Changes are coming to help fix what many parents found to be the teaching of inappropriate material to students in one local district.

Many parents in the Linden Community Schools district have expressed a dissatisfaction with the book and movie choices offered to their kids in some classes at the high school level. At a recent Board of Education meeting, several spoke out believing too many of the choices were inconsistent with the values parents try to teach home. One parent, according to the Tri-County Times, said it’s not appropriate when the only reading choices for a class are between “A Clockwork Orange,” and “A Brave New World.” Another said it’s not an isolated incident, but that books and movies with explicit adult themes keep coming up again and again. A literature teacher from the high school responded saying that students have a more broad choice, and if they wished to use those two listed books, a signed permission slip for parents is required. Another teacher said it was important teach about the bad things in the world, but there are always alternative options for students in her class.

Superintendent Russ Ciesielski admitted the high school had not been following policy for approving movies and books to be taught in classrooms. Going forward, he proposed the exclusion of any film with nudity or sexually explicit activity. Also, all course material, including required reading and movies that will be watched, will be posted on the high school’s website with disclosure statements. Syllabi moving forward will additionally require a parental signature. The Superintendent asked for patience while these new policies are implemented, but some parents still expressed doubt, believing they were just “words on paper.” (MK)