This post should be censored

“TORONTO — A Toronto parent says if students repeated some of the words from Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” in the school halls, they’d be suspended, so he questions why it is OK in the classroom.”

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2009/01/15/8040186.html

Another day, another parent freaking out over a book. People like this make my head hurt. You can’t keep your little snowflakes bubble-wrapped, you know; they need to be exposed to contrary ideas to learn how to handle them. Your argument can be flipped to say: "If students fought each other with swords the way the characters do in Treasure Island, they'd be suspended. So why is it OK in the classroom?" It's ridiculous. If you're that worried about a book warping your child's worldview, you haven't adequately done your job as a parent.

“Age-appropriate” is a sliding scale, differing from child to child, but the book Edwards is concerned about was assigned to the Senior class. The kid is 17. You don’t think the kid hears (and probably says) worse in the halls already? Presenting the book for study is not the same as encouraging the behavior. There are already punishments in place for students caught cursing in the halls. Suspension is the deterrent, not yanking the books out of the students' hands.

“Edwards filed a formal compliant [sic] with the Toronto District School Board last month, arguing that while the futuristic theme of the book is acceptable, its focus on ‘sex, brutal situations, murder, prostitution’ is not.”

So glad the Science Fiction community has Edwards’ approval, unfortunately, the works of Shakespeare, the Greek tragedies (and some of the comedies, like “Lysistrata”), Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the Bible, Catcher in the Rye, a lot of Twain, Les Miserables, Dickens’ stuff, Catch-22, Chandler’s The Big Sleep, Don Quixote, Lord of the Flies, Vanity Fair, The Odyssey, The Divine Comedy, The Art of War, The Lottery, The Most Dangerous Game, The Prince, and the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est will all have to be scrapped. [And that’s just from scanning the bookshelf closest to me.]

"After Edwards complained, his son was assigned another book, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and will step out of class during any discussions on “The Handmaid’s Tale".”

Yeah, because that won't be awkward for the kid. You know how a lot of kids rebel against their parents' values when they go away to college? I bet this boy is thinking: "Man...when I get to college...I'm gonna...gonna...discuss literature! That'll show 'em!"

I wonder if Mr. Edwards will complain when the school’s reading assignments consist of nothing but the Encyclopedia Brown series and “Choose Your Own Adventure” books.