Posted on 12/04/2004 11:58:33 AM PST by yonif
NORTH BERWICK, Maine — "The Catcher in the Rye" should remain in the high school curriculum, but parents should always have the right to contest their child reading it in class.
Noble High School Principal Christian Elkington was responding Friday to a complaint that the book was inappropriate for freshman English classes, scheduled to read the 1951 J.D. Salinger novel in January.
"We agreed upon that book," he said. "It’s been taught at Noble in the past. ... We (the administration) all remember reading it when we were in school." He said parents have raised questions over its content in the past, but it never led to a change in curriculum.
Elkington said the parent, Andrea Minnon, went too far when she appeared before the School Administrative District 60 Board of Directors Thursday demanding the book be pulled from the curriculum.
The principal said the district respects any parent or student decision not to read the book, but "I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to pull the book."
The district has never pulled a book from its curriculum, Superintendent Paul Andrade said.
The district has a policy that students can opt out of reading a book if they find it personally offensive. "The way we’ve handled it and the way teachers have handled it ... we give the students and parent the opportunity to choose another one," Elkington said. Minnon told the board she fears this could isolate a student from his classmates because the student is removed from the classroom during the reading.
Minnon told the board the book is not appropriate to be read in school because of its language and plot lines, laced with profanity and including drinking and sex. She also questioned whether educators are communicating well enough with parents about what is being studied.
Minnon submitted a citizen’s challenge of educational media form. In response, Andrade said the board would form a committee to make a decision on the matter as soon as possible.
In the meantime, plans to read the book in class have been put on hold pending the committee report, said Andrade.
"The Catcher in the Rye" has a long history of stirring trouble in schools because of its contents, which tells the tale of a teenager coming of age after he is expelled from prep school and wanders through New York City feeling alone and confused and eventually ends up in a psychiatrist’s office.
The American Library Association ranks the novel at 13 out of the 100 most frequently banned books. According to materials provided by the National Coalition Against Censorship, there have been at least 20 cases since the late 1970s when school boards have had to decide whether to keep the book in the curriculum or not. One of the latest cases began in 1999 when a parent in Limestone County, Ala., complained about sex, violence, and profanity in the book. In 2000, the school district decided to keep the book on its shelves.
The book contains the 'F' word. A big deal in the '50s maybe, but is anyone today actually worried about high school students seeing that word in print?
My guess is these clowns are functionally illeterate, never read it, but remember it was banned when they were growing up so want to keep it banned.
So9
At this point, "The Catcher in the Rye" is simply quaint. The kids are going to see and hear much worse at lunchtime and after school.
Or on MTV.
A name change or a firing!
Did Woody Allen play the lead when the book was made into a movie, or was it?
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