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Teacher suspended because of "pornographic" Ender's Game...
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:23 am
by UnnDunn
Here's the article.
A Schofield Middle School teacher has been placed on administrative leave while officials investigate whether the teacher breached school policy or the law when he read to his class from a science fiction book described by one parent as pornographic.
Sources said the teacher read from three books, among them"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, as part of the district's literacy initiative program. Card's 1985 novel won several science fiction awards and is listed on numerous children's literary review websites as appropriate for children 12 and up.
...
The incident that came to light this week involved a student's complaint concerning materials characterized by the student and his parent as pornographic, according to a press release issued by the school district.
So here's the thing: my initial reaction to this article was disbelief. I mean, porn in EG? Huh? But a more thorough reading of the article reveals that the article never actually says that EG contains any of the alleged objectionable content; it just name-drops the book a bunch of times because it is one of the books that came under review. That made me feel quite foolish.
So naturally, I'm giving you the opportunity to feel just as foolish as I did.
Re: Teacher suspended because of "pornographic" Ender's Game
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:05 pm
by Taalcon
Re: Teacher suspended because of "pornographic" Ender's Game
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:56 pm
by Boothby
http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/Stud ... 58256.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/0315 ... l--3862406" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
School officials have since said two of the three books the teacher read were determined to have materials (primarily swear words) and, in some instances, subject matter and terminology that school administrators consider inappropriate for the middle school.
According to commonsensemedia.org, which claims it is has in-house staff and a team of reviewers who are experts in children's media, technology, health and policy matters, "this book was not originally intended for children. The violence is, at times, quite brutal, as kids kill other kids, though unintentionally, and the main character is admired for his ruthlessly efficient violence, though he himself is disturbed by it."
The website also advises parents to be aware of violence, sex and language, but states that the content is appropriate for children 12 years or older.
The student who gave a statement to the school is 14.
Re: Teacher suspended because of "pornographic" Ender's Game
Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:41 am
by Taft
From what I have gathered, the issue seems to be more that internal procedures weren't followed in selecting the novels than anything. Had those procedures been followed, the complaint would have been heard (they all are), but this wouldn't be such a big deal.
As I noted in a discussion on Ansible, you can very easily describe the final fight scene in terms that would cause your average moral guardian to hit the roof.
Re: Teacher suspended because of "pornographic" Ender's Game
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:13 pm
by Tiny genius
From what I've heard since, OSC was asked about it on TV or something and passages containing the material were read out but OSC said that it had to be a mistake because those passages weren't in EG.
Plus, I'd like to know what the other two books were.
As it is, I read EG for the first time when I was 11 and I wasn't put off, disturbed or negatively influenced by the violence.
Re: Teacher suspended because of "pornographic" Ender's Game
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:42 pm
by Srobison825
Yeah...I gotta say... I was introduced to this book by a member of my church. At age 11.
And I just turned out to be an insatiable curse word-using sex addict.
You know... Bc of all the nudity and language in the barracks.
:p
Re: Teacher suspended because of "pornographic" Ender's Game
Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:37 am
by dk55717
I fear this is yet another case where someone was told something and everyone decides to jump on the band wagon without even looking at whats really going on. My guess is that some kid isnt really a fan of their teacher and decided to go home and mention that the book barely mentioned nudity at about two points. The overprotective parents then called anyone who would listen at all and complained without even bothering to look in the book themselves.
