Missouri School District UNANIMOUSLY bans Slaughterhouse Five

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Barrett2

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The school board in Republic, Mo., voted 4-0 to eliminate Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" and Sarah Ockler's "Twenty Boy Summer" from the high school curriculum and library, respectively, after a local man led an effort to deem the novels inappropriate.

Wesley Scroggins, a business professor at Missouri State University, who also pioneered a movement to reshape middle school sex-education classes in Republic's schools, wrote in a column last year that Vonnegut's classic contained enough profanity to "make a sailor blush," and warned that "Twenty Boy Summer" was similarly dangerous.

"In this book," Scroggins wrote, "drunken teens also end up on the beach, where they use their condoms to have sex."

Of the members of the school board who voted on the issue last Monday, according to UPI, only one -- Melissa Duvall -- had actually read either of the books in question.

The superintendant of the Republic district, Vern Minor, was out of town and did not return emails and calls requesting comment, though he told UPI on Monday that Ockler's "Twenty Boy Summer" "promotes or sensationalizes sexual promiscuity," which contributed to the book's removal.

Outside of the Republic School District, "Summer" has received positive reviews, with Booklist and Kirkus both deeming it a mature, romantic work in the vein of Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult.

After the banning was announced, the author took to her blog where she lambasted the decision.
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Banning a book because teenage characters use foul language and condoms?
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"In this book," Scroggins wrote, "drunken teens also end up on the beach, where they use their condoms to have sex."
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Contraception?!?!

Ban this filth!

Of the members of the school board who voted on the issue last Monday, according to UPI, only one -- Melissa Duvall -- had actually read either of the books in question.
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Well there's a fucking shock. I bet I could name another book that these board members have never actually read but have very strong opinions about.
 
dave is ok said:
There is sex in The Scarlet Letter, . Better ban those too
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yeah but the characters get shunned and whip themselves as punishment so it's okay.
 
"drunken teens also end up on the beach, where they use their condoms to have sex."
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In what kind of world is the emphasis on using condoms a bad thing? God damn, some people are completely fucked in the head.
 
when i see scores of teenage parents battling their children like pokemon outside 24 hour mcdonalds', the literature of the likes of vonnegut is an obvious first cause.
 
Branson said:
What the fuck? This is my hometown? How the hell did we make it on Gaf?
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Because it's run by a bunch of illiterate hicks from the sound of it...

I seriously do not understand how modern-thinking Americans put up with their clusterfuck of a country. No other country in the world is both so progressive and forward thinking as well as being irrational, backwards and led by fundamentalist nutcases. It must drive you guys mad.
 
Jedeye Sniv said:
Because it's run by a bunch of illiterate hicks from the sound of it...

I seriously do not understand how modern-thinking Americans put up with their clusterfuck of a country. No other country in the world is both so progressive and forward thinking as well as being irrational, backwards and led by fundamentalist nutcases. It must drive you guys mad.
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Well said. I live in St. Louis, one of the two normal areas in Missouri (other is Kansas City), and it is extremely frustrating to know that I am surrounded by country hicks etc.
 
Good thing they banned Slaughterhouse Five. Might make it kinda hard for people to wholly endorse total war if they actually knew what it was.
 
whytemyke said:
Good thing they banned Slaughterhouse Five. Might make it kinda hard for people to wholly endorse total war if they actually knew what it was.
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That's not why they banned it, they hadn't even read it.
 
Jedeye Sniv said:
Because it's run by a bunch of illiterate hicks from the sound of it...

I seriously do not understand how modern-thinking Americans put up with their clusterfuck of a country. No other country in the world is both so progressive and forward thinking as well as being irrational, backwards and led by fundamentalist nutcases. It must drive you guys mad.
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Well it is possible to surround yourself with intelligent people and therefore ignore the fact that idiots are so close.
 
zesty said:
By being stupid.
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And quoting jedeye too, on an iPhone lol. This is one of the first times I've heard of this happening here. I grew up here and our school system has been fine until recently it seems like. But honestly, it doesn't suprise me, we have some pretty fucking stupid people here, and banning a book is bullshit.
 
I had to read Native Son is high school, so I'm getting a kick out of this.
On the objectionable scale, it's probably WAY worse than both of the "banned" books.
 
You only read a limited amount of books in high school so I have no idea why that Summer book was ever included in the curriculum in the first place. Slaughterhouse Five is a top all time book, but I think that it is probably lost on most high school age kids.
 
Hari Seldon said:
You only read a limited amount of books in high school so I have no idea why that Summer book was ever included in the curriculum in the first place. Slaughterhouse Five is a top all time book, but I think that it is probably lost on most high school age kids.
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I think that's part of what kills young people's desire to read. In school they make you read such a lame hodge-podge of books, no wonder so many people associate reading with something they would rather not do.
 
Jedeye Sniv said:
I seriously do not understand how modern-thinking Americans put up with their clusterfuck of a country. It must drive you guys mad.
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It's a goddamn disgrace.


Hari Seldon said:
I think that it is probably lost on most high school age kids.
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As a former high school teacher, I can state that most students will rise to the challenge. But I admit that may have been my experience in an mid-to-upper-class school.
 
This is disgusting. I hold nothing but deep sadness and sorrow for those board members and the kids especially, that have been robbed of great literature.
 
All I remember about Slaughterhouse Five was some weird stuff about aliens and the firebombing of Dresden. It couldn't have been that bad, right? I thought we were past the age of banning books in America. Even in my little one horse southern town our English teachers insisted on having us read controversial books that had been banned in years past.
 
I wonder if on the other end of the spectrum, some overly-liberal school districts in Berkeley are having high school students read Naked Lunch.
 
This reminds me of the story last year where Dragon Ball was labeled Child Porn.

This is why I don't have a US release of the Kazenban :(
 
Of the members of the school board who voted on the issue last Monday, according to UPI, only one -- Melissa Duvall -- had actually read either of the books in question.
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The price of exposing your teenagers to profanity in order to experience the absurdism of human nature is too much bear, I suppose. Some people are truly cretins. The sad thing is, I know people just like this--they are not only overly concerned with the superficial, but it is all they are willing to see; anything more would require actual thinking.
 
Not a fan of censorship. I firmly believe that everyone on that board should have actually read the damn books before they voted. If you haven't read it then you have no business deciding if it's appropriate or not.
 
Gary Whitta said:
"And another thing Vonnegut, I'm canceling the check! What's that? Fuck me? FUCK YOU!"
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Recently someone was showing off their Nook to another friend and Kurt Vonnegut showed up on the screen saver and I said, "oh, Kurt Vonnegut." And they said, "How did you know that's Kurt Vonnegut??" And I said, "I just know."

>.>
 
PsychoRaven said:
Not a fan of censorship. I firmly believe that everyone on that board should have actually read the damn books before they voted. If you haven't read it then you have no business deciding if it's appropriate or not.
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Jeez, what more do you want from these people, integrity and basic common sense?
 
The Lamonster said:
Well said. I live in St. Louis, one of the two normal areas in Missouri (other is Kansas City), and it is extremely frustrating to know that I am surrounded by country hicks etc.
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yeah. i'm from the lou too and it's frustrating to watch the state get fucked by anyone not living in stl, kc, columbia etc. very disappointing. loved this book in high school
 
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