Responding to parental complaints, a New Jersey public school superintendent admitted that the books chosen by teachers and librarians for the summer reading list for middle and high schools are inappropriate for any age child due to homosexual behavior, pedophilia, and illegal drug usage.
For background, read New Jersey Tea Party Forces School Back on Gay Agenda
-- From "New Jersey School District Yanks Lesbian Sex Book From Required Summer Reading List" by Todd Starnes, FoxNews.com 8/23/11
Chuck Earling, superintendent of Monroe Township Schools in Williamstown, N.J. . . . [said] “There were some words and language that seemed to be inappropriate as far as the parents and some of the kids were concerned.”
One book, “Norwegian Wood,” was on a list for incoming sophomores in an honors English class. The book includes a graphic depiction of a lesbian sex scene between a 31-year-old woman and a 13-year old girl, according to a report first published in the Gloucester County Times.
The other book in question was “Tweak (Growing up on Methamphetamines).” That book included depictions of drug usage and a homosexual orgy.
“That has created a controversy,” Earling told Fox News Radio, referring to the drug usage – along with the lesbian and gay sex scenes. “We’ve pulled them from our summer reading list.”
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From "Risque summer reading selections have parents upset, school officials scrapping books in Monroe Township" by Rebecca Forand, Gloucester County Times 8/22/11
The school board received multiple complaints from parents at its board meeting Thursday, and the school’s administration has since removed the books from the list.
At Gateway Regional High School, the required reading lists for its students includes a multitude of choices, some of which could possibly include questionable material. But the school details that information in the summer work packet that is sent home and available online.
. . . Gateway High School’s Principal Steven Hindman [said] “I think it’s important that kids have some choice sometimes and our list allows them to.”
The school has decided to use this negative incident as a learning experience, according to Earling. For next year’s reading list, the school hopes to add some parents to the committee that chooses summer reading selections, which currently consists of staff members and administrators, and to utilize software that can scan books for inappropriate material.”
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From "A NJ school issues an apology for sexual content in summer reading list" by Husna Haq, Christian Science Monitor 8/24/11
“Norwegian Wood” [is] by acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Murakami is a major figure in in postmodern literature – he has been awarded both the Franz Kafka and the Jerusalem Prize – but that didn't necessarily weigh heavily with parents, some of whom were very upset to discover that "Norwegian Wood" includes a graphic lesbian sex scene. . . .
The summer reading list was put together by a committee made up of teachers, librarians, and school administrators. And the board of education approved the list.
After a slew of perplexing book bannings across the country including a Missouri school that pulled Kurt Vonnegut and a Virginia school that pulled Sherlock Holmes, some are seeing this one as a case where better judgment should have prevailed at the outset.
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