There’s this. How is it that the alleged rapist is still an alleged rapist when he pleaded (pled?) guilty? And how on Earth could someone make a victim apologize? This whole things infuriates me.
We are responsible for our children, our aging, our less fortunate, our differently-abled.
For each other.
For ourselves.
We. You. Me. All of us. Every last one.
So, step up. Today. Now.
Help change someone’s life for the better. Put a smile on the cashier’s face. Let your eyes light up when your kids walk into the room. Ask how the bus driver’s family is doing. Engage. Check in. Help where you are needed and when you can. Don’t let people slip through the cracks. None of us can navigate this big wide world alone.
End rant for today.
Oh wait, one more…
and this.
My parents did not censor my reading. I went through a true crime phase in middle school. I went through a romance phase shortly after. And I turned out just fine. [no need to comment on that if you disagree] By forbidding Vonnegut’s classic, you are making fools of yourselves. Especially as it appears most of those wanting to ban it have never actually read it. As someone that was criticized by several people that didn’t seem to have actually read my Daphne post [just the title and picture] I can say that it is very hard to argue when the person you are arguing with is ignorant of the actual topic/text/etc. And I’m not a fan of people telling me what my children can and cannot do/read.
End rant two. For now.
UPDATE: Thanks to Leah for pointing this out. Looks like the school district may be reconsidering their ban.
Oddly enough I read once that some schools banned the book “Go Ask Alice”. I think they thought it may have promoted drug use. I read it and it scared me so much it’s one of the first things I’d think of each time I have been offered drug! It’s probably one of the biggest reasons I say “No” to them.
Ugh…Missouri, what is with you?! I’ve been following the first story since it hit the news (’09?) and it just gets worse and worse. Appalling through and through.
The censorship article… I was reading V. C. Andrews when I was 12, come on! You may have seen this response from Sherman Alexie (http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/06/09/why-the-best-kids-books-are-written-in-blood/) over the summer to this piece (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576357622592697038.html). I sent my own rebuttal to the origin of this firestorm-no response. I hope she’s still sorting through the shaming emails.
WTF indeed. The Ostrich School District - but worse. See no evil, hear no evil, but SPEAK of evil. Repeating Leah, disgusting.
I am so glad we left Springfield early. My son only had to endure Kindergarten there.
Absolutely unbelievable! How long do people in charge need to have their heads up their collective a$$es before they get fired? Especially in the case of that poor girl! Those school officials are supposed to protect her!
As far as censorship goes, I’m so against it I would lock up the people who want to pull literature from the shelves! Kids will read what interests them, and what they can understand. I can’t imagine a child young enough to be somehow altered by reading a book would go for Slaughterhouse Five if they saw it in the library. What’s next? Are they going to pull all of Lewis Carroll’s books from the shelves because he was supposedly using hallucinogenic drugs while writing Alice in Wonderland? Gimme a break people!
I feel a blog of my own coming on! I figure the only way to eradicate this kind of behavior is to expose it far and wide and to encourage others to take a stand. Nothing changes if we don’t get out there and change our own little corners of the world.
I know a number of sane and caring Americans. I just worry that there are not enough of you to stop the RR nutters taking over. We will all be $&#%(#@ we when they do.
Yeah, that censorship deal infuriated me when it happened; I hope it’s not rude to share a link to my blogged reaction: http://bainwaves.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/nonsensorship/
As for the rape, I hadn’t heard of it before; thanks for sharing. That’s inexcusable. What were they thinking?
Discovering Kurt Vonnegut in 10th grade is one of the best memories from high school. I still remember the wonderful teacher who opened those doors. Mr. Vonnegut remains on my list of top 5 people to dine with.
So it goes, Missouri. Don’t deprive your kids of these memories.
Unfortunately books are banned every day…the American Library Association actually has a week where they draw attention to this fact every year. This year it is September 24 - October 1, here’s a link. http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm?gclid=CLDo2NHf6qoCFcl95QodCWwMOA
As far as the school making the victim write that letter, unfortunately that does not surprise me, many people take advantage of special needs individuals and since many times they don’t understand things the same way neuro-typical people do, they get disregarded or even blamed for things that are done to them.
Wow, and wow, indeed. Crazy times.
I am still in shock that they are censoring books. Ummm “Freedom of Speech”… what’s that ? Here is a list of famous banned and censored books.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html.
As to that poor girl, I can just say that the fact that the higher powers did not thoroughly investigate the matter is shocking and I still cannot believe stuff like this happens.
It’s Missouri, what do you expect? They probably still lynch people who look like me there.
You are a badass. And, per usual, awesome.
Hey there,
Just a heads up re: Vonnegut: http://blog.au.org/2011/08/24/so-it-goes-mo-school-district-reconsiders-vonnegut-book-ban/
So, good news there (I hope, I hope!)!
Regarding the rapist…I got nothin’…except disgust.