Social Ohio high school and sexual writing assignments

Here is an analogy: let's say a teacher asked a high school upperclassman to write a film review of any movie on Hulu/Netflix/Prime Video (not an uncommon or unreasonable assignment). While scrolling through the hundreds of different options on the screen, one of the choices is the deeply disturbing/depraved movie, "The House that Jack Built" (or another film that would be universally considered offensive). The teacher made no mention of this film in the assignment, and the student chooses to do the review/critique on another movie. Should heads roll simply because the offensive content is on the menu of the streaming service, even though it was never discussed or watched? Should the school board, school admin, and teacher be held accountable for not vetting that every viewing option on the menu, of hundreds of movies, was school appropriate? IMHO, that would be a ridiculous overreaction.
 
To be even more clear, this didn't happen. No one was given that assignment.
To assign the prompt would be inappropriate, even in a college course unless the class was specifically about writing about sexuality.

Would you have a problem with a 17 year old, that is taking a college course, that has a book with a sex related prompt in it, even though the prompt isn't being used or addressed by the teacher?
Right and as discussed earlier the kids weren't asked to take upon that particular assignment, the original point is that the material (containing the encouragement for drinking and the part about writing about their sexual fantasies not to be discussed with their parents/mom) were simply being made available to the kids by incompetence.
See I don't think that anyone in the right mind would be letting underaged kids to see this type of stuff, given the context but I think that the people letting this slip should be held accountable for a pretty shitty job.
So, I don't think that material should be made available for underaged kids and I don't think that school would be the place to encourage kids to dive into their sexuality, unless you're willing to define what's OK and what's not OK with also carrying all the responsibilities of the consequences that may come from tinkering with still-in-development brains and individuals.
We're not talking about sex-ed and a 17-yo can wait a year if they really want to go and explore the topic, since they'll be free to do so.
 
Right and as discussed earlier the kids weren't asked to take upon that particular assignment, the original point is that the material (containing the encouragement for drinking and the part about writing about their sexual fantasies not to be discussed with their parents/mom) were simply being made available to the kids by incompetence.
See I don't think that anyone in the right mind would be letting underaged kids to see this type of stuff, given the context but I think that the people letting this slip should be held accountable for a pretty shitty job.
So, I don't think that material should be made available for underaged kids and I don't think that school would be the place to encourage kids to dive into their sexuality, unless you're willing to define what's OK and what's not OK with also carrying all the responsibilities of the consequences that may come from tinkering with still-in-development brains and individuals.
We're not talking about sex-ed and a 17-yo can wait a year if they really want to go and explore the topic, since they'll be free to do so.

Isn't the entire context to this story important though?
They're 17 year olds taking a college course...which is not a child's class. That's really the key point here for me.
If you're taking a college credit course, it is reasonable to assume that you are going to be exposed to college level material. I don't see this as a manner of incompetence, it's just common sense, imo. Obviously the teacher needs to keep the students ages in mind, but if the course is designed for a higher level, then they are going be using material that was made for a higher level.
It doesn't make much sense to me to throw out an entire book over 5 pages that you're not teaching.


It feels like this story and people's comments on it, and this whole "you're condoning pedophilia" mentality is coming from this HUGE "but what if....." that isn't even close to being a reality. There's no point in this story, or any reality where a lesson on erotic writing would have occurred.
We're talking about not only banning a book because of 4 or 5 sentences that the teacher and class would have never discussed, but also saying that the teachers need to face some kind of consequences for it. I find that to be a crazy overreaction to the nothing that happened.
 
Mayor of the town, after multiple students shared the assignments with their parents after it made them uncomfortable, is calling for their entire school board to resign and a judge called the assignments "essentially child pornography"

“It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing essentially what is child pornography in the classroom,” Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert told the Hudson Board of Education during a meeting Monday.

“I’ve spoken to a judge this evening. She’s already confirmed that. So I’m going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign from this board of education or you will be charged,” Shubert said before leaving the podium, receiving applause from the audience.

Shubert’s statement followed the revelation that high school students enrolled in the advanced course “Writing in the Liberal Arts II,” were issued a book called 642 Things to Write About, which featured some overtly sexual writing prompts designed for adolescents.

Among the ideas in the book were suggestions to “write a sex scene you wouldn’t show your mom” and to “rewrite the sex scene from above into one that you’d let your mom read.” Another prompt encouraged underage drinking, asking students to consume a beer and describe its taste, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

Others asked the students to write out X-rated Disney scenes, a sermon for a preacher caught in a sex scandal, choosing how you would die, and what would be on your DVR if you were a serial killer.

LOL-- That's exactly what you want from a Mayor- A gross overreaction and trying to throw the baby out with the bath water while showing no knowledge of the law whatsoever.

First off- Mayor's can't charge people with crimes or have them charged with crimes. LOL.

Secondly, there is no evidence anyone in the school board knew anything about this. It's a book compiled by the San Francisco Writers Grotto to help aspiring authors get their creative juices flowing.

3rd- None of the suggestions in the book were actually assigned as work.

Number of school board resignations Cooks1 predicts:



I doubt the teacher will even resign or get fired.
 
I remember being shocked (as a teenager) about some of the materials in books in the library. But we didn't have the culture war crowd throw a hissy fit when older teens discovered literature that wasn't the hungry caterpillar.
It's part and parcel of the fascist rejection of "degenerate" modern society.
 
“write a sex scene you wouldn’t show your mom” and to “rewrite the sex scene from above into one that you’d let your mom read.” Another prompt encouraged underage drinking, asking students to consume a beer and describe its taste, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

Others asked the students to write out X-rated Disney scenes, a sermon for a preacher caught in a sex scandal, choosing how you would die, and what would be on your DVR if you were a serial killer."

yeah, high-level literature/writing classes...
 
<{anton}>

Meanwhile, Chinese students are learning math, chemistry and physics.

I wish people actually knew the definition of 'liberal arts' and stopped throwing it around like it is some kind of insult, or 'SJW' term.
We're coming to this real life idiocracy level where we're now saying reading and writing is for dumb people.

Having a society that solely focused on math, chemistry, and physics would not be a society that you would likely want to live in.
 
Here is an analogy: let's say a teacher asked a high school upperclassman to write a film review of any movie on Hulu/Netflix/Prime Video (not an uncommon or unreasonable assignment). While scrolling through the hundreds of different options on the screen, one of the choices is the deeply disturbing/depraved movie, "The House that Jack Built" (or another film that would be universally considered offensive). The teacher made no mention of this film in the assignment, and the student chooses to do the review/critique on another movie. Should heads roll simply because the offensive content is on the menu of the streaming service, even though it was never discussed or watched? Should the school board, school admin, and teacher be held accountable for not vetting that every viewing option on the menu, of hundreds of movies, was school appropriate? IMHO, that would be a ridiculous overreaction.

That's not a very good analogy. The teacher would have to provide the kids with the streaming service log in and then later the kids find out that they now have access to free porn on the streaming service.

It's like a teacher giving the kids a book as a reading assignment after only reading the first chapter of the book. The kids go home and read it and realize that midway through the book, the story gets extremely sexual and is obviously not suited for education. That would be on the teacher for not doing their job and making sure the book was school appropriate before issuing it.
 
I wish people actually knew the definition of 'liberal arts' and stopped throwing it around like it is some kind of insult, or 'SJW' term.
We're coming to this real life idiocracy level where we're now saying reading and writing is for dumb people.

Having a society that solely focused on math, chemistry, and physics would not be a society that you would likely want to live in.
They're full of shit. Most of them couldn't convert fractions to decimals.
 
I don't know how this thread is still going. In a book with 642 writing prompt options, how many students do you think chose the one where they have to write a sexual fantasy to their teacher?
 
That's not a very good analogy. The teacher would have to provide the kids with the streaming service log in and then later the kids find out that they now have access to free porn on the streaming service.

It's like a teacher giving the kids a book as a reading assignment after only reading the first chapter of the book. The kids go home and read it and realize that midway through the book, the story gets extremely sexual and is obviously not suited for education. That would be on the teacher for not doing their job and making sure the book was school appropriate before issuing it.

To Kill a Mocking Bird is about a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Is rape an appropriate topic for a class? Do we need to censor out that part of the book? Would a student writing a report on aspects of the book, like crime, racism, or lynching be unquestionably inappropriate? The book isn't only about rape, it's also about family, prejudice, and our history.
There is plenty of classic reading material that would be deemed "inappropriate" if we really went over them, or hyper focused on particular parts. But we don't just dismiss them when they have other valuable lessons in them.

There is no black/white answer on this stuff. And the idea that we should shield 17 year olds from seeing words is not only impractical and ridiculous, it's not even beneficial. If we can't trust schools and teachers to lead a class and adequately present information in an appropriate manner to their students, then what's the point of these institutions?
 
Pretty sure several classic novels and other books we read in high school had pretty explicit sex scenes. Also, this is some advanced English class. I assume that probably means an AP class typically taken by seniors? Yeah. Everyone knows no one in high school is ever involved in anything sexual. This is just dumb.
Reading books that have scenes that depict sex or violence is one thing. Telling students to start designing their own porn is a whole nother level.

I certainly wouldn’t be excusing the teacher/s here either. They should never see the inside of another classroom.
 
To Kill a Mocking Bird is about a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Is rape an appropriate topic for a class? Do we need to censor out that part of the book? Would a student writing a report on aspects of the book, like crime, racism, or lynching be unquestionably inappropriate? The book isn't only about rape, it's also about family, prejudice, and our history.
There is plenty of classic reading material that would be deemed "inappropriate" if we really went over them, or hyper focused on particular parts. But we don't just dismiss them when they have other valuable lessons in them.

There is no black/white answer on this stuff. And the idea that we should shield 17 year olds from seeing words is not only impractical and ridiculous, it's not even beneficial. If we can't trust schools and teachers to lead a class and adequately present information in an appropriate manner to their students, then what's the point of these institutions?

Even you know that the subject matter in To Kill a Mockingbird is not even remotely comparable to a book calling for a student to write a sex scene that they wouldn't want their mom to see. That line is right out of the free candy van handbook. Creepy as fuck. If the book wanted them to write about how rape is bad or how it harms people, I think people may think that's a bit deep or inappropriate for high school kids to be writing about but it's no where near as creepy as what the book was asking them to do.

If your 17 year old daughter stayed at a friends house and her dad asked her to describe a sex scene to him that she wouldn't even tell her mother, would you be okay with that? I'm sure you wouldn't because that's absolutely inappropriate but because it's written in a book and then read by a teacher, that makes it ok?
 
Even you know that the subject matter in To Kill a Mockingbird is not even remotely comparable to a book calling for a student to write a sex scene that they wouldn't want their mom to see. That line is right out of the free candy van handbook. Creepy as fuck.

The point wasn't to make a direct comparison of materials, the point was that a teacher doesn't have control of every single word that is written in a book that they didn't write...which is going to be the case for any primary school teacher.
We don't outright ban books because of the existence of a word, phrase, or sentence, and deem it as "bad" and untouchable. It's entirely dependent on the context.
And you are leaving out the important context that this is a book for a college course---not for 13 year olds in an 8th grade English class.
And more importantly, that no one was assigned, nor would have been assigned to write on that topic.
Even in a college course that wouldn't have been assigned. But we wouldn't throw out the book because a page we didn't like was in it.

If the book wanted them to write about how rape is bad or how it harms people, I think people may think that's a bit deep or inappropriate for high school kids to be writing about but it's no where near as creepy as what the book was asking them to do.

It is not "the book that wants" them to do anything. It's the teacher that sets the curriculum and assignment. The book is a tool. There is an inappropriate way to discuss topics in To Kill a Mockingbird for a high school class. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to use a lot of material. It entirely depends on what the actual assignments and lectures are.

If your 17 year old daughter stayed at a friends house and her dad asked her to describe a sex scene to him that she wouldn't even tell her mother, would you be okay with that? I'm sure you wouldn't because that's absolutely inappropriate but because it's written in a book and then read by a teacher, that makes it ok?
Your scenario there is completely crazy. You are trying to make an analogy to something that DID NOT HAPPEN.
No teacher assigned, or read anything to students telling them to describe sex scenes. DID NOT HAPPEN.
That was just a prompt that existed in a book of prompts. 1 of 642 prompts. It wasn't, and would have never been made an assignment.
 
The point wasn't to make a direct comparison of materials, the point was that a teacher doesn't have control of every single word that is written in a book that they didn't write...which is going to be the case for any primary school teacher.
We don't outright ban books because of the existence of a word, phrase, or sentence, and deem it as "bad" and untouchable. It's entirely dependent on the context.
And you are leaving out the important context that this is a book for a college course---not for 13 year olds in an 8th grade English class.
And more importantly, that no one was assigned, nor would have been assigned to write on that topic.
Even in a college course that wouldn't have been assigned. But we wouldn't throw out the book because a page we didn't like was in it.



It is not "the book that wants" them to do anything. It's the teacher that sets the curriculum and assignment. The book is a tool. There is an inappropriate way to discuss topics in To Kill a Mockingbird for a high school class. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to use a lot of material. It entirely depends on what the actual assignments and lectures are.


Your scenario there is completely crazy. You are trying to make an analogy to something that DID NOT HAPPEN.
No teacher assigned, or read anything to students telling them to describe sex scenes. DID NOT HAPPEN.
That was just a prompt that existed in a book of prompts. 1 of 642 prompts. It wasn't, and would have never been made an assignment.

Your argument is terrible. As if a teacher has no control over the words that are in a book that they assigned. It's the teacher's job to proofread the book before distributing it to students.

You'd argue for the teacher if the book had a centerfold in the middle of it because that's not what they assigned the kids to look at.
 
Your argument is terrible. As if a teacher has no control over the words that are in a book that they assigned. It's the teacher's job to proofread the book before distributing it to students.

You'd argue for the teacher if the book had a centerfold in the middle of it because that's not what they assigned the kids to look at.

My argument is terrible?
You can't even follow along with what the basic facts of this story is. You're still claiming that the teachers actually assigned the students to write sex scene stories.

Are you okay? You're usually a level headed guy, but I don't even know how to respond to such a stupid reply. It was so dumb, that it was insulting. How you possibly got that I would be for/defend students seeing naked women from what I said means you didn't read what I wrote, because I don't believe you're that dumb.
We're talking about the written word, context, interpretation, and 17 year olds taking a college course...and you reply with "Terrible! You are okay with kids seeing tits!"
 
So she wants to fire the entire school board because a book for older kids in an advanced writing class that they pulled some writing prompts from also mentions sex and alcohol in some of the other 600 odd prompts?

This is " there's a war on christmas" level thin-skinned behavior.

How many books in high school discuss violence? Murders? But gasp...sex and a beer?!

What a sicko.
 
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