Action | Amendments Regarding Use of Controversial or Sensitive Instructional Materials |
Stage | NOIRA |
Comment Period | Ended on 1/15/2014 |
As a high school English teacher -- and an educator with twenty-nine years' teaching experience-- I urge you to reject this amendment. There is certainly ample opportunity to discuss texts with teachers if there are any concerns -- but there isn't a book out there that isn't sensitive in some way! The Scarlet Letter deals with adultery; Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" contains sexual imagery; Shakespeare has lewd jokes; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn deals with racism head-on and contains use of the "N" word; all of American literature deals with religion in some form or fashion--it is pretty difficult to read anything worth reading without risk of offending someone! School isn't about indoctrination; it's about education. Censorship is never the answer. Please, please, please -- I urge you to reject this amendment which will only harm education in Virginia.