Chris Lear should start a campaign to get this book in all schools. It would bring a lot of press to the book and he'd sell more copies than ever.
I do wonder how much being a banned book actually helps sales.
Chris Lear should start a campaign to get this book in all schools. It would bring a lot of press to the book and he'd sell more copies than ever.
I do wonder how much being a banned book actually helps sales.
For pete's sake this isn't about banning books, it is about actual grownups taking responsibility for early adolescents.
If 6-8th graders really want to read curse words, they can certainly find those words elsewhere.
But 6-8th graders should be able to trust that if a book is in the school library, that book is appropriate to them. They should be able to take that book as an example of what is age appropriate. The school is imparting mores. I am glad they are doing so.
yadda yadda wrote:
So middle school is now the age of manhood?
So you want to bring up the manhood thing again....
WHY IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT THE KID AS IF HE IS 12.
HE IS 14 AND AUTISTIC.
I teach middle school, am a runner and coach, and love RWTB. It does NOT belong in a middle school library. Too much profane language.
I love the book. Let the kids read it once they mature.
yadda yadda wrote:
He probably saw the book, thought, "Oh, that looks interesting", grabbed it and started reading it at home. When he asked him mom what X, Y and Z meant
What 14 year old kid doesn't know curse words... autistic or not...?
Whenever I try to post language on here similar to that in RWTB I get a screen telling me to "please try and contribute positively." I guess that lady just wants school library to "try and contribute positively" to her son's education.
Ex-Coach wrote:
I am a married man with 3 kids who had just returned from an 8 mile run to catch a bit of the evening news before bed. I don't have time to make up stories.
http://www.wset.com/story/16636316/curse-words-found-in-middle-school-library-book
How does the fact that your 3 kids just returned from an 8 mile run have any impact on your amount of time to make up stories?
Yeah! Clearly you could have used the time you were running to conceive of just such a story!!
You realize that half of the kids you teach are using all sorts of profanities to describe you while you aren't around right? It's just words! Kids who can't handle a couple f-bombs in middle school have some issues. Teach them to deal with it in a mature manner instead of supporting the pussification of America's youth.
broasted wrote:
You realize that half of the kids you teach are using all sorts of profanities to describe you while you aren't around right? It's just words! Kids who can't handle a couple f-bombs in middle school have some issues. Teach them to deal with it in a mature manner instead of supporting the pussification of America's youth.
do you think schools have a responsibility to set a standard or not? By your logic, kids speak in slang, so teachers should also. Kids cheat, so teachers should also. Kids lie, so teachers should to.
The point is to show that a school has standards and expectations for kids to learn.
Do you see that?
Just talked to Chris Lear.
He was laughing pretty hard from protective custody.
He reminds everyone to buy the digital version of the book if they have a choice:
He will be releasing a statement shortly.
I am somewhat bemused by the irony of banning a book that does not contain (if I recall correctly) any sex or violance, and that is about a group of young men who don't drink alcohol or do drugs, and who work extremely hard to be their best at something. Does seem a bit crazy.
But, while I don't agree with banning books, I do think that whomever purchased this book for a middle-school library made a poor decision. It is difficult for me to imagine that it would be of interest to most middle-school children EXCEPT for the language!
I loved this book, but I had forgotten how much swearing there was in it. Yes, it is appropriate in the context of the book. That is how the people in the book talk. If I had a middle-school kid, and he or she was reading the book, we would discuss that aspect. I would certainly not discourage them from reading the book, especially if I had a kid who was interested in running.
But I wouldn't put it in a middle-school library, or on a middle-school reading list for the general population.
About Chris Lear as a writer: it is not so much that the book is badly written, but rather that he could have used a decent editor. The good parts are beautiful, but there are many areas that could have been cut, refined, improved. Does not make him a bad writer or not worth reading.
agip wrote:
do you think schools have a responsibility to set a standard or not? By your logic, kids speak in slang, so teachers should also. Kids cheat, so teachers should also. Kids lie, so teachers should to.
The point is to show that a school has standards and expectations for kids to learn.
Do you see that?
The school (teachers) is (are) not swearing. The have a book on their shelves that has swear words in it. Just as the school does not own slaves, commit genocide, start wars, rape etc. They do have books that cover those topics as well.
I would think the greater lesson to be imparted is to show that there are books out there that may offend some. Don't read them if you are offended. It is not as if they are allowing porn in their library. Any kid that checks this book out just for the coarse language is sure to be disappointed.
But how long do we shelter students from language? Should we not allow them to read "Catch 22" and the "Catcher in the Rye" because of some "strong language?" Hell, "Breakfast of Champions" has an a**hole in it! (Even Letsrun like it censor!)
People need to realize that words cannot hurt you. Seeing four letter printed on a page of a running book is not a scandal.
want to burn em next? wrote:
But how long do we shelter students from language? Should we not allow them to read "Catch 22" and the "Catcher in the Rye" because of some "strong language?" Hell, "Breakfast of Champions" has an a**hole in it! (Even Letsrun like it censor!)
People need to realize that words cannot hurt you. Seeing four letter printed on a page of a running book is not a scandal.
probably 9th grade. Kids in high school are old enough to deal with these things.
agip wrote:
do you think schools have a responsibility to set a standard or not? By your logic, kids speak in slang, so teachers should also. Kids cheat, so teachers should also. Kids lie, so teachers should to.
The point is to show that a school has standards and expectations for kids to learn.
Do you see that?
No Luis, that's not my logic, you are mistaken. Schools should be setting a standard of intellectual maturity. Just because there are curse words in a book does not mean that it is obscene or devoid of intellectual substance. Some of the best works of literature have what this narrow minded, overly protective woman would call "inappropriate content". The kids already know and use all of the curse words. Trying to protect them from it by saying "these words are BAAAAD" is like teaching high schoolers about abstinence instead of proper birth control methods.
well. wrote:
I drank alcohol for the first time and watched my first porn flick whem I was in middle school.
That's fine. Kids do all kinds of stuff on their own. It's part of growing up.
I wouldn't be pissed if I found my kid reading this book on his/her own (or even looking at a porn mag, etc...). However, there's no reason for a middle school to provide books with bad language in them. Just like they shouldn't be handing out condoms or advertising for bud light in the year book.
Middle school kids aren't babies. Does anyone remember being in middle school? Just about everyone was mature enough to read profanities. If you're really so worried about your 11-14 year old reading a curse word, you better not ever complain about the "wussification" of kids these days.
We read books with profanities in middle school and nobody had any issues. We also learned about evolution and non-whitewashed history. I guess those are controversial, too, and schools should stick to more age appropriate topics like birth-by-stork and how much fun the pilgrims and Indians had together.
agip wrote:
want to burn em next? wrote:But how long do we shelter students from language?
probably 9th grade. Kids in high school are old enough to deal with these things.
Are you serious? But maybe you're right. When I was in eighth grade, I would faint when I saw a swear word. But once I got to ninth grade, my body let me read those words without passing out. It was magical!