Spinelessness in Schools

This story is the second in a recent series of news items that have arisen in the Washington, DC area. The spinelessness of school leaders in this area has sunk to a new low. The tyranny of the minority has taken root in the DC area and it must stop. What kind of example do we set for our children if our school leaders duck and run at the first sign of adversity. In both these cases, described below from the Washington Post, the adults involved shamelessly caved to a minority concern.


It seems that teachers of advanced students at Cabin John Middle School in Potomac, MD asked parents and students to look at a list of 100 previously banned or challenged books, select one and read it. The purpose of the assignment was to attempt to understand why books have been banned.

English teacher Carole Tauber had given the same assignment last year, without objection. But this time, a few parents pronounced themselves shocked by a list that includes such children's standards as Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," as well as titles such as "American Psycho" and "The New Joy of Gay Sex."

But before kids even began to read their books, parents got this note from English teachers and Principal Paulette Smith: "It has come to our attention that an eighth grade outside reading assignment contains material that some families may find controversial. In response to the concerns that have surfaced, the assignment will be replaced."

Wasn't it obvious that reading a controversial book might involve controversy? Smith had approved the assignment before it went home.

So why the about-face? "We did get some feedback," Smith says.

Some ? "How many parents does it take to get books pulled?" Strang wonders. Or, as Suzanne Weiss, former president of Cabin John's PTSA, asks, "Why does the first person who comes in to complain outweigh those who want their children challenged?"

Indeed. But as I said, this is the second such issue, albeit the reading assignment has a little more substance to it than this one:

After the devil went down to Georgia, it seems, he got censored in Prince William County.

In preparation for a guest appearance at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, the marching band at C.D. Hylton High School had a logical and seemingly innocuous idea: play a Georgia-themed song. They decided on "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," by the Charlie Daniels Band.

But early this month, a local newspaper, the Potomac News, published a letter by a Woodbridge resident who, after having seen the C.D. Hylton Bulldawg Marching Band perform the country-western hit at a football game, wondered how a song about the devil could be played at school events, because of the separation of church and state.

Fearing bad public reaction, Hylton's longtime band director, Dennis Brown, pulled the song from the playlist. "I was just being protective of my students. I didn't want any negative publicity for C.D. Hylton High School," he said.

Even Charlies Daniels himself has an opinion on the matter:

"I am a Christian, and I don't write pro-devil songs. Most people seem to get it. It's a fun little song," Daniels said Friday in a telephone interview from Mokena, Ill., where he was scheduled to perform a concert. "I think it's a shame that the [marching band director] would yield to one piece of mail. If people find out that he can be manipulated that easily, he's going to have a hard way to go."

I am going to leave issues of church and state out of this post. My issue is the fact that adults, caving to a tyranny of a minority have sent a signal to the students under their charge that it is alright to quit, to not stand up for what you believe is right if someone challenges you.

In the case of the reading list, I think the assignment a good one, full of the very kind of thinking we should be encouraging our children to conduct. Yet, because a few parents object to the books on the list, the whole assignement is pulled. The books were to be chosen by the parents and the student. The family could have chosen a book by Mark Twain, for example. But rather than accepting responsiblity for guiding their child's education, some parents took it upon themselves to destroy a worthwhile assignment, merely because they didn't like all of the suggested readings.

The issue of the band and "Devil Went Down to Georgia" just borders on the absurd. Caving because one parent objected, on a tenuous ground at best, exemplifies the fear that too many educators, indeed public employees, have about being seen as controversial. So a song that would have been very well received by its intended audience at the Peach Bowl is tabled--all because the band leader and the schools' administration have no spine.

As I noted, what bothers me most is the fact that school officials and these mealy-mouthed, whiny parents have essentially told the kids invovled, "if you whine loud enough you will get your way." This kind of "me first" mentality will not help the students later deal with adversity and challenges to their thoughts. They will back down, because they have been taught, if someone whines, you cave.