 other protesters on October 8, 2005 to go from branch library to branch library shredding "pornographic" books from a list 70 strong -- books they want banned. IRONMAN, SARAH BYRNES and ATHLETIC SHORTS are reportedly on that list.
Library Director Jerilynn A. Williams has wrangled with Cabaniss and the Library Patrons of Texas (http://www.librarypatrons.org/) before. In fact, in 2003 a Mongomery County official allegedly faced criminal charges for trying to secretly overturn the library selection policies to support the extreme conservative agenda. But Williams remains determined to fight the chronic assaults on free speech and the right to read.
Many of the books targeted by AVIDD reflect gay and lesbian characters in a positive light. Erin Myers of the Democrat Herald said, "AVIDD's true agenda became glaringly obvious when Cabaniss said that the books were put in the library by a gay, lesbian and transgendered task force devoted to spreading their lifestyle to others. He said, 'This group represents only one percent of the American people and they are deciding what goes into our libraries.' “
Though it hasn't been authenticated, this is allegedly a partial list of books drawn from the 70 the AVIDD wants banned, along with the reasons sighted for removal. Some reports suggest ATHLETIC SHORTS is on the expanded list:
•Dance on My Grave Aidan Chambers: sexual content, profanity
•Dreamland Sarah Dessen: profanity, sexual situations
•The Drowning of Stephen Jones Bette Green: ultra-liberal, anti-Christian, bad language, unsuitable
•Eight Seconds Jean Ferris: reprobate way of life
•Geography Club Brent Hartinger: profanity, sexual situations
•Good Moon Rising Nancy Garden: homosexuality
•Hey, Dollface Deborah Hautzig: language, discussion of homosexuality without declaring it a sin
•Holly's Secret Nancy Garden: propaganda methods too subtle for readers and hidden assumptions regarding homosexuality
•I Am Joseph Barbara Cohen: much too graphic, unacceptable for a family
•Ironman Chris Cruthcher: vulgar language, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality
•My Brother Has AIDS Deborah Davis: portrayal of dysfunctional family, nothing is mentioned about the fact that if Lincoln or Jack had not chosen a gay lifestyle they would not have contracted AIDS, religion is excluded as solution
•My Father's Scar Michael Cart: homosexual lifestyle, portrayal of superficial relationship as love, language
•My Heartbeat Garrett Freymann-Wehr: recounts the confusion of three young people and their newly emerging sexual feelings and identity
•Peter Kate Walker: replete with titillation, is demeaning and panders to the lowest side of life
•The Sissy Duckling Harvey Fierstein: author pushing homosexual agenda
•Stuck Rubber Baby Howard Cruse: vulgar, obscene graphics, inflammatory racial words and graphics, homosexual practices
•Tomorrow Wendy Shelly Stoehr: introduces young people to subjects with no moral judgment attached
•What I Know Now Rodger Larson: profanity, explicit sexual references
|
|
|
|
Alabama Update
September 26 & 27, 2005
Banned Books Week
To celebrate free speech and the ALA's Banned Books Week, Crutcher visited Alabama libraries and schools, including a school in Athens, Alabama -- not far from where his book was banned in March of 2005.
Read more about that visit HERE.
|
|
|
 | | Ms. Tenenbaum doesn't like being called a censor. But pulling award winning books from recommended reading lists is censorship, and it's wrong. |
| | | |
Summer 2005
Myrtle Beach, SC
WHALE TALK
By the summer of 2005, word of State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenebaum's disapproval had trickled down among the political ranks, once again embolding the censors who would see WHALE TALK removed from reading lists, if not shelves. So when a district-wide summer reading list for 9th grade honor students same to light, WHALE TALK was promptly removed.
"What's sad," said one anonymous teacher, "is that the kids had about a dozen books to choose from; it wasn't 'required,' per se. Choice was sacrificed for typical ass-covering, political machinations."
Again, Inez Tenebaum insists she is not a censor. But this and other similar instances prove she is a censor of considerable power, whose assessment deny young people the right to read powerful literature for all the wrong reasons. Shame on you, Ms. Tenenbaum, for trampling all over Free Expression and literature that can educate. Shame on you.
|
|
|
|
March 8, 2005
Athens, Alabama
WHALE TALK BANNED
At their March 7 meeting, members of the Limestone County Board of Education became book banners, and removed WHALE TALK from ALL DISTRICT SCHOOL LIBRARY shelves on a 4 to 3 vote. According to some reports, a second district followed their lead immediately. Superintendent Barry Carroll recommended keeping the book, as did a review committee and three board members (Board President Roger Whitt, John Wayne King and Charles Shoulders, Jr.). Bryant Moss, Darin Russell, Earl Glaze and James Shannon voted FOR the ban.
When challenged on his right to make this decision for all parents, Moss responded, "You say that I have no right to decide what other people's children will read. I agree with you -- to a point. What other parents allow their children to read outside of school is their decision and not mine. However, I have an obligation to try to keep material that is deemed inappropriate out of our school libraries."
We STRONGLY disagree. To convey your feelings to the Limestone County Board of Education members, follow this LINK. to an email form. And our apologies to Ardmore High School Principal Mike Owens. We originally posted his email address in hopes he'd receive letter of SUPPORT for having WHALE TALK in his library in the first place, not heat about the action of a board.
This debate is NOT over. Watch for developments as they unfold here.
For a look at Chris Crutcher's response to the challenge to adults and teens, click HERE.
Press Coverage
February 8, 2005 -- The Decatur Daily
Parents Challenge 'Whale Talk'
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050208/book.shtml
March 2005
First Amendment Center News Briefs
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=14960March 8, 2005 -- The Decatur Daily
Limestone Bans Book for Curses
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050308/ban.shtmlMarch 8, 2005 -- The News-Courier
County School Board bans book by popular young adult novelist
http://www.enewscourier.com/articles/2005/03/08/news/news02.txtMarch 8, 2005 -- WAFF News, Alabama
Children's Book Banned in Schools
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=3048492&nav=0hBEXEwgMarch 8, 2005 -- NBC 13
Limestone Count Board Bans Book
http://www.nbc13.com/news/4265405/detail.html
March 8, 2005 -- WSFA TV Montgomery, AL
Limestone County board bans Book for Curses
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3048048&nav=0RdEXEkc
March 8, 2005 -- Tuscaloosa News
Limestone County board bans book "Whale Talk" for curse words
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050308/APN/503080941
March 8, 2005 -- Al.com Everything Alabama
Limestone County board bans book
http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1110312757159980.xml&storylist=alabamanews
March 8, 2005 -- Times Daily
Limestone County bans book...
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050308/APN/503080941
March 8, 2005 -- Dateline Alabama
Limestone County board bans book..
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050308/APN/503080941&cachetime=3&template=dateline
March 9, 2005 -- Huntsville Times
Limestone board bans book because of "bad, bad words."
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/111036344516611.xml
By Christopher Bell,
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
March 10, 2005 -- Decatur Daily
Old Internet link leads to porn
March 10, 2005 -- Decatur Daily
Editorial -- Limestone school board needs to rethink book ban
April 17, 2005, Decatur Daily
Forbidden Reading by Holly Hollman
GEORGIA
|
|
|
 | | On closed reserve? |
| | | |
UPDATE - 11/15/05
Grand Rapids, MI
ATHLETIC SHORTS
We asked for an update on what was decided on the "temporarily" banned copies of ATHLETIC SHORTS in the district after the controversy last spring (Feb. 2005). The response:
"Bert [Bleke] asked me to reply to you. The decision was made this summer, and review of our procedures was completed. We strengthened the teacher's role in material selection and the procedure for how extracurricular material is used in the schools. Crutcher's book was returned to the schools and placed on closed reserve for this year. If you have any other questions, please let me know. and I will do my best to answer them.
Roger Schindler
Director of Library Media Services
Grand Rapids Public Schools"
What does "closed reserve" mean, specifically, and what did he mean when he said, "for this year?" What happens NEXT year?
Mr. Schindler's response:
"...closed reserve means that the material must be requested. I felt that that was appropriate as a cool down period so that the book can be read for what it is, not what it has been perceived as. At the end of the year, it can be returned to the shelves as a regular circulation. "
We'll follow up at the year's end.
To be continued....
|
|
|
 | | Rosemary Ervine, who cancelled Crutcher's school visit and censored his message. |
| | | |
February 24, 2005
Holland, Michigan
School Visits Postponed AGAIN
Due to the swirl of inaccurate publicity surrounding "Telephone Man" from ATHLETIC SHORTS, Rosemary Ervine, Superintendent of the Ottawa School District decided to postpone Crutcher's scheduled school visits March 11, 2004. She hopes to better inform her staff and her community to avoid the misunderstanding and insensitivity that unfolded earlier this month in Grand Rapids.
Area public libraries in Grand Haven, Holland and Grand Rapids have stepped up to offer a string of forums in which to speak, even as district officials felt it best to temporarily regroup. And one nearby school hopes to use a portion of the time made available by Ms. Ervine's postponement.
We appreciates the thoughtful consideration that went into making these tough choices, and we thank the school media specialists who hoped until the end to honor the original dates. We also appreciate the opportunities offered by the public libraries of the region. Many thanks to Tom Gensen for spearheading that remarkable effort. Thanks to these dedicated professionals, local teens will have the chance to decide for themselves where Crutcher stands, sooner AND later.
February 23, 2005 -- Holland Sentinel
Tickets needed to see author Chris Crutcher
February 24, 2005 -- WZZM 13
School Cancels Controversial Author
February 25, 2005 -- Holland Sentinel
Author won't meet students
February 25, 2005 -- Muskegon Chronicle
Controversial author invited to new venue
February 25 -- Wood 8 TV
Author of controversial book to speak in Grand Rapids, Grand Ledge and Holland
February 25, 2005 -- Grand Rapids Press
Telephone Man author put on hold
February 25, 2005 -- Holland Sentinel
Hits and Misses
|
|
|
 | | Photo courtesy of Kevin King at the Kalamazoo Public Library. |
| | | |
February 16, 2005
Grand Haven, Michigan
Chris Crutcher Visit
Because of the controversy in Grand Rapids earlier in the month, Grand Haven Area Public Schools officials postponed Crutcher's March 10, 2005 visit to Grand Haven High School until they can arrange for racial sensitivity assistance before and after his presentations, via the L.E.D.A. While reaction in the Crutcher camp is mixed -- CC is disturbed by reports that students and educators are VERY disappointed at the news -- he hopes if the District must make this decision, he'll be able to reschedule his visit at a later time.
February 17, 2005 -- Grand Haven Tribune
GHAPS delays controversial author's visit
Some disappointed by cancellation of controversial author's appearance
|
|
|
 | | Should one man decide for all parents? |
| | | |
February 13, 2005
Grand Ledge, Michigan
WHALE TALK
On January 28, 2005, Grand Ledge High School Principal Richard Pochert sent a letter to the parents 1,800 students to explain the rough language in WHALE TALK, the book selected by experts for their "All School Author Program." He required parental permission slips before any student could participate.
According to WOOD TV 8, only twelve parents denied their permission. Those students were given a different book to explore.
On February 13, Kent Himebaugh challenged WHALE TALK in the Lansing and Grand Ledge newspapers, claiming the book promoted profanity. On February 14, he admitted on WOOD 8 TV that allowing each parent to make the decision for their own child wasn't good enough, and demanded the book be removed.
Himebaugh also said a weather delay in the "All School Author Program" was a sign from God.
Does one man have the right to over-rule hundreds of other parents? Crutcher says NO in his written response. We hope you will say no, too. Please support Principal Pochert's (
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
) thoughtful approach to teaching with powerful literature.
READ CRUTCHER'S STATEMENT HERE!
February 13, 2005 -- Grand Ledge Independent
Letter to the Editor -- Rev. Kent (yet again)
February 14, 2005 -- WILX 10
Some want Book Banned
Related Video HERE.
February 20, 2005 -- Grand Ledge Independent
Himebaugh distorts the facts again
February 20, 2005 -- Grand Ledge Independent
Student readers correct Himebaugh's mis-statements
February 20, 2005 -- Grand Ledge Independent
Crutcher's Response to Himebaugh's original letter
February 20, 2005 -- Grand Ledge Independent
Parents Split
February 27 -- Grand Ledge Independent
'Torches and pitchforks' doesn't discourage author
|
|
|
| | Can we tell the truth about an ugly subject without authentic language? Should we? |
| | | |
February 2005
Grand Rapids, Michigan
ATHLETIC SHORTS
"Telephone Man"
Seventh grade teacher Patricia Bouwhuis was transferred from Ottawa Montessori Academy in Grand Rapids, Michigan to a new school after a student complained about reading the anti-racism story "Telephone Man" from ATHLETIC SHORTS. After a media frenzy of misinformation, a heated debate at a 2/7 school board meeting ensued. "Message doesn't matter," the child's mother said. Superintendent Bert Bleke (
\n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
href="mailto:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
">
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
) agreed, without reading the story, and pulled all copies from district library shelves. DJ Robert S dug deeper, asking Crutcher serious questions on the air on Feb. 10 -- and got serious answers. The debate continues.
To review Crutcher's statement, CLICK HERE.
PRESS COVERAGE, Feb. 3 - Feb. 13
February 3, 2005 -- WZZM 13
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=36131
Grand Rapids Teacher Suspended
February 3, 2005 -- WZZM Video Clip #1
http://www.wzzm13.com/clix/videoclixdefault.asp?cmd=view&articleid=4409
February 3, 2005 -- WZZM Video Clip #2
http://www.wzzm13.com/clix/videoclixdefault.asp?cmd=view&articleid=4420
February 4, 2005 -- WZZM Video Clip #3
http://www.wzzm13.com/clix/videoclixdefault.asp?cmd=view&articleid=4427
February 7, 2005 -- WZZM 13
Discussion Expected Over Controversial Book
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=36274
February 7, 2005 -- WZZM 13
Controversial Book to Remain But With Restrictions
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=36280
February 8, 2005 -- WZZM 13
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=36321
February 8, 2005 -- WZZM Banned Book Video
GRPS Pulls Controversial Book Off Library Shelves
http://www.wzzm13.com/clix/videoclixdefault.asp?cmd=view&articleid=4464
February 17, 2005 -- WZZM 13
Controversial Author...Grand Haven
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=36649
Related Video: http://www.wzzm13.com/clix/videoclixdefault.asp?cmd=view&articleid=4588
February 7, 2005 -- WOOD TV 8
Debate over controversial book...heats up
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2909856&nav=0RceW3Js
Related Video: http://video.woodtv.com/index.php?video_id=140
February 8, 2005 -- WOOD TV 8
School board meeting heats up...
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2916136&nav=0RceW6Zo
Related Video: http://video.woodtv.com/index.php?video_id=145
February 8, 2005 -- WOOD TV 8
How did a controversial book end up in a seventh grade classroom in the first place?
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2919764&nav=0RceW8NT
RELATED VIDEO: http://video.woodtv.com/index.php?video_id=150
February 14, 2005 -- WOOD TV 8
Crutcher's Open Letter
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2918330&nav=0RceW6Zo
February 7, 2005 -- WXMI
Race Takes Center State at Board Meeting
http://fox17.trb.com/news/020705-wxmi-shortsbook,0,4798959.story
February 4, 2005 -- Grand Rapids Press
School suspends teacher
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-20/110753205139620.xml
February 8, 2005 -- Grand Rapids Press
Teacher keeps job, changes schools
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1107877535316620.xml
February 13, 2005 -- Grand Rapids Press
Banned book flies off shelves
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1108293477135410.xml
February 13, 2005 -- Grand Rapids Press
Controversy goes beyond "n" word
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1108293522135410.xml
February 19, 2005 -- Grand Rapids Press
Letters to the Editor
February 27, 2005 -- Grand Rapids Press
Learning loses in war over words
February 16, 2005 -- NCAC Action Alert by Joan Bertin
|
|
|
|
January 2005
Kansas City, Missouri Area
STOTAN!
Fourteen books have been targeted with ferocity by the "Citizens for Literary Standards in School." Among those 14 books is STOTAN! by Chris Crutcher (a full list will appear just below this brief). In a January 13, 2005 article in the Johnson County Sun, parent Cal Berggen said, ""One of these books with all of that has been inflicted on my ninth-grade son already this year, a book called 'Stoten.' Three others with very violent images and disgusting images for kids 14 and 15 years old to be reading are planned for my son's second semester at Blue Valley West High School. I am very, very disappointed that the board makes no apparent effort to select administrators and require them to follow the board's policies."
NEW How does the district's challenge policy work? Read about it HERE.
READ CRUTCHER'S STATEMENT HERE!
Blue Valley School District -- access their email form HERE.
Blue Valley High School Media specialist Ken Steward --
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
.
Kansas City Star reporter Jill Sederstrom --
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
.
January 16, 2005 -- Two Voices -- KC Star
Teen editorialist Sasha Mushegian
Challenge spearhead Janet Harmon
January 27, 2005 -- Crutcher responds -- Johnson County Sun
Author of Controversial Student Material Speaks Out!
February 5, 2005 -- KC Star
Approval of books has many steps
February 2005 -- Students Speak Out
http://www.freewebs.com/studentsspeakout/
Don't miss this web site!
February 10, 2005 -- Johnson County Sun
Organizations...oppose BV book removal
February 15, 2005 -- KMBC TV
Blue Valley Declines to Change Reading List
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/education/4198801/detail.html
February 16, 2005 -- Kansas City Star
Board asks for patience on books
Click HERE
February 25, 2005 -- Kansans City Star
Both sides ponder Blue Valley book list at forum
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/10986181.htm
According to the Kansas City Star, the book some "Citizens" would ban are:
All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
Animal Dreams, Barbara Kingsolver
The Awakening, Kate Chopin
The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Black Boy, Richard Wright
Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Meyers
Hot Zone, Richard Preston
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
Lords of Discipline, Pat Conroy
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
Stotan, Chris Crutcher
This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff
Voice your opinions.
Don't let the spirit of censorship spread without opposition.
|
|
|
|
December 2004
Georgetown, South Carolina
WHALE TALK
UPDATE: January 5, 2005
Memo from South Carolina State
SUPERINTENDENT INEZ TENEBAUM
“The book Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher was on a suggested list for the developing thematic unit, With Justice for All. After reviewing Whale Talk, I have determined that it contains offensive language that is not appropriate for use in our high school English curriculum. The concerned individuals who appeared before the State Board in the December meeting regarding this book have been notified of my decision.”
IS IT RIGHT...?
...for one South Carolina parent to deny all area high school students the right to read WHALE TALK when his daughter doesn't even attend that school? It's a question reporter Scott Harper (
\n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
href="mailto:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
">
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
) didn't ask in his December 1 article in the Georgetown Times. But it's a question that deserves an answer.
Harper reports that parent Derick Marsh objected to three books (see sidebar below) in the Carvers Bay High School curriculum, including WHALE TALK. But Marsh's daughter is in elementary school. Marsh was reportedly demanding their removal to protect her in advance. But he's not content to shield only his daughter. He wants all kids denied the right to read.
“We’re Christians, and it’s time that Christians take a stand,” Marsh was quoted as saying in Harper's 12/1 report. “We would like all parents who are concerned about this to get involved. We need to know what our children are being taught.” But the "need to know" is not what Marsh is battling for, according to the newspaper report. Total removal at the State Board of Education level is his ultimate aim.
Is it right for one man to make that decision for all parents? Make your thoughts known to reporter Scott Harper (
\n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
href="mailto:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
">
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
), Dr. Celeste Pringle (
\n This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
href="mailto:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
">
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
), the district’s assistant superintendent for learning and school improvement, and the South Carolina State Board of Education Director of Curriculum and Standards Cindy Saylor (
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
) know.
ALA Intellectual Freedom spokesperson Pat Scales says these challenges are often successful because the opposition is well organized. Perhaps it's time for freedom fighters to get organized too.
To read Harper's article, you'll have to sign up for a Georgetown Times "membership," but it can be done by clicking THIS LINK.
For a full report on the South Carolina challenge CLICK HERE!
|
|
|
 | | Teacher Sue Protheroe. |
| | | |
October 23, 2004
Solon, Iowa
ATHLETIC SHORTS
"In the Time I Get"
Parents Want Gay Literature Removed
by Deidra Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen, October 23, 2004
SOLON -- Solon Middle School teacher Sue Protheroe has come under fire by a group of parents demanding she cease using stories in her classroom that feature gay, lesbian or transgender characters.
Read the full text HERE
READ CRUTCHER'S DEFENSE OF GAY CHARACTERS IN LITERATURE HERE.
More press coverage:
October 27, 2004, Solon debates class material
Deidre Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen
October 28, 2004, Authors defend questioned works;
Stories help students face bigotry
Deidre Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen
October 29, 2004, School group okays gay literature
Deidre Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen
November 11, 2004, Solon board okays gay material
Deidre Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen
November 11, 2004, School Board approves use of gay-theme books
Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier
November 16, 2004, Author who stirred controversy to speak
Deidre Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen
November 17, 2004, Crutcher plans North Liberty visit
Deidre Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen
November 19, 2004, Author reads controversial work
Deidre Bello, Iowa City Press Citizen
Also featured in or on:
WOI-TV, Channel 5 (Des Moines, Iowa)
KWQC, Channel 6 (Davenport, Iowa)
WHO-TV, Channel 13 (Des Moines, Iowa)
KCCI, Channel 8 (Des Moines, Iowa)
KTVO, Channel 3 (Kirksville, Missouri)
KETV, Channel 7 (Omaha, Nebraska)
The Blade (Washington, D.C.)
The Advocate, November 12, 2004
365Gay.com
Decision: November 10, 2004
In an 11/11 Iowa City Press-Citizen article, School Board member Ben Pardini said to the seven challenging parents, "If your goal out there is to take your personal views and instill them in your children and also force them on all children, then the road to the state school board is open to you in Des Moines."
"This really couldn't have turned out much better. With all the press, the students have felt that they've been a part of something important. (Which they have.) And the community has gotten some good info on the plight of the GLBT teenager."
~ Teacher |
| |
|
