I’ve been an English teacher at Tivy High School for 24 years. Every year my students do an independent reading project, choosing books from a large list that I’ve compiled. Books with adult content require parent permission.
A few years ago, a parent requested a meeting to discuss one of the books. She had read the book in question and highlighted specific sections with sexual innuendo and imagery that she felt weren’t age appropriate. The parent was informed, thoughtful and respectful. Over the next few days, I read the book again. The parent was right. My love of the novel had clouded my better judgement. I took the book off the list and called the parent to thank her for the input. Recently, another parent raised concerns about a classic piece of literature, framed heavily around Greek mythology, our class was about to begin. The parent explained that the family’s religious beliefs did not align with the material. The parent was informed, thoughtful and respectful. We found another book for the student to read that would cover the same objectives, while the rest of the class moved forward with the planned curriculum. In each case, adults met and came to a decision they believed was best for the student.
Now we have an individual running for the school board, Brandon Aery, that isn’t satisfied with these reasoned, collaborative decisions made by a parent and a teacher. He knows what all the children of KISD should read. He’s made countless challenges to books in our school libraries. The overwhelming majority of the challenged books have been upheld as completely appropriate by a committee made up of teachers, administrators and parents. One of the challenged books has the audacity to have a minor character that is homosexual. That’s it—no bad language, no make out sessions, not even a kiss. The mere presence of a homosexual is apparently enough to warrant an official challenge. Is it “grooming” our youth to help them understand that there are many types of people in the world? Another challenged book commits the grave offense of having a black character that is the victim of racism. How dare a book acknowledge the complexities of race in America? As a member of the committee that evaluates these challenges, I’ve spent hundreds of hours reading these books, shaking my head, lamenting the time I could have spent helping kids.
Although I don’t know Mr. Aery, his motives appear to come from place of genuine concern; however, I question his method and his judgement. Many of the challenged books come from a list commonly found on social media, and I doubt he has actually read the dozens of books he’s challenged, despite it being a district requirement. His throw-it-on-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach to challenging books shows a lack of precision and care. These are not the concerns of a serious individual like the two parents in the examples above. Let the adults in the room—the parents and the teachers that know the individual students the best—do the serious work that needs to be done. Leave the culture war, divisive rhetoric, and click-bait mentality to social media and the like. We don’t need them in our schools. We don’t need them on our school board.
