We only allow quality literature, like those Sweet Valley High books…
Dear Eisenhower Middle School administration:
It’s a really good idea to educate your staff aboutyour written policies as well as the First Amendment before attempting to educate any children.
Love,
Tiff
You’d think that a vice principal charged with teaching children to read would be delighted when they ARE reading, rather than attempting to prevent them from quietly reading the religious text of their choice over lunch. (Why yes, I would indeed be JUST as outraged if the child had been prevented from reading the Koran, thank you.)
I remember getting dinged for two incidents in elementary school involving reading…
1. My friend and I were reading personal ads in the newspaper at lunchtime (we didn’t know exactly what they were at the time) because my brother was lonely and I was trying to find him some friends. I had a “serious discussion” with someone I can’t remember right now about the appropriateness of things to bring to school.
2. I read A Cricket in Times Square in one evening, when I was only supposed to read one chapter. The teacher went batshit insane on me, dragged me to the principle’s office, made them call my parents, who laughed in the teacher’s face.
A Bible, seriously? I’m all for reading, in any size, shape or form. Children (and older people) just don’t seem to do enough of it these days. (Which makes the bibliophile in me die a little bit.)
My (secular humanist private) high school actually taught the Bible as literature in freshman English because you have to be familiar with the stories to understand a great deal of the symbolism and imagery in Western literature- East of Eden is much better when you know the story of Cain and Abel, for example.
Incidentally, my freshman English teacher was also the only one who ever asked us not to read ahead in a book- we were doing Great Expectations, and the plot is twisty enough that if you read too far ahead, you’ll unwittingly reveal spoilers to the rest of the class. Aside from that, all my teachers were delighted when I finished books ahead of time. My junior high reading teacher just started pulling extra books off her shelf for me to read to keep me busy.
As far as I’m concerned, Sweet Valley High books ARE the Bible.