2008 Woodie Awards
School board bans "Freedom Writers"
Tiffany Gibson
Issue date: 7/9/08 Section: Opinions
Indiana high school English teacher, Connie Heermann, was recently suspended for distributing "The Freedom Writers Diary" in her classroom.
Apparently, the Perry Township School Board felt that the content in the novel is graphic and will do more harm than good; therefore, they suspended Heermann for over a year.
The novel is a true story about real teenagers dealing with the struggle of growing up in gang-infested neighborhoods. Of course the content is going to be graphic due to the subject, but the novel holds so much more than language.
The message embedded in the novel is why Heermann wanted her class to read the diary of these teens in the first place. She picked the novel because it's a fascinating story that some of her students can relate to.
After reading "The Freedom Writers Diary," I think that the thoughts and circumstances of these students are tragic, but the overall message is empowering and moving.
In the beginning of the novel, students share their experiences with drugs, sex and violence, but as the novel progresses the students begin talking about their English teacher, Erin Gruwell, who has inspired them to take a more active role in their education.
Many students find their journal entry topics to be about the novels Gruwell assigns them to read in class. They express their joy in reading books such as "The Wave" and "Durango Street" because they can relate to the protagonists.
Others praise Gruwell for taking the time to understand and help them with their problems.
One student admits to being dyslexic and shares his/her difficulty with reading because of the condition. The student goes on to describe how Gruwell made him/her feel comfortable reading out loud in class.
The Perry Township School Board must not value teacher appreciation or determination to learn if they ban this book because it is clearly about teenagers taking control of their life and striving for a future.
Apparently, the Perry Township School Board felt that the content in the novel is graphic and will do more harm than good; therefore, they suspended Heermann for over a year.
The novel is a true story about real teenagers dealing with the struggle of growing up in gang-infested neighborhoods. Of course the content is going to be graphic due to the subject, but the novel holds so much more than language.
The message embedded in the novel is why Heermann wanted her class to read the diary of these teens in the first place. She picked the novel because it's a fascinating story that some of her students can relate to.
After reading "The Freedom Writers Diary," I think that the thoughts and circumstances of these students are tragic, but the overall message is empowering and moving.
In the beginning of the novel, students share their experiences with drugs, sex and violence, but as the novel progresses the students begin talking about their English teacher, Erin Gruwell, who has inspired them to take a more active role in their education.
Many students find their journal entry topics to be about the novels Gruwell assigns them to read in class. They express their joy in reading books such as "The Wave" and "Durango Street" because they can relate to the protagonists.
Others praise Gruwell for taking the time to understand and help them with their problems.
One student admits to being dyslexic and shares his/her difficulty with reading because of the condition. The student goes on to describe how Gruwell made him/her feel comfortable reading out loud in class.
The Perry Township School Board must not value teacher appreciation or determination to learn if they ban this book because it is clearly about teenagers taking control of their life and striving for a future.
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news across the neocon empire
posted 7/11/08 @ 12:01 AM CST
That is a very interesting op-ed piece. I enjoyed reading it. Its definately a sad story, however we should bare in mind that the School Board has its rules and policies and the teacher in question was told not to use the text in an email, according to ythe op-ed piece. (Continued…)
Drs Andrea and Ray Schwartz
posted 7/18/08 @ 11:01 AM CST
It is a sad commentary on human nature that sometimes ignorance, fear and the rigidity of rules takes precedence over human beings. How trite, but true, that the real problems in this world are violence, prejudice,
rigid judgement of others and a lack of compassion. (Continued…)
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