Being naked and cussed at are definitely the most shocking parts of the Holocaust. Totally uncalled for.
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Tennessee School Boards Bans Award Winning Graphic Novel, Maus, which is about the Holocaust
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McMinn County Board of Education Statement
Below is an official statement from the McMinn County Board of Education: Click here to view...
www.mcminn.k12.tn.us
McMinn County Board of Education Statement
Below is an official statement from the McMinn County Board of Education: Click here to view...
So their problem was how accurate it was
Oh my goodness. Can you believe that book about the holocaust had a swear word in it? There's just no call for that. Someone needs to think of the children.
These people are unbelievably fragile, to the point where it starts to feel like a facade covering something worse.
These people are unbelievably fragile, to the point where it starts to feel like a facade covering something worse.
No one is to be made uncomfortable by it. A "family friendly Holocaust", if you will.
I actually just went to look for it.. lol. I might order it anyway and they'll ship it whenever they get more.
I love it when stupid shit like this backfires.
But that doesn't mean it's being read or taught to the students being denied access. A lot of the additional attention will be from people already well versed in the subject.
All-time icon Art Spiegelman responds to Maus ban on CNN (while vaping).
Yesterday, as the “Intellectual Dark Web” continued to hand-wring about the perils of over-wokening, a Tennessee school board voted unanimously to ban Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Pr…
lithub.com
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God bless Art Spiegelman.All-time icon Art Spiegelman responds to Maus ban on CNN (while vaping).
Yesterday, as the “Intellectual Dark Web” continued to hand-wring about the perils of over-wokening, a Tennessee school board voted unanimously to ban Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Pr…
My grade 6 teacher was Dutch-Canadian, and you can be sure he made sure we learned about the Holocaust. We watched movies on the subject, went and saw a play about Anne Frank, and really he taught us a pretty comprehensive history of Europe. After all, she wasn't much older than us when the Holocaust happened. His curriculum was definitely not the norm, and I don't recall doing much in the way of Canadian history/social studies…except watching episodes of Street Cents to make us smarter consumers.
He was super into making sure we knew what had happened, how people were affected, and why they happened. Who could have predicted in such a short time that people would do an about face…we aren't even that far removed from those events.
My friend in that class got a copy of Maus box set through the Scholastic book order (it was deemed appropriate in the mid 90s) and we read it openly in class. Teacher never said a peep, and neither did any of our parents, or the principal for that matter. I'll never forget the imagery and impact of those two volumes.
As much as I felt he picked on me (probably trying to toughen me up, now that I look back on it) I'm glad he stuck to his guns and had the stones to stick to his right as a teacher to have class room autonomy to teach a tough subject to 11 and 12 year olds.
He was super into making sure we knew what had happened, how people were affected, and why they happened. Who could have predicted in such a short time that people would do an about face…we aren't even that far removed from those events.
My friend in that class got a copy of Maus box set through the Scholastic book order (it was deemed appropriate in the mid 90s) and we read it openly in class. Teacher never said a peep, and neither did any of our parents, or the principal for that matter. I'll never forget the imagery and impact of those two volumes.
As much as I felt he picked on me (probably trying to toughen me up, now that I look back on it) I'm glad he stuck to his guns and had the stones to stick to his right as a teacher to have class room autonomy to teach a tough subject to 11 and 12 year olds.
You know I'm actually conflicted on this.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they have really banned the book. It's just deemed not appropriate to teach to Grade 8 students as part of the curriculum. And I kind of agree. I assume it will still be available in the school library etc.
I LOVE Maus. It's a masterwork. But it is insanely powerful. I really think that these things can be very distressing to young children, and we do have to be careful about how we talk about things to them. Trigger warnings exist for a reason. Sure, some kids will be mature enough to handle it. But I'm an educator. Do I think most pupils of Grade 8 level are mature enough to engage with it? Probably not.
Should children learn about the holocaust from a young age? YES! Should it be something that's reinforced over their school careers? YES. Should it be taught through a variety of texts and mediums? YES. Is this specific text age appropriate for large proportions of Grade 8 pupils? I'm not sure.
I do think kids should be exposed to Maus. I think it's a seminal work. But I, personally, think it's more suited to pupils over 14.
I also think a lot of the power of Maus comes from already knowing something about the holocaust, and the twist of making it mice/cats. It's an extremely complex book both from a historical and literary perspective. Reading it requires a sophisticated appreciation of graphic novels, storytelling structures and knowledge of the holocaust.
On the other hand, I think the person best placed to make the decision about teaching it is the teacher. Not the school board.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think they have really banned the book. It's just deemed not appropriate to teach to Grade 8 students as part of the curriculum. And I kind of agree. I assume it will still be available in the school library etc.
I LOVE Maus. It's a masterwork. But it is insanely powerful. I really think that these things can be very distressing to young children, and we do have to be careful about how we talk about things to them. Trigger warnings exist for a reason. Sure, some kids will be mature enough to handle it. But I'm an educator. Do I think most pupils of Grade 8 level are mature enough to engage with it? Probably not.
Should children learn about the holocaust from a young age? YES! Should it be something that's reinforced over their school careers? YES. Should it be taught through a variety of texts and mediums? YES. Is this specific text age appropriate for large proportions of Grade 8 pupils? I'm not sure.
I do think kids should be exposed to Maus. I think it's a seminal work. But I, personally, think it's more suited to pupils over 14.
I also think a lot of the power of Maus comes from already knowing something about the holocaust, and the twist of making it mice/cats. It's an extremely complex book both from a historical and literary perspective. Reading it requires a sophisticated appreciation of graphic novels, storytelling structures and knowledge of the holocaust.
On the other hand, I think the person best placed to make the decision about teaching it is the teacher. Not the school board.
If you're not ready for Holocaust info at 14, in the format of Maus, we're fucked.
I'm not familiar with how school boards work. I'm not American. But this certainly seems like the answer.
you see, as someone who loves the book, I think this reading of it is fundamentally flawed.
Because it is presented as cartoons, I think people think it's more child friendly.
I don't think it is at all. I think it's a harrowing, truthful AWESOME (I mean that in it's original meaning) book. And I think it's power to move is significantly more than a more simple, factual retelling of events. It's brutal. Can a child, given support, read it? Yes. But I do think it's a gut punch of a work that needs a mature child or a huge support network in place.
In fact, that's one of its major powers. You thought this was a cartoon. You thought this was gonna be friendlier, somehow glossing over details. Be easier to read. Nope. That book will FUCK. YOU. UP.
I would say that a factual retelling of events is more appropriate for younger students.
But again, that's for the teacher to decide.
Very fair. what grade would you target for it if you had a vote here?
I don't know American grades very well but I would teach it to ages 15/16/17/18 but importantly I would take fucking ages to do it. I would have multiple discussion points. I would introduce the content in a very controlled way. I might not even read all of it. I would build in breaks to do other things and I would make clear to students when we were coming up to the content around suicide. I think we need to be REALLY careful around suicide content. Not that we can't teach it or discuss it. The exact opposite. We need to make sure that it's not just THERE. That's its presented with support and lots and lots and lots of structured discussion.
It seems you're making a lot of assumptions about the teacher that was using/going to use the book.
As a Jr High teacher who has worked with 8th Graders for a decade. Yes, they are very much mature enough to engage with it.
If I had the money I'd buy 10,000 copies and post them to their offices.
Has the ADL said anything yet?
Has the ADL said anything yet?
I remember picking this up from my high school's library.
Can't remember much about it now, but for some reason I do remember it being incomplete or the story was inconclusive.
I would like to read it again.
EDIT: Looked it up on Amazon. I guess the library only had the first part and that's what I read. That's why I remember it being incomplete.
Can't remember much about it now, but for some reason I do remember it being incomplete or the story was inconclusive.
I would like to read it again.
EDIT: Looked it up on Amazon. I guess the library only had the first part and that's what I read. That's why I remember it being incomplete.
I learned about the Holocaust and its adjacent tragedies (The Rape of Nanking, etc.) at age 12.
Greek mythology is a very typical part of the curriculum by 8th grade, and that features a bunch of naked people raping and killing each other. But then again that's considered "classical studies" and part of 'beautiful western civilization', not the ugly reality.
I don't see how it's not appropriate for 8th Grade students when I learned about the Holocaust and read the Diary of Anne Frank before then. We watched Schindler's List in 8th Grade. 8th graders can definitely read Maus.
Yea, bizarre opinion. That poster seems to be saying "we need to be careful how we teach this!" I guess, doesn't mean an 8th grader can't engage with Maus.
13-14 year olds are young children incapable of engaging with a graphic novel about the holocaust that doesnt shy away from the violence? I find this hard to believe. Most pre-teens I know these days are already aware of bullying and intolerance as a concept, a text covering an example of such intolerance seems to be quite graspable.
Often I find people talk about 13-14 year olds like they are 3 years old. My daughter is turning 5 soon and she understands a LOT more about life and her own emotions than anyone ever wants to give her credit for.
'Maus' is an Amazon bestseller after Tennessee school ban – author Art Spiegelman compares board to Putin
"Maus" is a decades old book about Holocaust survivors. Its ban by a Tennessee school board has sparked renewed interest in it.
www.cnbc.com
'Maus' is an Amazon bestseller after Tennessee school ban – author Art Spiegelman compares board to Putin
"Maus" is a decades old book about Holocaust survivors. Its ban by a Tennessee school board has sparked renewed interest in it.
God I love the Streisand Effect. It's so satisfying.
I'm think I watched "Night and Fog" around middle school age. Or at least something similar. In Hebrew School we watched and read a bunch of stuff related to the Holocaust and even went to the Holocaust Museum in DC (and I stopped going to classes as soon as I got my Bar Mitzvah, so I encountered all of this before high school). And I know I saw the relevant Band of Brothers episode when the DVD came out. Kids are pretty smart and resilient.
I'm pretty sure I have Maus somewhere, I should read it. I keep putting it off.
I'm pretty sure I have Maus somewhere, I should read it. I keep putting it off.
school boards are voted in through local elections. because of that you have complete fucking idiots that end up on it like tony allman.
I remember learning about the Holocaust in 6th grade while studying about WWII. I read both Number the Stars and Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Both harrowing tales of the war at 11 years old. I also read Night at 14 in 9th grade and that story is probably far more bleaker than Maus is. I also remember watching Schindler's List around that age ( not in school, my dad was a sucker for WWII movies). I think it's perfectly fine to be able to teach Maus to 14 yr olds and have it be an engaging learning experience.