Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Education chief wants to ban sexy book

Tom Horne admits he has read only one page after receiving a complaint from a grandmother.

ERIC SAGARA

Tucson Citizen

The state's education chief wants schools to ban a book he has never read after receiving a complaint from an Apache Junction grandmother.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" contains numerous sexual references, including a scene where a girl is forced to have oral sex with a boy during a party.

That was the only page that Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne read after receiving the complaint.

"The page is not just oral sex. It's nonconsensual oral sex that's described in detail," he said. "There's nothing in 'Catcher in the Rye' that's remotely comparable to this."

Horne sent the letter to charter schools and public school principals and district superintendents asking them to look at their school policies regarding library books.

"I'm hoping that if they have this book on the shelves they make sure that this is no longer available to minors or any other students for that matter and they will check to see if there are any other books like that on their shelves," Horne said. "I wouldn't dream of trying to stop adults from reading it, but schools should not make this book available to students in their charge."

Horne says he is "against censorship," but some officials worry.

Tucson Unified School District "is not in the habit of censorship," said Harriet Scarborough, senior academic officer for curriculum instruction and professional learning. "Once we start taking books off the shelves we might end up with no books at all."

The book is written by Stephen Chbosky and compared by critics to John Knowles' "A Separate Peace" and J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye."

It was found in the libraries of nine TUSD high schools and two middle schools, Scarborough said.

Horne said it has been set at a fourth-grade reading level, but it has not been found in any TUSD elementary schools.

TUSD leaders will read the entire book before making a decsion on its future in the district, Scarborough said.

This would not be a bad policy for Horne to follow, said Scarborough. "Maybe he needs to read the whole book.

"I haven't read the whole book, and I would hesitate to make a judgment based on that one page," she said. "Just taking a page out of context is not going to make your complaint very valid.

"TUSD leadership will have to do some research and discuss whether removing books like that is something that we want to start practicing."

Sunnyside Unified District officials did not find the book in their libraries, but said those who complain about questionable content in a book are asked to read the entire book before filling out a written complaint.

The decision should be left to the parents, said Melissa McCoy, mother of two boys at TUSD's Bonillas Elementary School. School libraries should stock books like this on their shelves, but let parents decide if their children should read it.

"A school library is the same as a public library," she said. "I think it's unfortunate that our librarians need to worry that a book will offend a parent or a group of parents. It's up to you to watch what your children are checking out and exposing themselves to.

"I do believe the families should be given the choice without the censorship. Censorship is not a learning tool; censorship is a limitation."

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