July 17, 2023 – West Bend, Wi – After watching the West Bend School District committee book review meetings, I was very disappointed with the outcome of the middle school review. It was apparent the committee did not actively listen to challenger, Carol Heger, as evidenced by their ignoring her objections.
The review committee was stacked entirely with school district personnel plus one parent. They came to the first meeting with their minds already made up, and they never addressed any of the contentions in the final meeting except for profane language and how they could overcome the adult maturity level by only allowing the most mature students to read it. Nevertheless, kids in school will only hear what they want to hear, too, just like the staff on the committee.
With regard to the profanity, it was painful to watch the Principal and Assistant Principal squirm uncomfortably in their chairs. They were already having a difficult time taming the profanity in the hallways.
No one will ever make me believe that these books don’t bring kids to the lowest denominator. It’s also hard for me to believe that of the millions of books in the world, there aren’t any that cover the issues and themes that the teachers think are so important without the vulgarity, profanity, and violence of the books in question. Carol Heger had a list with 400 good, classic options.
Furthermore, with all of the porn addiction going on in the world and child trafficking, wouldn’t it be wise to go the extra mile to avoid the sexual influences in the books in question? Why risk triggering students who experienced suicide and abuse with the stories in these books?
I pray the school board does their job of protecting the youth by having these books replaced with better choices.
Kerrie Bohn
West Bend, Wi
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