International Baccalaureate student objects to assigned book

I guess I agree with this:

Would have saved everyone a lot of trouble really.

If this were the regular English class I'd say the kid has a point, but if you're in the IB program that comes with a certain understanding that you're going to be broaching subject matter beyond what would normally be taught to your peers. That being said, if she really doesn't feel comfortable reading it she doesn't have to, but she should have to suffer the repercussions in regards to her grade, otherwise that could set a precedent to kids saying that if they complain to their parents or their teachers that the books are too mature, they can get out of doing work. I'm sure some compromise will be made, and after that more kids will complain because they know it'll work.

I disagree IB is about educational standard, not emotional level of Development. The teacher is trying to be subversive, and should be punished not the student.

I had a sorta similar situation happen to me while in undergrad, our visiting professor had written a book and wanted us all to purchase it for the class (what a scam, btw). The book was about him time travelling to ancient china and part of the book was him witnessing a gang-rape of a chinese peasant girl. It was pretty graphic too, from what a lot of women in the class ended up saying. Some refused to read it. He eventually relented and we went win another book by another author. He also looked like James Caan, for what that's worth.

You read the fucking book your teacher or professor assigns you. End of story. Jesus. It is a book. One of the reasons you read is to be challenged. If she doesn't like the book, she can take an alternative class or go to a school where they don't make you read anything objectionable.

What reason is there to punish the teacher?

Why the fuck should a teacher be punished for assigning a Haruki Murakami novel? I feel like I've been taking crazy pills all week and the shit that is coming out of people's mouths/brains/fingers today isn't helping.

why should the student be punished?

This is fucking gospel right here. Do the assignment or drop the fuck out.

Fuck her and fuck her parents. Literature isn't suppose to be nice, or hold your hand. You don't read the book, you flunk out of class. That simple, and anyone who defends her is an idiot or a pussy or both. Next thing you know people will start complaining that Huck Finn shouldn't be read because of the racial language. Wait, say what...

Also, I don't hear anyone saying students shouldn't read Red Badge of Courage in school, despite the violence in it (and I'm not saying they shouldn't), but oh,no, how dare they have to encounter-duhn,duhn, DUHN!-sexuality! (loud gasps)

And it's mostly that the idea of punishing the teacher strikes me as legitimately retarded. As long as the teacher's not drunk/on drugs while teaching, slacking on the job, or trying to show porn to your kids, it should be none of your business.

That kind of handwringing, ass-backwards mentality is why we have students who aren't allowed to watch the fucking President of the United States deliver a brief address on the importance of personal responsibility.

Subversive? What are they trying to subvert?

YOUR values.

I read this and it aggravates me. If it offended her on some other, deeper level then maybe I could understand some sympathy for her, but just because it's GROSS? Jesus.

Try The Story of The Eye, I think you'll like it.

In fact, The Story of the Eye should be mandatory reading for all students by the time they're in middle school!

I support the student and her parents, it's up to them to determine if this is appropriate for her child, and she seems to be on board with it. I find it refreshing that they're not trying to ban the book for everybody, and the solution proposed by the school is worse than not reading it (crossing out the offensive material in the book).

An alternative should have been provided.

Not at all - the curriculum is the curriculum, like it or not. And besides, it's not like they assigned The Kama Sutra or anything, it's one passage in the context of an entire novel. Now, I DO agree that there should have been some notice on behalf of the school about the content of the book, but anything above and beyond that is coddling and Lord knows we don't need any more of that.

I guess I'm just jealous because I'd have killed for the chance to have known about, much less to have read Wind-Up Bird Chronicle at that age. 16 year-old mind? BLOWN.

But not necessary. This is not physics, mathematics or biology teaching a fundamental concept key to the subject matter. Any other book could have been picked, and if they sue, it is more than reasonable that a judge could deem the material and subject matter inappropriate for a minor.

Reminds me of that time I read Stranger in a Strange Land for a book report in 8th grade.

I'd be more jealous of receiving recruitment letters from both Yale and MIT.

Ha. That's what I get for not reading the article. I was objecting to her objection!

The teacher should have known that assigning something with graphic depictions of sexuality to persons under the age of 18 was going to stir up trouble. Many of you have made a good point above - reading can and should challenge and unsettle us. As many younger readers don't really know that, the instructor should have anticipated this eventuality and been ready to discuss it, make the students confront and analyze their own discomfort.

But honestly? They're high school students They haven't read jack. There are countless, less controversial, just as worthwhile books that the teacher could have assigned she wasn't prepared for the inevitable fallout. Which she should have been.

I have no sympathy for this girl because she's the type of person that's going to grow up to write complaints to the FCC about South Park or David Letterman. If you teach someone that they can circumvent the tasks given to them by complaining it sets a horrible example. What happens in less than two years when she's attending a Yale or MIT, and she's presented with even more challenging subject matters? She'll be an adult then, so I suppose she'll sue, because that mentality is what she's being taught.

Completely unfounded.

They're not asking for the book to be banned or removed from their curriculum, so there's nothing indicating that she would do such a thing. In those examples, she seems smart enough to change the channel and chose what she wants to view or read. This is a very different situation.

At Yale and MIT she'll be an adult, and if the article is accurate about how well she's doing academically, I doubt she'll have any trouble at all at any of those institutions.

I didn't say that they were asking for the book to be banned, I just took a guess as to what sort of person she's going to grow up to be.

well...it is a good book..

She's 16 and it's one book. Let's not pass judgment based on that alone, please.

edit - Richard, I was a freak in high school, too, as I'm sure many of you were. Though I would have had no particular problem reading a description of sexuality when I was 16, I'm sure it would have surprised me to encounter such a thing in the classroom. Emotional intelligence doesn't equal sophistication or worldliness.

I don't disagree with this. But I don't think we can disregard the fact that these are high school students regardless. It probably would have been a wiser move on the part of the instructor to assign reading that was college-level without such obviously charged content.

Sure, like Crime & Punishment. Because killing an old woman is obviously less charged than whacking off.

The problem isn't assigning the book, the problem is the refusal to recognize that 16 year-olds are perfectly aware and cognizant of sex, and then coddling someone who wants to make a big deal out of it because she's 'grossed out' or whatever. Treat teenagers like children and they'll act like children, by god. It would be different if it were gratuitous, but its Murakami. Dude's a damned genius. Would this even be an issue if some uppity kid complained about the violence in The Red Badge of Courage? No. It wouldn't.

I don't see a reason not to, really.

This guy, this is my kind of guy.

Honestly, Zooey, no disrespect cause you seem like a cool person, but--we shouldn't judge this girl? Fuck that, there's sufficient cause to judge her. No one's suggesting flogging the imbecile, simply recognizing she's an imbecile and special treatment shouldn't be made for her. If she were having a conversation with you and she said that she didn't like, oh, let's say The Godfather or Casablanca, because they're old and slow, you would probably at least think to yourself, 'Hey, this girl is an idiot.' I don't see how her making a huge fuss, big enough at least that it gets media coverage, over not wanting to read a book that's considered a genuine masterpiece by damn near everyone (can't say personally, as I've never read it...I should fix that) because the sex scene is "gross", is too different. I'd say it's sufficient reason to judge this girl, at least on the level of her taste alone. The fact that she's making a stink over it, on any level, means she's more than just a philistine--it means she's an asshole.

Personally I don't think she's an idiot, she's bright enough to be in an IB program after all, but her reason for complaining about the book is not a valid one. I would completely understand if something traumatizing had happened to her and the book had similarities to her life which made it emotionally impossible to for her to read it. I would even understand if she had a very religious background and was legitimately morally opposed to the book's contents. But the fact of the matter is that the sum of her complaints are "eww, gross", and I don't see that as enough of a reason for her to get out of completing the assignment (she is in the IB program after all), let alone being a news item.

ETA: I was vehemently opposed to dissecting a baby shark in my AP bio. class in 10th grade, but I had to or else I'd fail the lab. She can read the book and get over it.

Let's find her and kick her ass.

Or make her dissect a baby shark.

She's in for a raperin'.

Dude, we were just kidding around. Why do you always have to go for the raperin'? Sheesh.

Woaaah woah woah - she's a sixteen year old. By all standards of logic she's probably still a virgin too. Now, I concur that letting her off the hook is coddling and it sets a bad example. But I ALSO agree that the smart/safe thing for the teacher to do would be to pick a book that wouldn't be such a hot button for repressed Americans. Yes, in a perfect world this wouldn't even be an issue and yes it's frustrating that it is, but I do think it's a little bit reactionary to crucify a sixteen-year-old girl for being a bit emotionally under-developed when it comes to her sexuality.

I agree, we shouldn't crucify her, but her sexuality isn't the question here. I didn't have to actually murder an old woman to enjoy Dostoevsky when I was 16. This girl thought it was gross and icky, or whatever, and it caused a ruckus. As a result, what would have otherwise been, in all probability, a worthwhile and enlightening class discussion on a fantastic piece of literature was scrapped in favor of something more mundane. The girl doesn't deserve to be piled on, but her actions were ultimately selfish and immature.

Again, notice I said in the beginning of my post NO ONE IS SAYING SHE SHOULD BE PUNISHED (outside of failing the assignment if she doesn't read the book), just that its more than fair to call her an idiot/asshole based on her actions. So she's 16, so what? 16 years are mostly idiots/assholes. I was in one of the Advanced Placement English classes, trust me, that does not denote intelligence, only that the kids in those classes can memorize facts and know the proper structure of an essay. Maybe shell develop into a more mature adult, but for the time being, I think her actions are sufficient cause to judge her personality type. I didn't realize you guys were such softies, I must have been reading The Bizarre, Shocking, Violent News thread on a different site.

Again-it would be one thing if a student didn't want to read a section of a book, with, say, a rape scene, because it personally disturbed them. But a masturbation scene? Cause it's "gross'? That's immature even by this country's low standards. And take a look at the"option" the idiot parents (is it okay to call them idiots, or am I also being inappropriate here?) are given, by the school:
"One option for the Mercados, Ledman said, is for the parents to read the book and black out all the offensive words." How is this any different then a school showing some of those films that were edited by that Christian company/scam artist a while back, that took out all of the material deemed inappropriate? I remember people on this board having some pretty mean things to say about the people who would subscribe to that service and its ethics.

Sorry for the rambling nature and anger of y posts, but nothing gets my goat like stupid people being overly sensitive to great literature, whatever their motives.

Also, Butler, by what standards of logic does one assume the virginity of a 16 year old high school student in a America? I'm not assuming the other way, mind you, as it has nothing to do with the topic, but really? You grow up in Amish country or something?

Because I really don't have the time or the inclination to pick apart your entire post, I'll just respond to this specifically. If a teenager is so uncomfortable with sexuality as to think even READING about masturbation is gross, then there's a pretty good chance she's not welcoming any sexual activity into her own life. It's an assumption and I could very well be wrong, but it's not an illogical assumption to make.