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Teacher Suspended For Reading Ender's Game To Students
An anonymous reader writes "Forbes reports that a middle school teacher in South Carolina has been placed on administrative leave for reading sci-fi classic Ender's Game to his students. According to blogger Tod Kelly, '[A parent] reported him to the school district complained that the book was pornographic; that same parent also asked the local police to file criminal charges against the teacher. As of today, the police have not yet decided whether or not to file charges (which is probably a good sign that they won't). The school district, however, appears to agree with the parent, is considering firing the teacher and will be eliminating the book from the school.'"
As usual, this case has been discussed in other places first. IIRC the "bruised testicle" was part of what the bitching is about.
We're in a bad spot in our society when these idiots aren't laughed out of the office. Let the freak homeschool her precious snowflake and stop being a burden on us.
When ender first gets to his dorm one of the boys is using his tablet to create a holographic genetalia.
"Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bucher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen."
"That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people also." - Heinrich Heine "Almansor" 1821
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BMO
Read an artice about this here http://geeks.thedailywh.at/2012/03/15/geek-news-classroom-controversy-of-the-day/, and it said there was three books that were read and the Enders Game was the only one that was known that the teacher read. So it's possible that something inappropriate was read to the children if that story wasn't off.
Ender is a school child who kicks another school child to death in the school bathroom. Nobody has any question that it's happened, but not much seems to happen to Ender because of it.
Because of this particular scene in the book, I've always felt that it should not have been promoted as a children's book. I have also felt that Orson Scott Card is, IMO, unsavory for cooperating in promoting it as a children's book.
Spoiler alert: it's a pattern that foreshadows what happens at the end of the book. He lashes out in self defense against threats to his survival (or perceived threats) and immediately regrets it. It's not his fault that he kills. It is the fault of those who manipulate him and his peers so that these life-or-death conflicts keep occurring, without outside intervention.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
Ender is a school child who kicks another school child to death in the school bathroom. Nobody has any question that it's happened, but not much seems to happen to Ender because of it.
Nothing happens to Ender, legally--he's a child, and has been placed in that situation by the authorities, who are pretty much hoping for the response that they get. Later on (either at the end of Ender's Game, or in Ender's Shadow) it's revealed that Graff was indeed court-martialed for the deaths of both Bonzo and Stilson, though he is acquitted because of his statements that the war would have been lost if not for his actions in turning Ender into the weapon that humanity needed.
Graff aside, Ender did most certainly suffer for those deaths, and the billions more that he caused. Mentally, emotionally, and, later, being equated to another Adolf Hitler by the very people he saved.
What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
It is. Here's what a Pastor said while introducing Rick Santorum two days ago:
So there you have it. Santorum didn't object at the time, either.
The original story reported it a bit differently:
"According to the incident report, a teacher had been reading pornographic material from the Internet to the students in class. One of the stories was about prostitutes having their faces covered with ejaculation."
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Unless this is the writer's cut that my library didn't stock - this wasn't enders game they were reading.
blockquote works fine if you are in HTML mode, although it just shows up as another layer of indentation in the new layout.
I read the internet for the articles.
I found this list of books in the comment section of this page: http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/031512-school-board-releases-statement-to-enders-game-book The three books are Ender's Game (Card), Devils Paintbox (), and Curtain, Poirots Last Case (Agatha Christie)
Middle School includes the 8th grade. You can turn 14 in the 8th grade and not be considered especially old for your grade. That translates to turning 18 when you graduate high school. It's common.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
I'm drawing a blank here but about the only thing I can think of that would qualify as close to pornography is the part where Ender beats the shit out of that bully and the book talks about how his medical sheet reads "bruised testicle."
After the teenager's mother contacted police, investigators contacted the school.
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 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.
You can't take the sky from me...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
They aren't even that good. The PTC has a very good strategy. Their expert Outrageists watch the television and find things to be outraged about. They then send out rallying cries via newsletter to the the organisation's mailing list and contact various conservative-leaning media to get the message spread further. The outrageable readers then hop on board and mass-mail the FCC, station, advertisers and anyone else involved demanding Something Be Done about this disgusting program - and, the beauty of the whole system, they complain without ever having seen the program they are complaining about!
Why not, where do you think this is coming from? Read this:
Mind you, I have nothing against abstaining from pornography or preaching against it, but this is something else. And don't say Santorum speaks only for himself, the point here is how many votes he is getting.
In "Princess of Mars" ( book ), Dejah Thoris was described as naked except for a few ornamental items.
In the "John Carter" movie, she was clothed through the whole movie. They can find a way to handle it.
emt 377 emt 4
But the articles linked are very long on speculation and very short on info.
Parent makes complaint about something bizarre happening in the classroom. Teacher is suspended pending investigation.
Let me assure you, this happens outside of the south. Let me also assure you it happens in politically diverse communities.
Being the son of a high school teacher, I've heard this story a lot of times.
There are a lot of possibilities here. The complaint apparently was that the teacher read something about semen coating the faces of prostitutes. That certainly isn't in Ender's Game.
So, maybe it's in the other two books mentioned. But, that's doubtful given the books (Agatha Christie and a book aimed at young teens.)
So, we could have a kid (for whatever reason, but being nutty, or disliking the teacher are a couple possibilities or on a dare from friends) telling parents something that didn't happen.
Or, we could have a parent that's kinda mental, or having a bad week, or a drunken rage etc, etc . That happens with alarming regularity when you have to deal with large numbers of parents. Most are fine, some are messed up.
Much, much farther down the list is that it's due to a conservative and or southern conspiracy or any other societal factor.
As to the suspension. School administrations are historically the most pusillanimous bunch of cover your butt bureaucrats there are. Especially if the parent is a known problem, or someone of influence in the community.
But, if you want to elevate the less likely to the fore, then Occam's Razor isn't going to stop you.
Apparently, this has less to do with Ender's Game than it does with something the teacher was reading which involved prostitutes getting facials.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Stop the FUD about OSC being a homophobe -- he's responded many times to this allegation and there's no proof of it except in conspiracy-minded idiots' rantings.
- Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
It's worse than just book burning. Up north they rewrote Huck Fin and Tom Sawyer to more closely adhere to their Politically correct beliefs. I kid you not. That is in many ways worse than outright censorship.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Actually reading TFA, they've posted an update that, more than likely, the offending material wasn't from Ender's Game at all, but probably some other, unrelated, material from the internets. Card thinks that his book was lumped in because it's been a perennial target of the evangelical right due to his being a Mormon.
But this time the original article was flawed too, and it ahs subsequently been updated (although I'm sure 95% of /. readers will never know that). Supposedly the teacher read stuff off the internet to the class that was "pornographic" and Card himself has said he heard what was read and it WAS inappropriate for kids (and he maintained that his book is perfectly OK for 14 years olds).
That'd be unthinkable here in sweden. Every school is required to have the same educational standards in order to insure that everyone (in theory) gets equal education and access to information. Homeschooling is not allowed. So for example, a deeply religious parent could not (legally) deny their child "inappropriate" views on contraception, religion, or in any other way restrict their mental freedom completely.
Emotions! In your brain!
Of course they should. What do you think the school system is for exactly?
It is for ensuring that society has the adequately knowledgeable citizens that are required for the maintenance of a functional economy, functional democracy, public health etc. A public school system should absolutely not be subject to the whims of parents.
If you believe in the profess of knowledge, it makes no sense to have a previous generation impose limitations on the next.
REALLY?
Have you TALKED to some of these parents you say should be directing education?
They are FUCKING IDIOTS. They learned nothing themselves in school, and you want THEM to dictate what everybody else teaches and learns?
You are out of your fucking mind. Parents are the last people to dictate what their children learn.
For titty-fucking-christs sake we have game shows that show just how stupid adults are compared to a 5th grader.
What does that have to do with freedom? If those particular parents have a problem with the school system, they can keep their kids home. End of story. Getting involved in what OTHER people teach/learn is insane. Totally insane.
You haven't read Ender's Game I see. The final scene is a graphic gang-bang with a near-endless line of drones lining up, penetrating, ejaculating, then dying suddenly as the next moves in to penetrate.
No, the problem is that you seem unable to comprehend that the cases I'm citing for you are people attempting to ban books for very liberal reasons, as well as very conservative reasons, and that in both cases, it is parents attempting to have books banned from school curriculums *because it offends their personal sensibilities somehow.* Claiming that "only inbred conservative hillbillies" will seek to ban books is a position that is as fundamentally incorrect as it is idiotic.
You seem intent on finding a way to justify suppressing a book from a school curriculum because it's not a "ban" on the book. I'm curious what you consider a ban, if forcing an entire school district (which at one point thought a book was a valuable teaching aid) to pretend a book doesn't exist, and rework their entire curriculum with a less heterodox choice? And if you really can maintain that that doesn't constitute censorship or banning of a book, well then, I guess we have a precedent to remove any book that gets challenged from any curriculum it's used in, since, you know, anybody who "wants" to read the offending book can always order themselves a copy from Amazon -- right?
My post was a response to the arrogant twat who opined that "only hillbilly inbred republicans" seek to ban books. This is patently false, as I have demonstrated. Moreover it is a dangerously naive conceit which tries to justify the liberals who try to ban books for whatever reason as "not ACTUALLY trying to ban books," and substituting some quaint euphemism in place of the word "censorship." The point is that overly sensitive people of all political stripes will seek to suppress and censor books that disagree with their orthodoxy, and it is always - for any reason, for any justification - wrong.
If you cannot understand this point, then I question your reading comprehension, as well as your claims to work as a librarian - you're certainly no friend of the written word if you're that quick to justify why an attempt to ban a book isn't "really" an attempt at censorship.
More importantly. God promises he won't destroy it "with water, but will do so with fire" (which is what revelations then details... but contrary to the good congresscritter, it only speaks about what God will do. It never says "you will not destroy yourselves."
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
It was read to the class. Doesn't it mean it was pornophonic?
I believe the term would be pornosonic.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.