Blog post 10/24

I think a really interesting question to explore would be what is the last step a teacher can do to convince a parent? In other words, after all the options have been exhausted and the parentstill refuses to let their child read a book, where do you draw the line between giving up and being too forceful. In the end, a parent will have the final say about their child's reading content, but it is also important that the student might be missing out on very important and relevant themes. We all want to stand up for those books that we feel absolutely need to be taught. I guarantee that everyone has a book that is at once vital to society (history) and questionable in the face of censorship. But the censored books are the ones that had the biggest impact on the literary world; books that have been banned are often unique, personal insights on a controversial issue. We could persuade and convince all day, but if a parent refuses, what else is there to do? Will you change the entire curriculum because of one parent? If the student gets an alternate book, what if it's shorter and his/her classmates complain? I want to explore where this 'line' is for different teachers (i'm sure it has much to do with personal opinion of the teacher) and when we can cross it; the line between giving up and surrendering to the parent or threatening an F if the student won't read the material.