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Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

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Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#111

Post by loudmax »

alexb_ wrote: post #68
deugtniet wrote: post #4

If anybody thinks this is a good idea, I'm looking forward to reading your opinions.

Let me be clear that I do not agree at all, in any way with this argument, I'm just answering your question as to what the opinion of people who like this think. There are books which contain explicit depictions of sex between teenagers. Why do you want teenagers thinking that having sex before you are 18 is normal? Kids shouldn't be reading stuff about sex (gay, straight, or otherwise) before they are adults. The on…

I'm not completely sure that everyone making this argument actually believes it. Presumably there are some who do, but I suspect there's a large portion of people who are looking for a way to selectively fire teachers they don't like. Certainly there are politicians who benefit from stoking outrage, and supporters who enjoy boasting of their commitment to their cause by taking an extreme position on a culture war issue.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#112

Post by CydeWeys »

notch656c wrote: post #27
mabbo wrote: post #3

Hey America, is everything okay down there? Y'all have some truly dystopian stuff going on there. Felony prosecution for showing kids books that the Governor didn't approve of? Yikes.

There were some books that some segment of voters didn't approve of that certain school libraries were providing. This seems like a backdoor way to stop that while bypassing having to go through controversial school board meetings and/or 1A constitutionality issues to block those books. Not to say this isn't insane, just explaining how I think it happened.

> There were some books that some segment of voters didn't approve of that certain school libraries were providing.

I mean, so? This is small minority of people we're talking about. Why do they get veto power over everything present in the classroom? It's the teachers' job to teach the kids, manage/provision the classroom, etc.

At some point you have to just tell people "No".

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#113

Post by crooked-v »

edgyquant wrote: post #63
notch656c wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were some books that some segment of voters didn't approve of that certain school libraries were providing. This seems like a backdoor way to stop that while bypassing having to go through controversial school board meetings and/or 1A constitutionality issues to block those books. Not to say this isn't insane, just explaining how I think it happened.

[flagged]

"Equally dystopian"... how exactly?

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#115

Post by mfer »

Context as to what's happening in US schools...

This highlights part of the growing movement and disagreement around culture shaping through kids.

To highlight this, if you take a look at school of educations mission statement[1]

> Through commitment to innovation, social justice, excellence in teaching and research, and partnerships, the School of Teacher Education will position itself as a national leader in shaping the next generation of educators to be agents of transformation in an ever‐changing world.

Other schools [2] in the US are more explicit on change...

> School of Education devoted to developing civically engaged children, youth, and adults for a diverse and inclusive society.

There are many parents who are not supportive of the drive for change. Often pushing views that parents don't agree with.

Books are a subtle way to bring in change. The ideas in them. Especially as elementary age kids who are impressionable learn to read from these books.

The disagreements between parents and some teachers around this is at the heart of laws like this.

[1] https://ccie.ucf.edu/teachered/mission/

[2] https://soe.umich.edu/about#mission-vision

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#116

Post by faster »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #32
wyldfire wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is weird. I guess we can agree to that principle but do we need to be draconian about it? Do we need laws to make teachers focus on curriculum? Didn't you ever read a book that wasn't prescribed by the curriculum?

I don't think so but it's Florida. I don't live in Florida. The majority in Florida must somehow be OK with this and it's their teachers and children. Don't take my nuance to mean that I approve of this or think it's a good idea.

Why do you think the majority of Floridians are OK with this? Does it matter to American politicians that the majority of Americans are in favor of access to abortions? The noisy people and PACs who donate to campaigns are against it and that's all that matters.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#117

Post by happytoexplain »

barbazoo wrote: post #56
hsnewman wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have an big propaganda issue that is being exploited by our national enemy's (I'm talking about you Russia). All this stuff that upsets our stable society is only good for our enemies. Nobody should care of what other people are reading, unless it poses a threat to our society. Talk about shouting fire in a theater.

How is this Russia's doing? Do you have a source for that claim?

Read as written, it seems like the parent is saying that things like this (felony for providing a child anything but whitelisted books) destabilize the society they occur in, and bad national actors exploit and encourage that instability. Not that Russia directly induced this law.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#118

Post by notch656c »

CydeWeys wrote: post #65
scifibestfi wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

 

Please tell me exactly which books are so heinous that having them present in schools merits felony charges?

I am very much against this law but I think "present in school" is much different than "curated."

I couldn't give a shit if kids were bringing Anarchist Cookbook and images of the tortures at Abu Dhabi prison to school. What the kid and his family obtain on their own through private means and choose to read in a public venue like a school IMO is none of my business.

If the teachers are curating books that disproportionately pushes certain non-academic agendas, though, then maybe the parents ought to have the right to guide the employment of that teacher to make sure it follows the desires of the voters. Criminal charges are insane though.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#119

Post by fnordpiglet »

Pulcinella wrote: post #10

In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. Prepare for “route around the damage” moment whe…

Felony inflation is rampant, and horrendous.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#120

Post by wolrah »

alexb_ wrote: post #68
deugtniet wrote: post #4

If anybody thinks this is a good idea, I'm looking forward to reading your opinions.

Let me be clear that I do not agree at all, in any way with this argument, I'm just answering your question as to what the opinion of people who like this think. There are books which contain explicit depictions of sex between teenagers. Why do you want teenagers thinking that having sex before you are 18 is normal? Kids shouldn't be reading stuff about sex (gay, straight, or otherwise) before they are adults. The on…

You should really emphasize your first sentence in some way, it was really easy to have eyes drawn to the second part when skimming down the thread.
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