Plymouth-Canton Community Schools have recently banned the book “Waterland” by Graham Swift from AP English classes, and reviewed the book “Beloved” by Toni Morrison for banning as well.
“The book was banned because a parent found material in both novels that they deemed inappropriate for their child to be reading in the class,” Nicole Brodzik, an AP English student at PCCS said. “Upon hearing this, our Superintendent Jeremy Hughes decided to pull the books for the AP English course.”
Jeremy Hughes, superintendent of PCCS, made a statement on the PCCS website about his reasoning behind the banning.
“Although it has been argued that I took action solely on the complaint of one parent, it was my judgment at the time that the majority of parents in Plymouth-Canton would have a similar objection if they read what I read.”
The main reason the book was banned was due to passages in the book considered sexually explicit.
“I had originally explained that passages from the book that had been submitted to me in a parent complaint were shocking in their graphic explicitness and, in my judgment, not suitable for a high school English class,” Hughes said on the PCCS website.
AP English courses include a statement at the beginning of term about the texts that will be read in the class to inform students and parents about the course material.
“There was a book list attached to the application for the class last spring and it was made clear there was mature content within the novels in this class,” Brodzik said. “If parents wanted to challenge the books, I believe they should have done it at the time of the application release instead of interrupting a class and trying to change its course midway through the year.”
The decision to ban the book received mixed responses from parents, teachers and students alike, and public meetings were held to discuss the issue after the fact.
Some students were very opposed to the book banning.
“I think many students were upset, especially those in the AP English course, as well as the teachers who chose the book ten years ago to be
included in the AP course,” Brodzik said.
“Many of my classmates sent letters to the superintendent talking about their disgust with the book banning,” Christina Edgerton, a member of National Honors Society and senior at Canton High School, said.
“The views of one set of parents should not have overruled the views of hundreds of district parents who called and emailed the superintendent,” Edgerton said. “The fact that these parents were trying to take the opportunity away from other students just because they didn’t want their kid to be reading the material is unacceptable.”
The book was pulled from AP English classes after the students had already been reading the text.
“I got about halfway through ‘Waterland’ before it got pulled, and while I can see that certain passages may be deemed inappropriate, overall I thought the book was great and was upset when it got pulled,” Brodzik said.
“It’s adult material because it’s a college-level class, and I believe that juniors and seniors in high school who are about to face the real
world need to be prepared to read this kind of material,” Edgerton said.
“Beloved” was put to question for banning shortly after “Waterland,” but a nine-member complaint review committee voted to keep “Beloved” in the
AP English curriculum.
“I finished reading ‘Beloved’ for class recently and loved it, probably one of the best books I’ve read. I can’t even remember the sections that these people were upset about because reading it in context you get a completely different message,” Brodzik said. “It’s a fantastic novel and to take those few sections out of context was unfair to the book itself and completely ignored the overall message of this Pulitzer Prize winning book.”
Hughes made a statement on the PCCS website regarding his sole-decision to ban the book “Waterland.”
“Respecting what I now perceive to be the wishes of the community at large, I am modifying the earlier decision I made regarding the book and will be putting the book through the review processes outlined in the Administrative Guidelines.”
Another complaint review committee will meet to review “Waterland” and decide whether or not it should remain banned, but the date and time of the meeting have yet to be announced.
“The process requires the creation of a committee of teachers, parents, administrators, literary experts and community members who will be invited to read the book, consider arguments for and against its use, and in the end, develop a recommendation to the administration,” Hughes stated on the PCCS website.
The PCCS public relations department had no comment in regards to the development of the committee, when the meeting will take place or any details regarding the issue.
