P. S., these books are sick!

Queens parents riled over raunchy sixth-grade lit

BY RACHEL SCHEIER and CARRIE MELAGO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Sixth-graders at a Queens school were getting quite an education - in homosexuality, French kissing and cursing - thanks to three books widely available in classroom libraries.
But after numerous complaints from parents at Public School 150 in Sunnyside, the books - a profanity-laced poetry book, short stories about homosexuality and a novel called "First French Kiss" - were pulled from the shelves last week.

Several parents learned of the racy books after overhearing their kids snickering about the sexual themes.

The poem "I Hate School" in a book called "You Hear Me?" includes the rhyme, "F--- this s---, up the a--. I don't think I'll ever pass."

Another poem compares eating an orange to having sex, while several passages repeatedly use vulgar slang for genitalia. And the book "Am I Blue?" is an anthology of stories about gay teenagers that parents found too adult-themed for 11- and 12-year-olds.

Parent Gladys Martinez wrote a letter to her son's teacher after hearing him talk about "First French Kiss," which chronicles a teen's bumbling first makeout session in a closet.

"I mean, he shouldn't be sheltered from the world, but if he's going to learn that stuff, it shouldn't be at school," Martinez said.

Parent and leadership team member Michael Novak said the books, which are labeled "young adult" by the New York Public Library, are "material that is totally inappropriate for sixth-graders."

Principal Carmen Parache said she had not reviewed the books until she received complaints but said they were "definitely inappropriate." She said classroom materials would be more carefully screened in the future.

"As soon as I saw them, I pulled them and they are no longer in the school," she said. "This is something that shouldn't have happened and it will not happen again."

"You Hear Me?" was suggested for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders by the Columbia University Teachers College's Reading and Writing Project because it is the only anthology with poems written by minority teenagers, said Lucy Calkins, its founding director.

"It's a tricky balance to walk so we are putting books in their hands that they'll want to read," said Calkins, who had not seen the language in the book.

Ava Myint, 11, said she heard some boys in her class laughing and talking about the books.

"Maybe they're okay for some kids, but some of the boys are really immature, so maybe they shouldn't be allowed to read them," she said.

Originally published on December 7, 2006

New York Daily News - Home - P. S., these books are sick!

Too many of these kinds of teachers.

Are those pictures of Jesus in the background?


Looking online at amazon.com, another education group states it is suitable for 7th grade +.
NONE of the official reviews stated ANYTHING about the presence of profanity/vulgarity. A WRITE-IN review made a note of it, but that's it.

I think part of what really needs to be done is OFFICIAL STANDARDS for such things. If movies show nudity, they get bumped from PG to PG-13 or R. If rap lyrics have profanity, people have worked towards placing stickers warning parents on the CD.
Why should books be any different? If the content involves sexually suggestive or profanity, then why not include that in the official description?

Considering the situation, it's very possible that somebody saw the book's official description, which at amazon.com included NO mention of profanity, and thought it sounded cool to have a book of poems written by kids which might inspire other kids to write poems.

But if whoever approved this knew of the profanity, that could seriously call into question their fitness to approve reading material for the library.

Wow. I didn't see those before. But it could be.

And by the way, the proper pronounciation - according to Homer Simpson - is Jeebuzz.

What about the book about gay teenagers? This is not what 11 and 12-year olds should be reading, unless of course someone is trying to indoctrinate, and we all know that no one in the public school system would ever do that.

I'd say it's appropriate for high schoolers and above. Check out the excerpt online at Amazon by hovering your mouse over the book image, then selecting "Excerpt" from the list that appears. You can read the first few pages of the short story, "Am I Blue?".

Gay happens.
Whether you like it or not, 11 and 12-year olds KNOW gay happens.

If the material is sexually explicit, gay or straight, I would agree with you.

We can have "Cinderella" for all ages.
But if it's just a story about two gay people, like Cinderella but the same gender, then people freak out...

Does Cinderella "indoctrinate" people into heterosexuality?
Is that what this is really about? Exclusive indoctrination for heterosexuals?

Actually, I think people freak out about 11 and 12 year olds thinking about SEX!!

Not me!!

haha i'm probably lying..