Parents in three Corridor school districts have filed book challenges in the last year with complaints about a movie, books in verse and graphic novels, including a Caldecott Medal-winning book a Clear Creek Amana parent called "complete and utter garbage."
This is Banned Books Week — celebrated since 1982 to highlight the value of free and open access to information.
There’s more fanfare than usual, in part to counter increasing political pressure to remove books, especially about race and LGBTQ issues, said Betsy Gomez, Banned Books Week national coordinator.
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“There are people who are motivated to remove entire topic areas from libraries,” she said in an interview with The Gazette. “What we’re forgetting is kids are actually pretty smart. We’re underestimating their ability to understand some material.”
Iowa lawmakers this year considered bills that would have allowed parents to sue schools over “obscene” books and would have levied criminal charges against librarians and teachers.
Book challenges in the Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar and Clear Creek Amana school districts illustrate new ways parents are seeking to influence curriculum and shield students from materials they find objectionable.
The “Watchmen” comics written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons depict superheroes in 1985 facing ethical dilemmas, personal issues and failings.
The graphic novel won the 1988 Hugo Award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and was included in Time magazine’s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School students taking the English class Perspectives in Literature and Composition have been reading "Watchmen“ since at least 2013, according to the Torch, the school newspaper.
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But this year, a parent or parents challenged use of “Watchmen,” both as a book and movie, according to minutes from a Feb. 7 meeting of the Cedar Rapids Community School District’s Instructional Materials Reconsideration Committee.
“The complainant objected to the entire film, including scenes of sex and nudity, violence, gore, profanity, alcohol, drugs and smoking,” the minutes state.
The committee discussed how “Watchmen” fit with the English curriculum and Iowa Core Language Arts standards, which include “making strategic use of digital and visual media” and “determining and author’s/creator’s point of view.”
The group decided to let a 38-minute movie clip remain with a new parental permission slip that lets families opt in to the viewing.
“Students will not be encouraged to watch the remainder of the film,” the minutes state.
Kennedy teachers may continue to have students read “Watchmen,” but the school will add “potentially controversial” to the class description, the March 2 minutes state.
Linn-Mar Community School District charged The Gazette $162 to provide 140 pages of records, about 70 of which dealt with one book challenge last spring.
“On Friday, I had (2) books brought into my home from the Linn-Mar High School library,” parent Mindy Walderbach wrote in an April 4 email to the Linn-Mar school board. “The books are titled ‘Tricks’ and ‘Traffic’ (sic); I've attached images of the books for your review.”
“Tricks” and “Traffick” are companion novels in verse by Ellen Hopkins that portray five teens victimized by sex trafficking who try to find a way to a new life, according to Goodreads.
“Why are books discussing drugging people and discussion of how wonderful drugs are allowing (sic) inside our buildings?” Walderbach asked. “Why are books discussing prostitution allowed inside our buildings? Do we have Bibles at LMHS and ALL of our buildings for students to check out?”
She asked the board about the process to request books be removed from school libraries. Walderbach’s letter caused the district to form a reconsideration committee for the first time, emails show.
“As you know, we have had a parent file a request for reconsideration in regards to a couple of library books,” Superintendent Shannon Bisgard wrote to Linn-Mar High School librarian Brian Johnson April 18.
“Per Board policy, we need to activate a reconsideration committee to review these materials and make a determination on this request. Would you be willing to serve as the teacher-librarian that serves on this committee?
www.thegazette.com
This is Banned Books Week — celebrated since 1982 to highlight the value of free and open access to information.
There’s more fanfare than usual, in part to counter increasing political pressure to remove books, especially about race and LGBTQ issues, said Betsy Gomez, Banned Books Week national coordinator.
Advertisement
“There are people who are motivated to remove entire topic areas from libraries,” she said in an interview with The Gazette. “What we’re forgetting is kids are actually pretty smart. We’re underestimating their ability to understand some material.”
Iowa lawmakers this year considered bills that would have allowed parents to sue schools over “obscene” books and would have levied criminal charges against librarians and teachers.
Book challenges in the Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar and Clear Creek Amana school districts illustrate new ways parents are seeking to influence curriculum and shield students from materials they find objectionable.
Cedar Rapids reconsiders ‘Watchmen’
The “Watchmen” comics written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons depict superheroes in 1985 facing ethical dilemmas, personal issues and failings.
The graphic novel won the 1988 Hugo Award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and was included in Time magazine’s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School students taking the English class Perspectives in Literature and Composition have been reading "Watchmen“ since at least 2013, according to the Torch, the school newspaper.
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But this year, a parent or parents challenged use of “Watchmen,” both as a book and movie, according to minutes from a Feb. 7 meeting of the Cedar Rapids Community School District’s Instructional Materials Reconsideration Committee.
“The complainant objected to the entire film, including scenes of sex and nudity, violence, gore, profanity, alcohol, drugs and smoking,” the minutes state.
The committee discussed how “Watchmen” fit with the English curriculum and Iowa Core Language Arts standards, which include “making strategic use of digital and visual media” and “determining and author’s/creator’s point of view.”
The group decided to let a 38-minute movie clip remain with a new parental permission slip that lets families opt in to the viewing.
“Students will not be encouraged to watch the remainder of the film,” the minutes state.
Kennedy teachers may continue to have students read “Watchmen,” but the school will add “potentially controversial” to the class description, the March 2 minutes state.
First book challenges
Linn-Mar Community School District charged The Gazette $162 to provide 140 pages of records, about 70 of which dealt with one book challenge last spring.
“On Friday, I had (2) books brought into my home from the Linn-Mar High School library,” parent Mindy Walderbach wrote in an April 4 email to the Linn-Mar school board. “The books are titled ‘Tricks’ and ‘Traffic’ (sic); I've attached images of the books for your review.”
“Tricks” and “Traffick” are companion novels in verse by Ellen Hopkins that portray five teens victimized by sex trafficking who try to find a way to a new life, according to Goodreads.
“Why are books discussing drugging people and discussion of how wonderful drugs are allowing (sic) inside our buildings?” Walderbach asked. “Why are books discussing prostitution allowed inside our buildings? Do we have Bibles at LMHS and ALL of our buildings for students to check out?”
She asked the board about the process to request books be removed from school libraries. Walderbach’s letter caused the district to form a reconsideration committee for the first time, emails show.
“As you know, we have had a parent file a request for reconsideration in regards to a couple of library books,” Superintendent Shannon Bisgard wrote to Linn-Mar High School librarian Brian Johnson April 18.
“Per Board policy, we need to activate a reconsideration committee to review these materials and make a determination on this request. Would you be willing to serve as the teacher-librarian that serves on this committee?
‘Watchmen,’ other books challenged in Eastern Iowa schools
Parents in three Corridor school districts have filed book challenges in the last year with complaints about a movie, books in verse and graphic novels, including a Caldecott Medal-winning book a Clear Creek Amana parent called
www.thegazette.com
