Organized grassroots activism, aided by Internet coordination, becoming more effective in screening immoral/pornographic/profane/obscene books aimed at children
For background, read After Parent Complaints, Schools Drop Sexually Explicit Book Studies
UPDATE 8/24/11: New Jersey School Pulls Assigned Obscene Books after Parental Complaints
-- From "Those challenging books find strength in numbers" by Didi Tang and Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY 11/30/10
Shortly after the fall semester began this year, Wesley Scroggins, a parent of three in Republic, Mo., publicly criticized the local school district for carrying books that he described as soft pornography.
"We've got to have educated kids, and we've got to be a moral people," Scroggins said then. "I've been concerned for some time what students in the schools are being taught."
Whereas challenges once were mostly launched by a lone parent, [American Library Association attorney Deborah] Caldwell-Stone says she has noticed "an uptick in organized efforts" to remove books from public and school libraries. A number of challenges appear to draw from information provided on websites such as Parents Against Bad Books in Schools, or PABBIS.org, and Safelibraries.org, she says.
And the latest wrinkle: A wave of complaints around the nation about inappropriate material in public schools has stirred emotional argument over just how much freedom should be extended to students in advanced courses.
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From "Book Banning Epidemic in Southwest Missouri Fueled by Public University Professor" by William Browning, Yahoo! Contributor Network 9/21/10
The Springfield News-Leader reports today that three books are being reconsidered in the Republic School District. Wesley Scroggins, associate professor of business at Missouri State University and concerned parent, wrote an editorial to the newspaper on Sunday warning that "parents need to be cautious" regarding sex education and obscene books in the Republic School System. He points out several issues with the eighth grade sex education curriculum and the book "Slaughterhouse-Five."
The News-Leader states that Scroggins' complaints also contend that Republic teaches evolution, covers inappropriate material in sex education classes, and uses textbooks that teach errors about American government and history. Scroggins says further in his editorial that the curriculum is "unacceptable considering that most of the school board members and administrators claim to be Christian. How can Christian men and women expose children to such immorality?"
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