A Chilliwack school trustee reading out a steamy passage from a young adult novel didnB次元官网网址檛 help pass her motion that would have required parents to have informed consent on all materials used in the classroom.
Trustee Heather Maahs read from Australian author John MarsdenB次元官网网址檚 1993 book Tomorrow, When the War Began, about a teenage girl living through an insurgence by an unnamed country.
B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址橧 was clinging to him and pressing against him as though I wanted to let my whole body inside him and I liked the way I could make him groan and grasp and swear [the novel actually says B次元官网网址榮weatB次元官网网址橾,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Maahs read aloud at a meeting Tuesday night.
B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址業 liked giving him pleasure, although it was hard to tell what was pleasure and what was pain. I was teasing him, touching him and saying B次元官网网址淒oes that hurt? Does that? Does that?B次元官网网址� and he was panting saying B次元官网网址淥h God B次元官网网址� no, yes, no.B次元官网网址� It made me feel powerful.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
The excerpt is from a Grade 9 novel, in which the main character explains that she and her love interest, and most of their friends, are virgins.
The motion, which failed 4-3, would have required teachers to foresee B次元官网网址渞esources that some may consider controversialB次元官网网址� and inform parents about their use. It does not explicitly target sexual content, but Maahs emphasized that point at the meeting.
B次元官网网址淚 think we can all figure out that IB次元官网网址檓 talking about sexual content in the curriculum B次元官网网址� I am talking about SOGI 123, but IB次元官网网址檓 also talking about novels and anything that may arrive in a sexual nature,B次元官网网址� Maahs said, referring to the sexual orientation and gender identity curriculum in B.C.
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School board chair Dan Coulter noted several reasons the motion should fail, including contravention of the School Act and that it was reminiscent of book banning and book burning.
B次元官网网址淧eople would be objecting to phrases in books in libraries,B次元官网网址� Coulter said, adding books on biology could be deemed controversial by some parents. B次元官网网址淚t would be endless. This is Alabama time, and we should stay away from it.B次元官网网址�
Other trustees said parents can already speak to their childrenB次元官网网址檚 teachers about content used in a classroom. Maahs, however, said her motion would allow parents the opt their child out of conversations before they happen.
A book-banning case happened closer to home than Alabama. About 20 years ago, the Surrey School Board tried ban three childrenB次元官网网址檚 books: BelindaB次元官网网址檚 Bouquet, AshaB次元官网网址檚 Mums, and One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the ban breached the School Act.
MarsdenB次元官网网址檚 book and its series has earned accolades internationally, including the ChildrenB次元官网网址檚 Book Council of Australia, the New South Wales Board of Studies, and the American Library Association, among others.
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