Hannah Kaase is a freshman majoring in animal and dairy science. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Censorship is a word we’ve all heard before. In schools especially, it comes and goes. There have always been books that are banned for use because of racial slurs, sexual content, profanity and other questionable topics.
I guess I simply accepted that there would always be adults who wanted to control what we saw, heard and otherwise learned until we were “old enough.” Not that anyone ever says how old “old enough” is, nor do I necessarily agree that adults should run children’s lives in that way. Nevertheless, I accepted that I was the kid and they were in charge, and there was no point in arguing.
But never have I heard of a teacher being suspended, not for teaching a book that was banned, but because she did not seek permission from the administration. Not only does Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis own 10 copies of the banned book “The Freedom Writers Diary” in its library, but it also allows students to read them. And yet, the administration did not think they were appropriate for classroom use. Does the administration think these students haven’t dealt with racial slurs, cursing, and sex by this age? These students are “old enough” not to have things barred from their education for grounds such as those.
The reason that Connie Heermann, a teacher at Perry Meridian, was brought before the school board had to do with “following rules,” said JoEllen Buffie of the Perry Township School Board, according to The Indianapolis Star. The school board claims Heermann performed an act of insubordination. Apparently, Heermann asked permission of parents to use the book, and 149 out of 150 parents agreed. The principal then agreed but added that the administration had not cleared it yet. Heermann started teaching with the book and was later told the administration disapproved. Because she did not take up the books quickly enough for the administration, they labeled it insubordination. For this act, she was suspended from teaching without pay until 2009.
So a teacher has to get every assignment approved now? It seems a bit like Big Brother to me. Here was a teacher trying to help students “develop a voice” and she gets shut down by the school board because she didn’t ask permission. The administration did ask her to stop using them once, and Heermann continued (or was she just not fast enough for their liking?), but what is wrong with a teacher trying to impassion her students? And if a teacher thinks a book is appropriate for class usage, far be it for administration to interrupt the learning process. What really gets to me though, is the fact that the substitute teacher filling in for Heermann has allowed the students to continue to use the book with the administration’s approval.
It seems like it was never about something being wrong with the book, but about certain people wanting authoritarian control. The administration simply wants to be notified about all doings in the school so they can throw in their two cents and have things run to their liking. For an administration to take a stand against something, they need to be consistent. If they are constantly going to change their minds, they will ultimately lose respect and control. People will laugh them off for having no strong opinions (except when it comes to suspending teachers). My question is, if the book was never the issue then why did a teacher get suspended? This whole case makes absolutely no sense.
I find it ridiculous for the school board to be suspending a teacher who has been teaching for 27 years and who continues to try to be original, creative and interesting for her students.
This book, “The Freedom Writers Diary,” is all about finding a voice, learning to show the world your point of view. Students can learn a lot from this kind of book. It was written by students and can have a stronger impact than an old professor high school students cannot relate to. School boards should be a lot more careful about the kinds of teachers they drive away, or one day there won’t be any good teachers left.