If there’s one thing we have seen more and more frequently in recent years, is the fact that people have very strong opinions. In some cases, those opinions have been able to change things in a drastic way.
According to a law passed in 2022 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, parents have the right to challenge material they may feel is inappropriate for their children. At the same time, they can also hold educators liable for any content they may teach.
This doesn’t often get put into practice but it recently happened in Hampshire, Texas, when a teacher was fired. She was reading from the illustrated version of Anne Frank’s diary, and her eighth-grade class was the recipient.
A parent decided that they weren’t happy with the reading and the teacher was fired as a result.
According to the communication director and community engagement officer for the school district, the book had not been approved for reading in the class. The teacher also had an active investigation of another complaint.
After the complaints came in from the parents, the administration got involved and the material was deemed to be inappropriate for the eighth-grade students. They said that it would stop immediately.
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation is a 2018 graphic novel. It compresses the book, and Frank’s Diary, and uses illustrations in order to do so.
Unfortunately, a mother of twins said she disapproved of the content and felt that the material was not okay for her children. This included the description that Frank gave of her genitalia.
It was controversial, but the book has been attacked in both Texas and Florida schools after parents considered it to be not age-appropriate.
This isn’t the only incident in which this occurred, but it is one that has certainly caught the attention of the Internet. People are talking, and it will be interesting to see where this one ends up next.