I'm sorting through sample textbooks in preparation for my L/A class for next year. This is always a tedious/exciting/harrowing experience. I want to find the magical books that will hold my students interest, inform and challenge them. Next year is Lit year so I'm going to break it up into one quarter each of poetry, drama, short story and novel.
My first sample came yesterday, a poetry anthology. I was really looking forward to this one because how often do I get an excuse to sit at working reading poetry? I dug happily into it, pleased to find a wonderful selection starting in the 1500's. Things were going great until I got to the 1960's and whomped into the "F" word. Stunned, I checked to make sure I hadn't ordered the college edition by mistake. Nope, this was the high school edition. That particular poem was followed by several "R" rated poems that made me have to exclude the book from my list.
Look, I know people are much more potty-mouthed nowadays. I understand that, being a former world champion cusser myself. Even T.V. commercials can be some of the raciest stuff around. But really, Pearson Education, do we need the "F" word and descriptions of sex acts in high school poetry texts? I know that sexuality is common currency in the hallways of most public high schools but some of us don't want our students to have to go there yet. And yes, we are Christians at this school, and no, I will not apologize for our not allowing or encouraging porn lit. Our kids will hit college soon enough and wade daily through the sex-infested world of higher education. Let them have high school to mature and grow without being exposed to the things they will have to battle the rest of their adult lives. I'm just asking for 18 years of relative innocence, that's all.
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