Thief River Falls schools to offer 'edited' version of book

Authorities in Dodge County may learn more Tuesday about the identity of some remains found by a hunter near Iron Ridge.

[Hey]

I bet the same parents that objected let their kids watch Cinemax after 11pm.

[Kaye Ellis]

Read it or don't read it...But do not disembowel the writer's message with your selective editing. Should we edit the Holocaust so that is more palatable? Should our history of slavery be gussied up? Should we call the sky orange because we don't like the color blue?

[ConservativeTeac her]

What age group is this book assigned to?

I have had issues in my own district. My ten year old daughter is learning words not fit for her age from assigned books. When I brought up my concerns to some fellow teachers they looked at me as if I supported book burning.

I asked them what they would do if their child learned such words from an assignment and repeated them in public. They could not give an answer.

Good for these parents.

[Mikelmer]

Kaye Ellis wrote:

Read it or don't read it...But do not disembowel the writer's message with your selective editing. Should we edit the Holocaust so that is more palatable? Should our history of slavery be gussied up? Should we call the sky orange because we don't like the color blue?

Kaye,

While I agree with your point, in this case the author has written an edited version that will be used.

[lobster]

Come on Pioneer Press, lets call it what it really is- CENSORSHIP It's a pretty sad state of affairs when this is allowed to happen. Shame on the parents and the school district. Pathetic

[Centinel]

These kids have a right to read about other kids being raped! To give them anything less is censorship.'disembowel' is an ironic word to choose in this particular case.

When I was in high school we read about plane crash survivors engaging in cannibalism. So, if nothing else, outre' and mediocre literature is a gift we pass on to each generation.

[Jim]

This is disappointing. I'm really frustrated by people who believe we can just ignore "gross" or "disturbing" things because they make us feel bad, or believe the content to be too inappropriate for young adults. Was this content too inappropriate for the young men who were raped? Mark Mathabane probably added this part to his novel because it was what he saw. It happened. By telling the horrific story of what these men did to these young boys, he writes in their honor for them, so that no one ever has to face the humiliation they had to again. By not reading about this, we fail to grow as a society and face these real issues. Does Thief River Falls also ignore the "gross" parts of the Holocaust, or the newspaper? I think you need to let young adults understand the world in which they are growing up. The school district isn't letting them. Hopefully, one day these students realize they aren't growing up in a utopia, and that people do some horrific things. Grow up. And let your children grow up too.

[Bootsontheroad]

yes, let us try to edit fact and history. To appease the Germans, Hitler did not do anything wrong. To appease the Asians, Japan did not attack Pearl. I thought the whole PC thing would turn out to be the biggest infringement on FREEDOM of SPEACH since Stalin.

[Erica]

I teach this book in an urban middle school with my 8th grade AP students, and we worked through that section with respect and dignity towards what young boys had to endure during the Apartheid. I didn't have a problem teaching that to my students; in our community there are students who have to do the same thing for their own survival. I am proud that i teach this book and of my students for showing maturity when we encountered that particular passage. I think people need to look at the text as a whole when considering using an edited version. That passage paints a clear picture of what it really meant to survive during the Apartheid.

[Adolph H]

This is the way it started in Germany in the 1930's. Way to go!

[democracy-what happened]

let the closed minded freaks read the edited book...everyone else can have the freedom to read the more detailed account...I wonder if the no parents let their kids watch the Saw movies or play Grand Theft Auto III??...I'm thinking there were probably some NAMBLA members at this meeting, supporting the opposition.

[Alexandra]

The question that I think everyone is missing is not about 'censorship' per se, but about age appropriateness. These kids are Freshman, so that's 14-15 years old. Do you honestly think 14 year olds are mature enough to discuss and understand the horrors these boys faced at the hands of their attackers and the literary value the trauma adds to the plight of the protagonist?

Methinks that the 14 year olds will snicker through the passage and try to get away with not doing the homework anyway...

Sheesh....this is not about denying the Holocaust happened but ensuring that 14 year olds stay on topic and on task with age appropriate learning.

[John - St Paul]

Bootsontheroad wrote:

yes, let us try to edit fact and history. To appease the Germans, Hitler did not do anything wrong. To appease the Asians, Japan did not attack Pearl. I thought the whole PC thing would turn out to be the biggest infringement on FREEDOM of SPEACH since Stalin.

You tell 'em Boots! I'm tired of the PC school boards censoring books that have solid, factual content and a age acceptable. This method is used to keep controversial good science out of classrooms so the left can promote 'junk' as truth. Whether climate change, intelligent design, homosexuality as choice or many other topics, they refuse to teach fact and revise it when the pretend to. This is the beginning of what brought people like Lenin, then Stalin and Hitler to power. Ignorance promotes class separation which results in tyranny. Do not focus on racial diversity as it promotes racism. Embrace the commonalities of man and the American culture if you want to kill the racial divide. I know, it makes too much sense, right?

[Taxing the over taxed]

I could go either way on this one and the direction I go depends on the involvement of the parent. When my daughter was a Freshman in High School (she's now a Junior in College) she was given "controvesial" books to read. We didn't have an issue with this because my wife and I helped her understand and put in the proper context the "delicate" topics (boy's being raped by men, young girls being forced into prostitution, not being able to go to a certain school because of the color of your skin, etc.). Through these books and our help my daughter gained valuable insight into the world.

Now if a parent doesn't have time to help their child (and I'm not making any insinuations here) then I think the school has no choice but present edited information. I don't think we're doing our children any favors by presenting them with controversal information and then not giving them the tools to understand and contextualize it.

[Taxing the over taxed]

Erica wrote:

I teach this book in an urban middle school with my 8th grade AP students, and we worked through that section with respect and dignity towards what young boys had to endure during the Apartheid. I didn't have a problem teaching that to my students; in our community there are students who have to do the same thing for their own survival. I am proud that i teach this book and of my students for showing maturity when we encountered that particular passage. I think people need to look at the text as a whole when considering using an edited version. That passage paints a clear picture of what it really meant to survive during the Apartheid.

And this is exactly what parents need to keep in mind when your child reads something like this. There are adults in place to help them understand.

Great job Erica!!

[Newbie]

This book, a nonfiction account of a man who struggled through apartheid, was assigned to ninth graders. This would mean 14 to 15 year old kids...most of whom, I would bet, have heard or seen more than their fair share of sexual terms and graphic language in the music they listen to or television shows they watch rather than from a book they may read.

The parents were all up in arms about one paragraph in the book. One paragraph that deals with sodomy: that children who were hungry and wanted to eat had to choose between starvation and being sexually abused for food. The author chooses starvation over the abuse and runs away. Yes, it is graphic. And yes, it is a controversial topic. And yes, there is an "abridged" version of the book which STILL references the sodomy, just not in as graphic terms (the words anus, penis, vaseline, and hell used in the unabridged are not included in the abridged version; instead it states the older men "put their hands on" the children).

Keep in mind the title itself is a slang word in South Africa that is the equivalent of the "N" word here, and yet, everyone seems to be focusing on the sexual abuse referenced in the book.

At 14 and 15 years old, kids are becoming more independent. When you are 14 or 15 years old, you've had sex education. You've had health class. You know the difference between good and bad touches. And some (not all) of your classmates have probably already engaged in sexual activity with one another. These kids are exposed to more than some parents are able or willing to admit.

I understand that some parents want to protect their children from such "atrocities," but doesn't that truly start in the home, by educating your child? How about telling your child why the word "Kaffir" is offensive and why it shouldn't be used? Why not have a discussion about the author's choice to run away and not subject himself to sexual abuse?

Is it an uncomfortable topic? Yes.
Will it be a difficult conversation? Probably.
Will shielding your child from one graphic paragraph in one particular book prevent them from ever learning about sodomy or sexual abuse or rape and why it is wrong?

Probably not.

[Taxing the over taxed]

I wonder how many of you out there showing outrage over the censorship of this book would be willing to support the teachings of "Inteligent Design"?

[the golden eel]

Right or wrong, good for the parents. They are the ones who should decide what their kids are exposed to, and it sounds like that is what happened here.

The kids will be reading a different version of the same book by the same author. And, the author was not forced to change anything - he chose to append the book to make it more accessible to younger readers. Its quite a reach to bring Hitler into the equation here.

What should the school have done, force kids to read subject matter that the parents don't want their kids exposed to? The state knows better than parents? That's not a county I'm ready to live in.

[Erica]

Alexandra wrote:

The question that I think everyone is missing is not about 'censorship' per se, but about age appropriateness. These kids are Freshman, so that's 14-15 years old. Do you honestly think 14 year olds are mature enough to discuss and understand the horrors these boys faced at the hands of their attackers and the literary value the trauma adds to the plight of the protagonist?
Methinks that the 14 year olds will snicker through the passage and try to get away with not doing the homework anyway...
Sheesh....this is not about denying the Holocaust happened but ensuring that 14 year olds stay on topic and on task with age appropriate learning.

You underestimate the minds and maturity of kids. My students are at that age and there was no snickering, trying to get out of it, etc. They took it very seriously and asked many questions. It doesn't have to just do with just the student, it also has to do with how the teacher presents the information. If I present it as something important and something that needs respect, then that is how the majority will see it. And, we are just finished with Part 1 and the students LOVE the book, and do all the work!

[ConservativeTeac her]

Quite a few strawmen in some of these posts.