Stupidity of the “Are you fucking shitting me?” variety, from Barrow County (login):
A pair of Apalachee High School parents successfully petitioned the Barrow County school board to ban an essay and classroom discussion that compares the killing of a pig in the novel “Lord of the Flies” to rape.
Early this year, students at Barrow County’s Apalachee High School spent about an hour and a half of an honors literature class discussing an essay, written by author E.L. Epstein, that is included in the book edition they use in the class.
“It’s not the curriculum itself, it’s the classroom discussion,” parent Jeff Smith said. “To make sure this doesn’t happen again, we think that commentary should be pulled.”
The essay doesn’t mention rape, but says “the killing of the sow is accomplished in terms of sexual intercourse.”
And, at the very end of the article, we have the money quote (emphasis mine):
“We can’t do anything about what was done to our daughter,” Smith said. “We can try to do something about the other kids coming up that we don’t want to see put through the same thing.”
“What was done to [your] daughter??” Jesus Hyperbole Christ. At first, I thought I had missed some crucial part of the article that said, for instance, that the girl was a rape survivor and was deeply distraught over reading the essay. But after a second careful reading, I realized that no, this father really does mean that reading an essay was the horrific thing that “happened to” (because reading is such a passive activity) his daughter.
Let’s just hope the poor girl never goes to college, where liberal professors will put guns to her head and force her to read all manner of critical analyses of various works of literature! And, God forbid, she may even have to endure hours upon hours of classroom discussion! The horror, the horror!!
Dumbassitude - 1, education - 0.
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19 Responses to "What was Georgia’s education rank, again?"
This is the kind of thing that makes me want to walk down the street and bash every person I see in the face with a brick.
The Nanny state will be built by overprotective parents and cowardly foolish politicians.
Fuck them all with a broomstick.
I’m more than a tad confused about the analogy, and if the reporter/parents/teachers/students comprehend it. The article makes repeated references to the parents saying they object to the rape analogy, but then concedes the essay never mentions rape.
Where did that analogy come from?
As for the parents: I think they’re just stupid, and that’s all there is to it. They obviously don’t get it, and their response is, “Ban it!!”
As for the reporter? Yeah, that’s another question. I thought the ABH’s subhead (’Lord of the Flies’ rape comparison angers parents) was a poor choice - and downright wrong. The reporter should be called out for that.
And I think there should’ve been more in the article devoted to asking your question, “Where did that analogy come from?” of the teachers, students, and parents. Although they might get flustered when they realize their stupidity and try to ban the newspaper article from being written.
We just want to dance!
Yet another reason my wife and I are seriously considering private school/homeschooling once our daughter gets old enough.
Here’s what I think it is, for those parents…
If they never *think* about rape, it will never happen to their children.
Yep, that’s it. Don’t ever consider it. Certainly don’t talk about it. That will guarantee that it won’t happen.
Well, and if they, like, never let them leave the house.
Unless of course it’s dear old Dad or Uncle Someone who the kiddies really have to watch out for. But uh that never happens in nice families with Values, so nevermind.
Wouldn’t the sarcasm be a bit more precise with a bit of ‘reading being such an active activity’? … Yeah, i’m nitpicking…
At least you don’t live in Alabama. These people _define_ the phrase ‘god fearing bush loving republicans’. it’s so a red state it’s not even funny.
shit, and i’m late!
Uh, no, because then it wouldn’t be sarcasm. Nitpick elsewhere.
I had… a farm… not in Africa… but deep in the heart of the Bible Belt.
Lemme back up… I once lived on a farm (organic) with my really weird parents when I was growing up. We once (I emphasize once) killed a pig (2 of ‘em) ourselves to provide meat for the deep freeze. The units were once big into self-sufficiency, but I diverge…
Although this (rather un-ironic) experience was gruesome and even traumatic, at no time did it keep me from becoming… a reader! Or a writer or just a basic lip-flapper.
Nor did it turn me into a person compelled to whine for the state to instantly protect me, or others “coming up” from literary irony. (Come to think of it, it didn’t even keep me from eating meat! So I’m not exactly Miss Sensitivity, but at least I’m no Ann Coulter.)
Gawd I hate a lazy whiner. But I hate a really STUPID lazy whiner even more.
And this commenting section is so cool! Did you make it yourself, Amber? I sure do like homemade stuff. ‘Cept for bacon that is.
And BTW, how the hell do you “pull a commentary?” That’s right up there with the Ruling Idiot Of The South, Nancy Schaeffer (R) and her “ultra sound” legislation mandating ultrasounds before an abortion.
I must assume Schaeffer’s stupid enough to actually believe that doing so (having an ultrasound) would then mandate a woman seeking an abortion to experience a particular emotion — and only an emotion that Supreme Idiot Schaeffer would approve of.
Oh stop me before I commentate, again, on really stupid people setting policy in Georgia.
LOL — that’s just bad…
Great entry — found you on spectrum blogs — I’ll be visiting again… :)
tina-cious.blog-city.com
By the way, a non-subscription link: Barrow County schools ban ‘Lord of the Flies’ essay [Gwinnett Daily Post]
As strange as this may sound, I went to a North Fulton County high school (Chattahoochee) and we had a similar class discussion about raping the pig. If you’ve read the book it’s actually a pretty important analogy not only demonizing the hunters (rape as a demonstration of evil) but also acting as a symbol of mankind’s manhandling of gifts and bounties provided to us by nature (Jack can’t just slay the sow but has to completely destroy it). My school was (and still is) in a ridiculously affluent and conservative suburb pretty up in arms about all things edgy (this was during the heyday of Marilyn Manson — to bring it full circle, the song “Wrapped in Plastic” makes a clear reference to the “stick in the pig”) but we still got through it without any media attention. And I wasn’t even in an honors class!
To not teach that part of the book misses one of Golding’s deeply important messages. The book is supposed to be a microcosm of society represented by lost children wandering desperately through a jungle island. To say Jack just kills the pig doesn’t make it different from any other time they hunt. To show he molestes the sow demonstrates the human population’s careless manipulation of the world around it growing increasingly severe.
It’s what Golding is trying to say.
So my question is this: how did this book become part of the curriculum? Did the school board not notice the obvious (and popularly flagged) rape scene? If they weren’t prepared to take responsibility for teaching children a rather blunt, sometimes vulgar, commentary on society, why are they reading the book?
I say either they need to pull book from the schools (which would be tragic since it’s such a great story) or take credit/blame/responsibility for teaching the content. The teacher didn’t “make a mistake.” Own up.
~ nick
Welcome to the world of education. I tried to have an open discussion about theories of how the universe was formed…it went great. the kids were participating and thinking. The next day the parents got involved. My talkers shut down, I was dragged into the office three times. once for talking about god in a classroom, once for teaching evolution and that is evil and the third time because the lady thought I was trying to tell her daughter that aliens made the earth in a factory. (I used a clip from HHG to demonstrate various theories).
Why can’t they just trust us to teach and leave us alone…..
*D*
Yet another reason why we need vouchers. If parents can access their tax dollars and make the best choice for their children, then no one will have to endure a “hecklers veto” over their child receiving a gooder education.
For some reason, I thought we (Georgians or MetrAtlantans, whatever) couldn’t outdo the “ban Harry Potter” lady. This is great!! A Ralph Reed voter, no doubt.
This isn’t the only thing! Apparently in Gwinnett, there is a girl that was “turned to witchcraft” by Harry Potter, and so her and her mother are trying to get the books banned. HARRY FUCKING POTTER MADE THAT BITCH A WITCH? The mother even said that it was teaching witchcraft in school. Give me a motherfucking break!
See kids, you too can come to crazy school. That’s right! Crazy school. Only in Georgia. (this message was sponsored by the hope scholarship.)