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This author just doesn't seem honest. Reading a few paragraphs in I see that he incorrectly describes the decision as a ban when, in reality, the school board d

This author just doesn't seem honest. Reading a few paragraphs in I see that he incorrectly describes the decision as a ban when, in reality, the school board decided to use a different book, if they could find it. Not every change in curriculum is a ban. Shortly after the author describes one of the complaints against the book as that it includes animal nudity. In fact the book includes drawn human nudity from the images I've seen. If white supremacists and Nazis had taken over a school board and were trying to conceal the Holocaust - that would be a story. If a school board thinks they can find more age appropriate material for their students... Well, that's their role. Is there some law that everyone needs to read Maus? In general, the fact that a random Tennessee school is adjusting their Holocaust curriculum based on what they think is age appropriate is a non-story. People like this author dishonestly sensationalize it to get clicks.

FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
Could you post a link to what exactly you found objectionable? I did an image search; I see crude drawings of animals. My rule of thumb here is "go to the primary sources".
- ALittleLight 5y ago
  I don't recall saying I found anything objectionable about Maus. I've never read it. I said the author was dishonestly portraying objections. https://twitter.com/theVoltist/status/1487550149509406722?t=5TOQpuEaHOFT7GB0_Jin1A https://twitter.com/theVoltist/status/1487550149509406722?t=... That's an image showing human nudity for example.
  - FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
    Thank you. Having seen it -- if this is the "worst" example that can be found -- then I think the parents are either overreacting, or, more likely, are looking for a pretext. There were examples of books that the conservatives banned because they really were sexually explicit. This doesn't seem to be one of them.
    - ALittleLight 5y ago
      I think this is one of multiple objections that were raised to the book. It is, frankly, absurd to think they were "looking for a pretext" to ban Maus. They have taught and will continue to teach module(s) on the Holocaust. There's absolutely no evidence anyone is trying to conceal it or that any of the parents or administrators are Nazis.
      - otterley 5y ago
        If they’re really serious about teaching the Holocaust, it seems pretty dumb to ban Maus because it’s one of the most effective books for teaching it to students at that age.
        ALittleLight 5y ago
        I don't really have an opinion on how to choose school curriculum. That's not my wheelhouse. As I've said, I've not read Maus, so I don't have an opinion on that either. I do have an opinion on the meta level though. That is, I have an opinion about the "controversy" which is that it has been sensationalized. A school board decided to sideline this book if they could find a suitable replacement and use it if not. They are the proper authorities to set the curriculum and they seem to be following a reasonable approach (listening to complaints from parents, and taking time to see if they can find a solution, defaulting to what they have if they can't). There is absolutely no reason for this to repeatedly hit national news outlets. Further, I think it's perverse to sensationalize non-events like this and act like they are censorious or evidence of latent-Nazi'ism.
        otterley 5y ago
        I disagree. School boards are supposed to be leaders in a mission to provide the best education to their students, and should be influenced primarily by educational experts and the “boots on the ground,” i.e., school administrators, teachers, and other leaders with training and experience in curriculum development and education. While parents’ opinions do matter, they aren’t experts in education, and school boards should be influencing the parents instead of the other way around. Otherwise education is going to be beholden to irrational whims, fads, and politics, and I believe society will be far worse off as a result. And that’s really the story here - that politics, rather than educational effectiveness, seems to be prevailing with this and other school boards across the U.S.
  - approxim8ion 5y ago
    Nudity is a state. There is nothing objectionable about it. Do you think it only exists for titillation? Considering the topic in question is that of the corpse of the author's mother, that's a hell of a stretch.

FooBarBizBazz 5y ago

Could you post a link to what exactly you found objectionable? I did an image search; I see crude drawings of animals. My rule of thumb here is "go to the primary sources".

ALittleLight 5y ago
I don't recall saying I found anything objectionable about Maus. I've never read it. I said the author was dishonestly portraying objections. https://twitter.com/theVoltist/status/1487550149509406722?t=5TOQpuEaHOFT7GB0_Jin1A https://twitter.com/theVoltist/status/1487550149509406722?t=... That's an image showing human nudity for example.
- FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
  Thank you. Having seen it -- if this is the "worst" example that can be found -- then I think the parents are either overreacting, or, more likely, are looking for a pretext. There were examples of books that the conservatives banned because they really were sexually explicit. This doesn't seem to be one of them.
  - ALittleLight 5y ago
    I think this is one of multiple objections that were raised to the book. It is, frankly, absurd to think they were "looking for a pretext" to ban Maus. They have taught and will continue to teach module(s) on the Holocaust. There's absolutely no evidence anyone is trying to conceal it or that any of the parents or administrators are Nazis.
    - otterley 5y ago
      If they’re really serious about teaching the Holocaust, it seems pretty dumb to ban Maus because it’s one of the most effective books for teaching it to students at that age.
      - ALittleLight 5y ago
        I don't really have an opinion on how to choose school curriculum. That's not my wheelhouse. As I've said, I've not read Maus, so I don't have an opinion on that either. I do have an opinion on the meta level though. That is, I have an opinion about the "controversy" which is that it has been sensationalized. A school board decided to sideline this book if they could find a suitable replacement and use it if not. They are the proper authorities to set the curriculum and they seem to be following a reasonable approach (listening to complaints from parents, and taking time to see if they can find a solution, defaulting to what they have if they can't). There is absolutely no reason for this to repeatedly hit national news outlets. Further, I think it's perverse to sensationalize non-events like this and act like they are censorious or evidence of latent-Nazi'ism.
        otterley 5y ago
        I disagree. School boards are supposed to be leaders in a mission to provide the best education to their students, and should be influenced primarily by educational experts and the “boots on the ground,” i.e., school administrators, teachers, and other leaders with training and experience in curriculum development and education. While parents’ opinions do matter, they aren’t experts in education, and school boards should be influencing the parents instead of the other way around. Otherwise education is going to be beholden to irrational whims, fads, and politics, and I believe society will be far worse off as a result. And that’s really the story here - that politics, rather than educational effectiveness, seems to be prevailing with this and other school boards across the U.S.
- approxim8ion 5y ago
  Nudity is a state. There is nothing objectionable about it. Do you think it only exists for titillation? Considering the topic in question is that of the corpse of the author's mother, that's a hell of a stretch.