On Wednesday, the Advisory Committee of the Seaside School District met to debate Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Two parents had contested the book, arguing that it was unsuitable for the freshman English class in which it was being taught.
Parents and school staff attended the meeting and engaged in discussion regarding the difficulties and suitability of the subject matter, which had been covered prior to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird as part of a unit that examines the concept of personal freedom and focuses on walking a mile in another person’s shoes.
A 14-year-old Native American boy’s difficulties acclimating to life off a reserve are chronicled in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Brett Bishop and Hilary Stock, parents of students in the school system, filed legal challenges to the content, pointing out that some of the passages contained violence, alcohol, drugs, and sexually explicit language.
Both parents said on the survey that they had either read a single chapter regarding sexual self-gratification or had only scanned the book online rather than finishing it. Bishop and Stock suggested that the district outright ban the content.
Stock wrote, “This reading is a waste of time.” Teachers have the chance to help our kids grow up, develop their minds with dignity, change the world, and be held to higher standards.
Bishop and Stock did not show up for the meeting on Wednesday.
The committee called a meeting for Monday in order to formally offer a solution to the challenge, as they did not do so at their Wednesday meeting. It is tasked with recommending to the school board one of three options: either keep utilizing the content without reservations, limit or alter it in terms of subject matter and grade level, or outright prohibit it from the curriculum and school library.
The committee members’ discussion, who confirmed that they had read the entire book, centered on the content’s relationship to the learning objectives, degree of difficulty, and suitability for the target age range.
Jane Crater, a middle school language arts teacher with a freshman daughter in the district, said she thought the content was perfectly adequate for first-year pupils.
“As a teacher, I have a lot of room to develop themes and other things that are within the book because the reading complexity is actually lower than what’s needed for freshmen,” she added. I lower the reading level so that we can have more in-depth conversations.
The book covers a number of topics, including racism, poverty, bereavement, identity, and belonging. According to Crater, who evaluated a few of the assignments based on the content, she was impressed by the students’ analyses and thought their writing was thoughtful.
“The teacher who assigned the book reads a lot of it aloud in class so that students can pause and have discussions throughout the text,” said Susan Baertlein, a junior English teacher at the high school. According to her, if students or their parents request alternative reading materials, they are always provided.
Numerous anti-gay and anti-Black insults that occur throughout the novel are not read aloud by the teacher; instead, the main character of the book frequently uses them to disparage himself rather than other characters.
“We don’t spread hatred by uttering those words in front of the class,” she remarked. Therefore, we will simply omit the word or, more accurately, explain to the pupils why this is hate speech, a slur, and something we don’t utter.
Therefore, the chapter’s content that the parents objected to—specifically, the alcohol consumption and self-gratification I mentioned—was most likely read aloud.
A scene in which the main character’s cherished dog is shot after his family discovers they cannot afford to take him to a veterinarian for treatment also caught Baertlein off guard.
That has a greater effect on the children, of course. Do you mean that the dog had to be shot? “I believe that’s a more significant response from the class than a teenager claiming that he does teenage things,” she remarked.
Baertlain also discussed the author’s alleged sexual harassment, saying that these issues were discussed in class and that we must keep the artist and the art apart or else there wouldn’t be any art left.
(Alexie apologized in a statement he released in 2018 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.)
Important background
Reading the full book provided the sections with important context, even though several parents on the committee claimed to understand the shock and outrage surrounding some of the passages.
Parents also emphasized the material’s strengths, pointing out that the story of a young Native American boy was relevant given Seaside’s close proximity to several Indigenous tribes and that the frequently problematic language offers a chance to educate teenagers about historical and contemporary prejudices.
Jashon Mills, whose son was given the material, stated, “Based on the assignments, these kids are getting this, they understand it.” It’s not about the fighting, the profanity, the vulgarity, or the masturbation. They are becoming more realistic and seeing past that.
They are gaining genuine understanding from their reporting, and nothing they are reporting has anything to do with sexuality or language. Therefore, I believe that the way it is delivered and the book in question are being used in the right town and location based on geographic location.
“Alexie did a great job using his own experiences and modernizing them to make them more readable and understandable,” said Anthony Koczenasz-Runkle, a member of the middle school Parent-Teacher Organization whose seventh-grade pupils are in that grade.
He stated, “I believe that many of us have gone through some kind of hardship or persecution, and I think that’s important in sticking with the theme of walking a mile in another person’s shoes,” of which this book is a part. Because of this, you are able to understand the experiences of Native people who have been subjected to bullying and harassment due to their physical limitations.
As we all know and recall, high school may have both enjoyable and unpleasant memories. You’re also getting the human experience of how, like, it can be really difficult.
With the protagonist overcoming obstacles, parents also addressed the recurring subject of optimism throughout the book.
The district’s curriculum and instruction director, Cate Blakesley, expressed gratitude to the committee members for their time, insights, and concern for the district’s pupils.
She remarked, “I know you are their parents and teachers, but they are really well loved and cared for in this district.” I appreciate you taking the time to consider what we are showing them, how we are teaching them, and how we are developing them.
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