Norwegian Wood was one of the books
A New Jersey school district has apologized to parents after requiring high school students to read books that include graphic depictions of lesbian sex and a homosexual orgy.
“Some of the language is inappropriate,” said Chuck Earling, superintendent of Monroe Township Schools in Williamstown, N.J. “We were not trying to create controversy. We were just trying to get students to read.”
The books were on a required summer reading list for middle school and high school students. The district decided to pull the book off the list, with the start of school just days away.
“There were some words and language that seemed to be inappropriate as far as the parents and some of the kids were concerned,” Earling said.
One book, “Norwegian Wood,” was on a list for incoming sophomores in an honors English class. The book includes a graphic depiction of a lesbian sex scene between a 31-year-old woman and a 13-year old girl, according to a report first published in the Gloucester County Times.
“I don’t think that’s relevant for any teenager,” parent Robin Myers told the newspaper. Her daughter was assigned to read the book. “I was just kind of in shock,” she said.
The other book in question was “Tweak (Growing up on Methamphetamines).” That book included depictions of drug usage and a homosexual orgy.
“That has created a controversy,” Earling told Fox News Radio, referring to the drug usage – along with the lesbian and gay sex scenes. “We’ve pulled them from our summer reading list.”
Peter Sprigg, with the Family Research Council, said he’s not surprised by the controversy surrounding the books.
“Here we see the intersection of parental values being offended, the hyper-sexualization of our youth and the homosexual agenda being pushed,” Sprigg told Fox News Radio. “This just illustrates why a lot of American parents are not willing to entrust their children to the public schools anymore.”
So whose idea was it to put books featuring explicit sex scenes on a summer reading list for teenagers?
Earling said the school district’s summer reading list was prepared by a committee made up of teachers, librarians and school administrators. The board of education ultimately approved the list.
“They read the books,” he said. “They didn’t feel it was inappropriate based on the language that’s used, common language used on the street.” The superintendent said students have seen more graphic things on television or in the movies – and noted that only about a dozen people actually complained.
As a result of the controversy, Earling said they are going to rework their summer reading list to include a rating system for books. And he also said that in the future, they will include parents on the reading list committee.
Sprigg called on parents across the nation to pay close attention to what their children are being encouraged to read.
“To a large extent the educational community and the library community have come under the control of very radical liberal ideology with regard to sexuality and they view anything that might remotely be called censorship as the ultimate evil,” Sprigg said. “Exposing children to graphic sexual content – that is not as evil as censorship in the minds of some left-wing activists.”