Compromise almost reached in book ban dilemma, teachers voice concerns
NILES, Mich. -- The Brandywine community is one step towards closing the final chapter on the explicit book ban dilemma, however questions remain up in the air for some teachers.
“I feel in limbo, that feels unsettling as school’s about to start,” says a Brandywine Social Studies teacher, Abilyn Janke.
The school board revised the proposed check-out policy Monday night, making it so all students from 7th-12th grade will need parental permission to check out one of the 38 restricted books, unless they are 18.
“It seems in the middle there is now, a parental form or parents will be contacted and given the option to allow their students to check out the books or keep them restricted from them,” says a Language Arts/Theater teacher at the school, Kevin Smith.
For some parents, it’s a compromise that they can agree with and are thankful to have reached after eight months, some even saying so in public comment Monday.
However, previous discussion considering eliminating all sexually explicit materials from outside the walls of the library has teachers about to start the school year very concerned.
“Does it restrict my curriculum?” asks Janke. “Does it make me change or alter how I have to teach it because nudity is not always sexual, and we need to make sure our students are getting a well-rounded education.”
With no clear definition from the board yet on what constitutes ‘nudity’ or ‘sexually explicit’ in teaching materials, Brandywine teachers voiced their concerns about the work it will take to adjust their curriculums, or the fear they now have that something they teach this year is deemed ‘explicit’ by the board.
“A lot of consideration I would like to see come out of this as we move forward into the school year and future meetings,” Smith hopes.
The school board says they will send off the proposed policy to their lawyer now for approval, but there's still some discussion to be had about what constitutes teaching materials ‘explicit’.