Mississippi School District Pulls "To Kill a Mockingbird" from Shelves

I never read it in school so I don't see this as a big deal. It is still in the school library.
While it may be a classic, there have been many other books written since. Out with the old, in with the new.
 
Wonder what happened to our poster HarperLeigh? I'd like to hear her opinion on this.
 


The book is still on the shelves. It has just been removed from a specific curriculum. It can be checked out.

Meeting on this Tuesday. See wlox.com. or sunherald.com for more.

I'm on the road and can't link.
 
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Mmm... I'm on the fence here.

The book is still literally "on the shelves" in school libraries, despite what the headline would have you believe.

The book has simply been removed from the eighth grade curriculum. It's not being banned.

This is definitely NOT the only book that shows racism in a way that teens can relate to. It's a good book, but it is an older book. While it's very interesting from a historical perspective, the lives of the characters are not especially relevant to teens today. Even when I was a kid, it felt like a peek into an alien world. Remember their housekeeper, Calpurnia?

If they are pulling Mockingbird with an eye toward replacing it with something like "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas, I'd be okay with that. Let's talk about contemporary racism and the impact it has on people's lives!

I love books and I tutor children in reading. I'm always on board to protest book banning. But, I don't think this is necessarily a case of that sort of thing. Without more information, I don't think there's enough to get outraged about here.

Quote: “There are many resources and materials that are available to teach state academic standards to our students,” he said in a statement. “These resources may change periodically.”
 
As a decades long school librarian, I'm a little cynical as to whether or not it is still "on the shelves". I have worked in many rural districts, and have noted that many controversial books seem to "disappear" from the shelves.

I do agree with Magpie, that there are many newer books that students that age could relate to, but if this board thinks TKAM is bad, I can't imagine what they would think of the content of some of the newer ones....

Terri
 
As a decades long school librarian, I'm a little cynical as to whether or not it is still "on the shelves". I have worked in many rural districts, and have noted that many controversial books seem to "disappear" from the shelves.

I do agree with Magpie, that there are many newer books that students that age could relate to, but if this board thinks TKAM is bad, I can't imagine what they would think of the content of some of the newer ones....

Terri

This is exactly where I'm stuck. There's nothing in the article to indicate what the school board thinks, especially as they didn't vote on it. The vice president (unwisely, imo) says some vague things about the book having language that makes people uncomfortable (which people? parents? board members?) and that there were some complaints (by whom?), but doesn't actually state that this is why the book was withdrawn from the 8th grade curriculum.

For that matter... Is discussion of race a required part of the eighth grade curriculum? What resources are they using to cover this topic? And if it's not a part of the formal curriculum... should it be? ("Are you covering racism in your curriculum? "Well, not officially, but we make the kids read TKaM. That's enough, isn't it?")

Also, twinge of guilt here. I must confess I was the reason some books disappeared from my middle school library. And from my local public library, too. :bitelip:
 
I never read it in school so I don't see this as a big deal. It is still in the school library.
While it may be a classic, there have been many other books written since. Out with the old, in with the new.

If you have never read it, why are you so quick to imply it should be hidden away? Erasing history is a failed agenda.
 
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Here's the article from the SunHerald-newspaper out of Biloxi. The district is the Biloxi City School District.

Biloxi superintendent said he doesn’t understand ‘big controversy’ over ‘Mockingbird’
BY KAREN NELSON

klnelson@sunherald.com

OCTOBER 16, 2017 4:48 PM

BILOXI
Superintendent Arthur McMillan, speaking outside the administration building Monday, said the Biloxi School District never removed “To Kill A Mockingbird” from the middle school library or reading list.

And eighth graders who want to study the book now have a choice to attend a special book study.

He would not answer questions about why the book was taken from the regular lesson plan for the second, nine-week term. He went back to his original statement that the school district changes material periodically.

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The school website had “Mockingbird” listed as a book the classes would study in the second term. But a school board member confirmed that after parental complaints, the school district decided to find another book to fill “Mockingbird’s” slot. The issue was a racially charged word that appears in dialogue in the book about 50 times. The book, a popular American classic, is set in the 1930s and deals with rape and racial inequality in a small Southern town, as narrated by a 10-year-old.

The school district was early into the second term when the change was made.



“We decided to use other resources for the second nine weeks,” McMillan said. “We haven’t done away with the book, students still have the book to read. And if students want to, teachers are going to do a book study with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so the students still have the book and the book is still in the library.”

He told the Sun Herald and WXXV, “I’m not understanding really, what the big controversy is.”

A Sun Herald report that the book was pulled from the eighth grade lesson plan because a few parents were not comfortable with language in the book made national headlines over the weekend. Some media reported Biloxi schools banned the book.

“The deal is, ever so often, we change reading materials to teach state objectives, and that’s what we did,” McMillan said.

He stressed, “teachers will do a book study for the students who want to do a book study ... if the students want to do a book study on it. We’re not going to force them to come do it.”

He said it is still on the schools’ AR reading list, where students read and are tested on books for a special grade.

“It was part of the lesson plan for the first nine weeks and we changed material,” he said.

When asked how many parents complained, McMillan went back to his statement and said, “We’ve changed resources and materials to teach the second nine weeks.”

When asked if he followed school policy and set up a committee to review the complaints, he walked away.

Karen Nelson: 228-896-2310, @NelsonNews_atSH
 
If you have never read it, why are you quick to imply it should be hidden away? Erasing history is a failed agenda.

We don't make kids read the Iliad any more, either. Or Pilgrim's Progress. Or the Canterbury Tales.

There's only so many books any school can teach in a year. It's not "erasing history" to choose one over the other.

Don't get me wrong, I think there's real value in reading "classics" - older books with older styles of language, giving a peek into exotic times and places. But, if you want to tackle a modern topic, such as racism, there are a lot of very good, new, relevant books to choose from. The potential problem with using To Kill a Mockingbird, or even Huckleberry Finn, as your sole vehicle for tackling racism, is that you run a very real risk of teaching the kids that racism is historical. That it was an unfortunate part of our history, and we're all over it now.

I guess the real question is... out of all the hundreds of classic books available to us, why are we having the kids read To Kill a Mockingbird? What lessons are we trying to teach them? And is this the best book for it? If the answer is yes, great! If the answer is no, then we shouldn't be afraid to read a different book instead.
 
Here's the article from the SunHerald-newspaper out of Biloxi. The district is the Biloxi City School District.

Biloxi superintendent said he doesn’t understand ‘big controversy’ over ‘Mockingbird’
BY KAREN NELSON

klnelson@sunherald.com

OCTOBER 16, 2017 4:48 PM

BILOXI
Superintendent Arthur McMillan, speaking outside the administration building Monday, said the Biloxi School District never removed “To Kill A Mockingbird” from the middle school library or reading list.

And eighth graders who want to study the book now have a choice to attend a special book study.

He would not answer questions about why the book was taken from the regular lesson plan for the second, nine-week term. He went back to his original statement that the school district changes material periodically.

ADVERTISING
inRead invented by Teads
The school website had “Mockingbird” listed as a book the classes would study in the second term. But a school board member confirmed that after parental complaints, the school district decided to find another book to fill “Mockingbird’s” slot. The issue was a racially charged word that appears in dialogue in the book about 50 times. The book, a popular American classic, is set in the 1930s and deals with rape and racial inequality in a small Southern town, as narrated by a 10-year-old.

The school district was early into the second term when the change was made.



“We decided to use other resources for the second nine weeks,” McMillan said. “We haven’t done away with the book, students still have the book to read. And if students want to, teachers are going to do a book study with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so the students still have the book and the book is still in the library.”

He told the Sun Herald and WXXV, “I’m not understanding really, what the big controversy is.”

A Sun Herald report that the book was pulled from the eighth grade lesson plan because a few parents were not comfortable with language in the book made national headlines over the weekend. Some media reported Biloxi schools banned the book.

“The deal is, ever so often, we change reading materials to teach state objectives, and that’s what we did,” McMillan said.

He stressed, “teachers will do a book study for the students who want to do a book study ... if the students want to do a book study on it. We’re not going to force them to come do it.”

He said it is still on the schools’ AR reading list, where students read and are tested on books for a special grade.

“It was part of the lesson plan for the first nine weeks and we changed material,” he said.

When asked how many parents complained, McMillan went back to his statement and said, “We’ve changed resources and materials to teach the second nine weeks.”

When asked if he followed school policy and set up a committee to review the complaints, he walked away.

Karen Nelson: 228-896-2310, @NelsonNews_atSH


Hmm... so he caved to parents upset about the "n-word"?

Can't say I'm impressed by his lack of spine.

That said, when I was a kid I might've actually been geeky enough to go for the book study (assuming it was set up something like my English teacher's lunchtime book club).

And I still want to know what the replacement book is!
 
We are in a neighboring district. Biloxi is not a rural Mississippi district. It is on the Gulf of Mexico and Biloxi is the home of Keesler Air Force Base-a variety of families from all walks of life live in this area. Being from Mississippi, I am sensitive that we have a racial past that we are not proud of and that any news regarding race out of Mississippi gets national attention.

Biloxi schools is known as a high performing district. The article I just posted above states that the book will be used for students who want to study it as a "book club" type book. It's not being banned and is still available as a resource and a teaching tool.

Having said that, our kids in the neighboring district read "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 6th grade as a class assignment and very much enjoyed the book.

As someone else stated, reading assignments for students change as time goes on. I think media got wind of this and blew it up (the title of this thread is from the headline and the headline is not quite accurate, but designed to get your attention)-just as there's a thread on media right now.
 
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Here's the article from the SunHerald-newspaper out of Biloxi. The district is the Biloxi City School District.

Biloxi superintendent said he doesn’t understand ‘big controversy’ over ‘Mockingbird’
BY KAREN NELSON

klnelson@sunherald.com

OCTOBER 16, 2017 4:48 PM

BILOXI
Superintendent Arthur McMillan, speaking outside the administration building Monday, said the Biloxi School District never removed “To Kill A Mockingbird” from the middle school library or reading list.

And eighth graders who want to study the book now have a choice to attend a special book study.

He would not answer questions about why the book was taken from the regular lesson plan for the second, nine-week term. He went back to his original statement that the school district changes material periodically.

ADVERTISING
inRead invented by Teads
The school website had “Mockingbird” listed as a book the classes would study in the second term. But a school board member confirmed that after parental complaints, the school district decided to find another book to fill “Mockingbird’s” slot. The issue was a racially charged word that appears in dialogue in the book about 50 times. The book, a popular American classic, is set in the 1930s and deals with rape and racial inequality in a small Southern town, as narrated by a 10-year-old.

The school district was early into the second term when the change was made.



“We decided to use other resources for the second nine weeks,” McMillan said. “We haven’t done away with the book, students still have the book to read. And if students want to, teachers are going to do a book study with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so the students still have the book and the book is still in the library.”

He told the Sun Herald and WXXV, “I’m not understanding really, what the big controversy is.”

A Sun Herald report that the book was pulled from the eighth grade lesson plan because a few parents were not comfortable with language in the book made national headlines over the weekend. Some media reported Biloxi schools banned the book.

“The deal is, ever so often, we change reading materials to teach state objectives, and that’s what we did,” McMillan said.

He stressed, “teachers will do a book study for the students who want to do a book study ... if the students want to do a book study on it. We’re not going to force them to come do it.”

He said it is still on the schools’ AR reading list, where students read and are tested on books for a special grade.

“It was part of the lesson plan for the first nine weeks and we changed material,” he said.

When asked how many parents complained, McMillan went back to his statement and said, “We’ve changed resources and materials to teach the second nine weeks.”

When asked if he followed school policy and set up a committee to review the complaints, he walked away.

Karen Nelson: 228-896-2310, @NelsonNews_atSH

Arthur sounds like a very immature superintendent.
 
Hmm... so he caved to parents upset about the "n-word"?

Can't say I'm impressed by his lack of spine.

That said, when I was a kid I might've actually been geeky enough to go for the book study (assuming it was set up something like my English teacher's lunchtime book club).

And I still want to know what the replacement book is!

There's a meeting on it Tuesday night in the district. I am sure more will come out.

My kids elementary school did a book club after school and it was quite well received by the kids, parents and students. Lots of interesting books were read and discussed. I am sure after this, the Biloxi book club will be well attended, too!
 
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@Magpie, I kinda get where you're coming from, but shouldn't we teaching the Iliad and the Canterbury tales? What's been written in the last 20-30 years that we should make way for? The goldfinch? I mean that was pretty bad booty, as was the silo series, but tell me what we've produced as a people to displace those pieces? I'm legit open. I mean, I think Camus or Becket should be taught and that it's a travesty the best of the last 100 years is glossed over because it's hard and complicated.

Again, I adore your well considered responses on the dis, so I figure you'll have some good thoughts.
 

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