The head of a high
school English department in Litchfield, N.H., is leaving her
job after some parents complained about reading assignments
another teacher issued to a class.
The head of a high
school English department in Litchfield, N.H., is leaving her
job after some parents complained about reading assignments
another teacher issued to a class.
Kathleen Reilly
announced her resignation Wednesday after parents and other
citizens complained to the Campbell High School board about the
assignments that included stories on
homosexuality, abortion, drugs, and cannibalism.
According to the
Nashua Telegraph,
the book selections --
I Like Guys
by David Sedaris,
The Crack Cocaine Diet
by Laura Lippman, Stephen King's
Survivor Type,
and Ernest Hemingway's
Hills Like White Elephants
-- were for an elective English class intended for juniors and
seniors. The class was taught by Meredith Potter, who said her
assignments were part of a class unit called
"Love/Gender/Family."
Principal Bob Manseau
called the list of readings "a mistake in
judgment."
Sue Ann Johnson, a
parent who has been very vocal about the curriculum, said the
school was furthering an agenda at a board meeting on
Wednesday.
"There is an
agenda, people," she said, according to the article.
"Wake up. We are desensitizing our children to violence.
We're desensitizing them to sex. We're desensitizing
them to drugs. We're talking about the hearts and minds of
the future of America."
However, a former
student of Potter's, Andy Towne, pointed out to the
Telegraph
that required reading in schools across the country include
topics such as suicide (
Romeo and Juliet
), assault (
Of Mice and Men
), and the harsh realities of war (
Johnny Got His Gun
).
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