Mississippi School District Pulls "To Kill a Mockingbird" from Shelves

[BrianL]

Hey, there's a reason Harper Lee only wrote one novel. It was a mic drop. Perfection. There was no need to prove anything further to anybody.

Obviously, I just really like the book. That said, in the frame of the discussion, there are plenty of books that I didn't like that I think should be required reading for children, and I don't think any book should be dismissed outright because of some uncomfortable language.

 

[sam_gordon]

Hey, there's a reason Harper Lee only wrote one novel. It was a mic drop. Perfection. There was no need to prove anything further to anybody.

Obviously, I just really like the book. That said, int eh frame of the discussion, there are plenty of books that I didn't like that I think should be required reading for children, and I don't think any book should be dismissed outright because of some uncomfortable language.

I was never forced to read it in school. Earlier this year I saw it through my library app and though "hey, this is supposed to be good, I'll check it out." I kept waiting for it to "get good". It never did (at least to me). Sorry, I'll never pick it up again.

 

[luvsJack]

But it is the reason why it is being changed (same for Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, though I wouldn't say they give quite as positive of a moral lesson as TKAM), that is problematic. It's reactionary and doesn't account for a thoughtful discussion about why or why the book should or should not be taught. Yes, you are right that the parents have the right to make the decision as to what their kids are exposed to, but that does not mean they will make good decisions for proper reasons, and that is what I find dishearenting.

Regarding the question "what teens do I know that won't access a book they want to read?" I would surmise that most teens won't access a book at all if they aren't required to for class. Most teenagers aren't as into reading as most of us here probably were.

I don't think that is true at all (bolded). And even if it is, requiring or not requiring that particular book isn't going to change it.

DD probably had the fewest required books to read in school. But she did have to read. They were required to read a certain number of books. She chose what she wanted to read. That is what instilled in her a true love of books. If she had been only forced to read certain books, I don't know if that would have happened.

My younger son also has loved to read from a very young age. His answer to required reading was to hurry and read it so he could go back to a book he actually liked. Naturally, he didn't get near as much out of the book he was forced to read as he did the ones he wanted to read.

DD is my youngest child and going by the large group of kids she knows from high school, quite a few of them do access books and do, in fact, read quite a bit. They grew up through the Harry Potter phase and honestly, that series alone made a huge number of readers out of kids.

Sorry, I just think removing one book from a curriculum is a non-issue. If parents feel as you do that its important to read this one book, then they can require their child to read it.

 

[L&Lfan]

Yes, you absolutely could. And that would be an excellent lesson plan!

And yes, a good teacher can take almost any book and make it relevant.

A good teacher also knows there are many, many excellent books to choose from (including this one), and will choose the one that best matches her students' interests. And that book might be TKaM, or it might be a different book entirely.

And a mediocre teacher... I well remember, in the late 80's, one of my teachers trying to do a unit on women's rights. She taught us about sufferage in the 1920's. Bra burning in the 60's. Then she played a scratchy recording of some marching songs, and was tearing up as the voice on the tape warbled, "Our mothers were raped and murdered...!" while we all sat there uncomfortably, feeling embarrassed for her. Our consciousnesses were not raised that day!

I'm surprised she didn't play "I Am Woman" (although I DO love that song!)

 

[L&Lfan]

My school district does.

The reason To Kill a Mockingbird was pulled is because it made some people uncomfortable. That's a problem. Those who are saying the school should teach a newer book---classes often do teach more than one novel. You can have a more contemporary novel like THE HATE U GIVE (but the language in that book might make it hard for school districts to implement), as well as classic novels. They make for good comparisons. To Kill A Mockingbird is taught to our 8th grade AP students and I absolutely think it should stay.

What I find interesting is that the amount of parents who are horrified by this book, yet I wonder if they are monitoring their children's snapchat, internet use, etc., with parental controls. In my experience this is not the case.

Or their listening to rap music lyrics...

 

[Belleofthehouse]

If this book was removed from the curriculum at any other time, in any other state, I just don't see it making national news.

I completely agree!! As a person born and raised in South Louisiana, I hesitated to read this book (I get tired of everyone thinking that races hate each other in the south!). I finally did about 10 years ago and have read it three times since. It is a fantastic story and gives a view of life that many people do not know or understand. I have lived on the east coast and New England and have witness racism in all walks and colors of life. If this book had been pulled from a curriculum ANYWHERE but a southern state, we would have to dig for the story.

I agree that a curriculum will change and books will cycle with that change, but to claim that it is banned (news media) is absurd.

 

[moon]

I never read it in school so I don't see this as a big deal. It is still in the school library.
While it may be a classic, there have been many other books written since. Out with the old, in with the new.[/Q
What? We're not talking about fashion here. This is literature and I find the thought "Out with the old, in with the new" regarding books absurd very disturbing. Just because you didn't read it in high school doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile book who many, many have enjoyed and learned from throughout the years.

TKAM is among my top five favorite books ever. It is a classic, wonderfully written and it reflects a reality in America's history. Trying to erase that reality is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

This is pure censorship, plain and simple.

 

[RangerPooh]

Being uncomfortable about a topic that you're studying in school is part of the learning process. Any book is bound to make someone uncomfortable, that's why (some) districts have an option to have you pulled from class and participate in an alternative study during that stretch of time. Why should we hide the fact that people had/have these attitudes and use this language? Not educating others is part of the problem.

We also don;t know if it was the student who felt uncomfortable reading it or if it was their parent? There are parents who have their own agenda to push.

 

[DisneyOma]

Too much Shakespeare? Never! Seriously, we could take AP Shakespeare as a class but we had to also read from works before that class as a pre-req. Now one of my BFFs teaches it!

I like Ethan Frome, but there are FAR better novels to be teaching, hell, there's much better Edith Wharton, I've always wondered why it's taught vs. The Age of Innocence, but I always figured it was an easier book to teach.

Ethan Frome - whiny white guy with no spine. Can't even do what he set out to do at the end. Shakespeare - rich white guys (except Othello) killing each other, women are treated as objects, and there are no solutions given to the problems but death. I get that we have to do a tragedy or two, but at our school we read 4 from Shakespeare. That takes away a few chances to read something else.

So, what do you consider a good book?

I was never forced to read it in school. Earlier this year I saw it through my library app and though "hey, this is supposed to be good, I'll check it out." I kept waiting for it to "get good". It never did (at least to me). Sorry, I'll never pick it up again.

What does it have to do to 'get good'? What book did you read in school that was better, met your standards?

Books we should be reading in schools - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the Endless Steppe, A Sound of Chariots... My aunt was a teacher of gifted students, created her own program, and I was blessed to be given boxes and boxes of books from her every Christmas. She made sure the books weren't all about the white male experience, and this was back in the 1970's.

 

[Hikergirl]

@moon Ugh, taking it out of a curriculum is not erasing anything. It is not censorship. I never read it in school 20 years ago, my kids didn't read it their schools today, it was never part of the the curriculum for those schools. There are many options for students, TKAM is not the end all be all some of you claim it is. It is available in the library, so this "erasing it", "censoring" argument is nothing but a straw man, plain and simple.

 

[DisneyOma]

@moon Ugh, taking it out of a curriculum is not erasing anything. It is not censorship. I never read it in school 20 years ago, my kids didn't read it their schools today, it was never part of the the curriculum for those schools. There are many options for students, TKAM is not the end all be all some of you claim it is. It is available in the library, so this "erasing it", "censoring" argument is nothing but a straw man, plain and simple.

I'd like to see what else they read, and what they replace it with. But it is a very good book for a multitude of discussions, from racism, stereotypes, parenting, and poverty, to mental illness, and sexual abuse.

 

[sam_gordon]

So, what do you consider a good book?

One that I can't put down. One that the writer engages me in the story and characters and I am eager to read. TKAM did not do that for me.

 

[Hikergirl]

I'd like to see what else they read, and what they replace it with. But it is a very good book for a multitude of discussions, from racism, stereotypes, parenting, and poverty, to mental illness, and sexual abuse.

I think that is up to the school and even if they decide to read something else that has nothing to do with any of those things it is still not the end of the world. TKAM has never been required reading for every single school district in the nation so thousands of students through decades have never read it in school, or maybe not at all. I'm sure those students in this school will end up just fine reading something else.

 

[L&Lfan]

I don't recall ever reading the book but I saw the movie and thought it was good, but not one I'd ever need to see again.

 

[luvsJack]

TKAM is among my top five favorite books ever. It is a classic, wonderfully written and it reflects a reality in America's history. Trying to erase that reality is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

This is pure censorship, plain and simple.--quoted from @moon



I have a lot of favorite books that I read again and again, but I don't think I should push to put them on the school curriculum. Being one of anyone's favorite books does not make it the end all and be all of books. No one is trying to erase anything. They are simply trying to teach these kids 8th grade material while causing as little ******* with the parents as possible.

Its not censorship. No one is removing the book from shelves, no one is banning the book from the school. No one is saying they can't read the book as much as they would like. They are only saying they aren't going to read it as required reading.

 

[Minnesota!]

Stupid. My 8th grader is actually reading it in school right now and I asked him if he was "uncomfortable" with it and he looked at me like I was crazy.

Yes, let's neglect all the "uncomfortable" things for our kids so that the real world can really F them up in a few years.

 

[Minnesota!]

Just looked up the curriculum at my son’s (current) first choice high school for next year:….


TKAM
Until They Bring the Streetcars Back
Of Mice and Men
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummers Night Dream
Lord of the Flies
Oedipus
Odyssey
Illiad
Unbroken
Glass Castles
Outliers
The Passing
Power of One
The Things They Carried
Scarlet Letter
The Great Gatsby


Some classics, some newer, some heavy…a good balance, I think.

 

[moon]

I don't get all this "it's too old. Teens today won't relate to it" That sounds so limiting. What about learning? TKAM could not be more different than my life experience. It takes place many decades before I was born, and I did not grow up in a small southern town. I think that's one reason why I found it to be so riveting. It was different, and I learned so much from it.

There should be room for the old and the new. I just don't think there is anything positive about pulling the book from the curriculum

 

[moon]

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-to-kill-a-mockingbird-20171016-story.html

Embarrassing!

"A racially charged word"...right. I guess Mark Twain is next.

 

[RedAngie]