Texas Teacher could face criminal charges for handing book to student

[villager]

From the blog of AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom), posted by Lisa Yee:

What?!?!

A Texas teacher could face criminal charges for handing a book to a student that her parents deemed inappropriate for a 9th grader.

The book, Cormic McCarthy's CHILD OF GOD, is described this way on amazon.com . . . "In this taut, chilling novel, Lester Ballard--a violent, dispossessed man falsely accused of rape--haunts the hill country of East Tennessee when he is released from jail. While telling his story, Cormac McCarthy depicts the most sordid aspects of life with dignity, humor, and characteristic lyrical brilliance."

Texas Penal Code 43.24 prohibits selling, distributing or displaying harmful material to a minor. Since it is alleged that the teacher placed the "harmful material" in the hands of a student, he may be subject to a Class A misdemeanor, which under Texas law is punishable by up to one year in county jail and/or a fine up to $4,000.

What is happening? Can this be for real? It was not required reading, yet the teacher could get jail time?

What do you think about this?

For the complete story, as reported by the Abilene Online ReporterNews, click here.

Oh, and ever since the hoopla, the book has been sold out in stores all over town.

http://community.livejournal.com/as_if_authors/

[monktonman]

1. Good book, along with all his other stuff.

In regards to the rest?
Its Texas, what do you expect.

[Horse with no Name]

2. A 9th grader?

Give me a fucking break. Someone left a copy of "Teacher's Pet" on the bookshelf in my 4th grade room.
Of course I took it home and read it(several times)...and it didn't warp me a bit.:rofl:

[MindPilot]

13. By ninth grade I had read dozens and dozens of "men's" magazines

and seen "I Am Curious Yellow".

Do these parents think they can shelter their kids forever?

[struggle4progress]

26. Yeah, certain kids regularly smuggled porn into my 4th grade classroom too

[yardwork]

3. Inappropriate for a freshman in high school?

Texas.

[SoCalDem]

6. We read "Lolita" ...OMG..

My teachers would have been drawn & quartered in the town square :rofl:

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. And we read Caligula

OMG I am probably warped and don't even know it. :scared:

[depakid]

4. "What do you think about this?"

I think that nothing, no matter how Kafkaesque, that comes out of Texas (or Florida) surprises me anymore.

[villager]

19. No wonder more of McCarthy's recent work is set there!

n/t

[MindPilot]

5. Damn good thing the teacher didn't hand the kid a bible

There's a lot of sordid stuff in there.

[madeline_con]

20. Fornicatin' and going on. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Would the teacher be charged for handing the bible to the kid?

It's jampacked with all kinds of sex, violence, and other sordid acts.

Or, how about, "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Much of the story revolves around a man who is falsely accused of rape and a lynching.

[MindPilot]

8. Well that was a GMTA moment!!

In 9th grade IIRC, I read Portnoy's Complaint, The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight, and The Good Earth. They were all required and that was Catholic school. I think the Grapes of Wrath and To Kill A Mockingbird we did the next year.

[SoCalDem]

9. Yep.. the bible's full of "begatting" & incest..n/t

[AuntPatsy]

28. Another truth so easily ignored....

[earthlover]

27. Or the daily newspaper! All that death and torture in Iraq....

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. It's not harmful material.

Unless, maybe, they're considering the lack of complete sentences harmful.

[mitchum]

12. LOL!!! I love that novel, but that was damned funny...

[villager]

18. uh, they might consider it normal....

and recognize it as McCarthy's "style..." ;-)

[LWolf]

11. I'm not surprised that the book is selling well.

I'm also not surprised that a teacher would be targeted for handing a book to a student.

You know my background. :hi:

The years I spent as a school librarian taught me just how determined some groups are to keep anything that might present world views differing from their own away from students. If students are exposed, they might begin to think, to question the world view they are raised in. I had some books that sat on shelves for years before the repeated challenges were resolved and they could be shelved. Some NEVER saw the light of day.

The years I've spent as a teacher have taught me that teachers are favorite targets, for the same reason mentioned above. Also because blaming teachers removes accountability from families, from society, or from the general american culture and population.

I hope that the teacher, his association, and his district are ready to defend themselves against this challenge. Here's a good place for them to start:

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/challengesupport/dealing/Default1208.htm

[SteveM]

14. Any public school teacher accused of anything will be terminated. That is all.

[Solon]

15. 9th grade?!?! What the fuck is up with the parents?

By the time I was in Middle school(6th to 8th grade) I rode my bike regularly to the public library and checked out a shitload of "adult" books, by myself, with no supervision from my parents. "To Kill a Mockingbird", "A Time to Kill", A bunch of Steven King books, etc. Some I remember, some I don't, my parents didn't care what I read, they were just happy I was reading. I feel sorry for the kid, I'd hate to have such uptight parents.

[madeline_con]

21. There are probably no books in their house.

I'm thinking they may be ignorami.

[guitar man]

16. yup

that's life in a southern red state dictatorship :(

[mondo joe]

17. If the state thinks it's harmful why don't they restrict access in book stores and librarys?

A teacher giving out books or other materials a parent objects to is one thing.

This legal response is another.

[DotGone]

22. Where's the obscenity charges? Think of the children!

After the ridiculous Jesus Castillo case from a few years ago, how come I'm not surprised about this when Texas is involved.

[Sabriel]

24. If I ever write a book, I'm going to try to get it censored right away.

It's selling like hotcakes:

Waiting list for 'Child of God'

"Child of God," a book that a Big Country parent alleges was inappropriately supplied to students, has become a hot commodity in local book stores.

"We're trying to get an emergency order in," said Bob Houy, store manager of Hastings Books Music and Video. "We phoned it in last night."

Houy said about 20 people requested the controversial Cormac McCarthy novel on Tuesday.

"We don't have it, either," said Jamie Marquette, merchandising specialist for Books A Million.

http://reporternews.com/news/2007/oct/16/teacher-could-face-charges-over-book/

[Solon]

25. Write a book about sex with animals, incest, a serial killer, and make it a comedy...

It should be a hit.