Censorship

The teacher that I talked about on here before about the inappropriate items posted in the hall has now had two books removed from his classroom and even though I haven't agreed with some of the teaching strategies I do NOT support censorship so I wrote the following letter to the administration: (I did remove the teachers name because if you know who I am talking about fine but otherwise that is their business)


I would like to express my frustration with the removal of the books from Mr. ??? classroom. The author of Flight is an award winning author with repeated publication that has won numerous awards. Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and it has been used in educational settings from high schools to universities, the book has been celebrated for creating new literary avenues for the American memoir and it was on the schools approved reading list.
Mr. ??? and I have not seen eye to eye on every subject area but he has pushed my two children to grow in their thoughts and feelings on different subjects. Mr. ??? has created an environment that allows them to think outside the box and feel that they have valued opinions. He encourages them to believe in their thoughts and not to allow others to sway them from what they believe in. I understand that some of the material that he teaches pushes the envelope but isn’t that what we want our educators to do? We want them to push the envelope and we want them to make our children aware of the world around them and we want this to be done in a safe environment that allows for open honest discussion, discussion with leadership. Potter Stewart said “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime” Do we lack confidence in our students at Riley County High School? I for one believe that we have raised great kids here at Riley County but if we only allow them to see what is inside the box we create for them and never introduce different subjects and criteria then we are stifling the possible creativity and their ability to grow. I am concerned that if we continue to approve material and then not support the teachers when people make it uncomfortable then we will lose teachers that could make a difference in our children’s lives and education. The books that had been chosen contained material that is relevant to students within the walls of Riley County High School, it contained material that would allow students to discuss topics like discrimination, poverty, achievement, foster care, and history. In approving the material and then pulling it because of complaints we are allowing the general public to control our children’s education instead the school board that we elected to make those decisions.
I would like to thank you for you listening to my concerns and I would encourage you to take a stand that will allow our children to grow and learn. This cannot be done if we allow fear to rule our actions.

Sincerely
Angela Toews