HP School Update

[Ebony Elizabeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 1417

Thanks Heidi for the link to the articles about schools that are 
restricting HP.  

Dee, to answer your question from about 100 posts ago (I've been 
offline), this is what has happened.

One parent has expressed concern.  I've e-mailed her and talked to 
the child.  I haven't heard anything back, but from the contact I 
believe she is of a similar mindset to one of my evangelical parents 
from last year.  The parents actually read SS after my chat with her 
(hmm, there's an idea!) and OKed the novel.

The name of the game in public education is CYA--if you don't know 
what that acronym stands for, e-mail me.  :)  Normally censorship and 
other such issues were luxuries that districts much more priveliged 
than ours had to deal with.  But as our school is in a bit of legal 
trouble right now (no, I'm not directly involved--at least not yet), 
I'll issue permission slips mid-October for the HP unit.

I haven't had any major problems so far with doing novels in class.  
Nevertheless, an older colleague told me she stopped doing novels in 
class after a local suburban kids committed suicide and the novel he 
was reading in English class was blamed.  I could get on my soapbox 
about the unfairness of teachers being blamed for underage society's 
ills (e.g. Why don't doctors get blamed because they haven't found a 
cure for death yet?--etc.), but this isn't my computer.  :)

Just keep me and HP in your thoughts and prayers.  I'd really like to 
do this unit again but don't want to walk into a land mine field.  
And in defense of the parents who hate HP--they're not killjoys, just 
people who love their kids the best way they know how.  They 
genuinely believe that these books will do their kids harm.  Since 
they and I share a common faith, and I can "speak their language", 
most of the disgrunted parents so far see that my aim in presenting 
this unit is not proselytization.  HP fits *very* well into the 
overarching bimonthly thematic unit in November-December.  And 
besides, it's just plain fun to teach.

Hope this helps any lurking teacher out there considering bringing HP 
into the classroom.

Ebony AKA AngieJ