Action | Amendments Regarding Use of Controversial or Sensitive Instructional Materials |
Stage | NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ends 1/15/2014 |
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Requiring educators to notify parents of every piece of literature that some person out there may find sensitive or objectionable represents an undue burden on already stressed educators and is an almost impossible task in any case. "One man's meat is another man's poison" goes the saying, and this is very true with reading material. Parents should be proactive in finding out what materials their children are reading and determining if their values truly require alternative assignments for THEIR OWN CHILD, not every child in the school system. This legislation puts teachers and librarians in the position of doing the job of parents, and also in the role of censors. Teachers will always provide an alternate assignment where it is honestly and thoughtfully requested. Remember that every truly great piece of literature is or was once sensitive and objectionable to someone, with the Bible at the top of the list since it includes "sensitive" sexual themes and violence. Freedom to read and think is one of our most precious rights, if not the most precious. Restrictions, labels, and other forms of denying this is something the state should refuse to put into law.