Narrow-Minded Parents Won't Let Eighth Graders "Read" Sex by MadonnaThat's the way
this column reads:
English teacher Carole Tauber had given the same assignment last year, without objection. But this time, a few parents pronounced themselves shocked by a list that includes such children's standards as Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," as well as titles such as "American Psycho" and "The New Joy of Gay Sex."Some other titles:
But the list also contains titles that raised eyebrows even among the most accepting parents: "Sex," by Madonna, and "Heather Has Two Mommies," the subject of innumerable political battles.But narrow-minded folks killed this wonderful idea:
But this was a creative assignment, tuned perfectly to eighth-graders' desire to be let in on adult topics, yet tempered by requiring parents to help kids pick the right point of entry.
"I had to tell the children it was out of my hands," says Tauber, who "agreed to disagree with the rationale" for axing the lesson. "We're talking about getting these kids ready to think."
"The parents flunked the assignment," says parent Chris Rigaux. "I don't blame Montgomery County for trying to avoid another court battle, but this was a chance to use books like [Hinton's] 'The Outsiders' to teach about very different lifestyles than we have here in Bethesda, Maryland."Can we say the obvious here? If you want your kids to read those types of books, go ahead and let them read them. If you don't want your kids to read those types of books (and Madonna's Sex is certainly NOT age-appropriate, with hard-core photos) then the idiot school district has no business assigning them.
