Everybody’s a Critic, but Teachers Assign

This question pops into my head from time to time: Why don’t we trust our teachers?

Too broad a question, I know, but it’s popped in again after reading comments from two Newport-Mesa Unified School District board members who want two books taken off the reading list at Newport Harbor High School.

I’d like to assign each of the offended board members, Wendy Leece and David Brooks, to write 500-word essays on what they think the authors are trying to say. In other words, what are the books about?

Both members told the Daily Pilot this week that the books, “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson and “Of Love and Shadows” by Isabel Allende, contain too much sexual content for 11th- and 12th-graders.

Unfortunately, we can’t debate that here, because not all of us have read the books. Too bad, because a debate like that would help determine who knows best for our literature students--board members or literature teachers.

Of the two books, I’ve read “Snow Falling on Cedars.” My recollections are of its languid, stylized writing in depicting Japanese Americans living in the western United States in the World War II era. That, and the mystery that leads to ethical questions about personal responsibility.

I remember passages with sexual content, but don’t recall them as defining moments in the book. In Leece’s reported comments (I didn’t get a return phone call from her), she says “Cedars” is the more sexually graphic of the books.

The issue, of course, isn’t how I react. Nor is it how Leece and Brooks react. What counts is how high school juniors and seniors react.

That, I hope, will be how Newport-Mesa parents and teachers debate this. The easy route is to avoid the hassle and assign two new books.

A Teaching Veteran Weighs In

The better debate is whether board members should determine the reading list for high school students.

It’s an important question because it goes to what kind of education today’s students will get.

In this case, I’d put the burden of proof on the offended board members. I’d begin with the premise that the teachers’ judgment on what constitutes appropriate literature is better than that of lay board members.

No, I wouldn’t blindly defer to the teachers; some books might be inappropriate for high school students. But I wouldn’t cave in just because it offends the sensibilities of a board member or two.

I asked a veteran Orange County high school literature teacher how he chooses his students’ books. He doesn’t teach in the Newport-Mesa district, but has 30 years of classroom experience and has sent two of his own children through high school.

When assigning books that might offend a student, he says, he informs them in advance of such passages. He describes the passages and offers them another book if they think they’ll be embarrassed or offended.

He acknowledges, as do I, that high school is a different setting than college and that parental concerns must be addressed. He’s learned something else about students:

“When they talk with me, I’m always learning more about the teenage world,” he says. “I can see their world is so much different than what I grew up with.” Their exposure to adult-themed material, including sexual matters, is so much greater than his was that he has concluded it would be “overly prudish” to censor some things.

Still, he makes accommodations. For example, he has assigned a Toni Morrison novel to his classes, with an option that a student can choose another book if Morrison’s sometimes graphic sexual language might offend.

That’s much different from a school board banning a book for all students.

The Pilot quoted Leece as saying, “In this community, in this district, do we allow students to read literature that contains very passionate scenes that are of an adult nature and that have sexual meaning?”

A fair question. If I’m a principal or teacher, my answer is “Yes, but only if those scenes don’t characterize the book, and if the overarching literary and educational value of the book far outweighs them.”

The veteran teacher I talked to says he doesn’t try to push the envelope, or avoid assigning books because they might prove controversial.

To me, that comes down to trusting him to know what he’s teaching and what his students should learn. Teachers who betray that trust should be ostracized.

Give me a vote on “Snow Falling on Cedars” for juniors and seniors, and I say let them read it. The book will do what good literature should--make students think and react.

And, trust me, it won’t have them thinking about sex.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com.