Fredericksen Tries to Spin “Dirty Book” in Wicomico Schools
October 7, 2009 by Cato
Filed under Education, Maryland, Wicomico Politics
John Fredericksen, Superintendent of the Wicomico County Public Schools, is attempting to draw attention away from the core issues revolving around yesterday’s report of inappropriate material found in an elementary school library. Fredericksen wants the public to believe that issue is closed with the POSSIBLE removal of the book in question. Fredericksen failed to address the WCBOE’s complete lack of a coherent policy regarding the approval and purchasing of books for school libraries.
"I’d say it’s coming off the shelves as soon as I can get a phone call back to the office," Fredericksen said.
But later in the same interview with Daily Times reporter Greg Latshaw, Fredericksen states:
He said he expects the book to be reviewed by a committee that judges the merit of red-flagged books. At that point, a permanent decision on the future of the "Dragon Ball" book will be made.
Which is it John? Is it coming off the shelves, or will we have to wait for a committee to decide? On Monday, I was assured by a senior WCBOE official that the the book WOULD be removed from the shelves of Pittsville Elementary School and ANY OTHER school where the book was present.
Besides the “confusion” (I’m in a charitable mood today) over whether or not the book will be removed from school library shelves, there are fair more important issues at hand:
- How was such a book purchased for an ELEMENTARY school?
- Why didn’t the librarian read the book before placing it on the library’s shelves?
- Why doesn’t the WCBOE require the books be screened before purchase?
- Since this book doesn’t even pass muster with the limited policy the WCBOE currently has in place, what will be done? (This one’s easy – NOTHING)
Unfortunately, this is to be expected from the bureaucrats at the Wicomico County Board of Education. The Wicomico County Council can’t even get the WCBOE to answer THEIR questions. Those of us without direct control over their purse strings surely won’t have any luck.
As this goes to post I have also heard that the Tilghman Times will be doing a follow-up on today’s article. I fully expect them to attack Wicomico County Councilman Joe Holloway and attempt to explain away the presence of this type of material in a public elementary school. I may be wrong. I hope so. However, we all need to remember that the “Public Information Liaison” for the WCBOE is none other than Tracy Sahler, wife of the Tilghman Times Managing Editor Erick Sahler. Frankly, I was shocked that reporter Greg Latshaw was even able to slip Wednesday’s article by.
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Considering this in an extension of the issue raised a while back that all Manga was Porn on the grounds of a new and snazzy legal decision in the USSA it…it lacks an understanding of the intent of the Law. The Purpose of Child Protection laws in extending them to include these Japanese Comics – extends them to include all comics. and by association pretty much any thing children do or read or play.
The natural extension of this legal decision includes (despite claims to the contrary):
1. Dungeons and Dragons which has for over thirty years peddled a game to children where the success of the player was tied to killing others and taking their stuff. Such a ‘message’ would be deemed to violate child protection laws. It is a game which indirectly popularized naked girls riding on the back of dragons and cuties in skin tight chain mail armor. Yet the y draw the line at describing to children the more medieval horrors that children were subjected to in the last thousand years of Human civilization – like Wagon loads of bodies (children) hauled out of cities like Paris and dumped in mass graves or simply burned thanks to the Plague and Famines of this world.
2. Marvel Comics (or is that Disney Comics now) where Even Superhero children are forced into a life of violence of their own survival all while wearing skin tight Body Suits and Butt hugging Leather Clothing.
3. Fantasy Art and novels(when I refer to naked girls riding dragons – I refer to Anne Mccaffrey’s Dragon Riders), The fine Fantasy Artists like Melissa Valdez
4. Father Christmas, easter bunny, tooth fairy, and Jesus Christ/God Peddlers.
In the end Peddling Fantasy to children will do them more damage than truth. The Fantasies of Children have become something to be profited from. That alone would put most of the human race on a watch list.
????
Again, you would be wrong. I am not arguing against fantasy literature in any way. Tolkien and Lewis should be in school libraries, I don’t believe that “graphic novels” of this type should.
To give you the benefit of the doubt, I will assume that you are not from Wicomico County or the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Therefore, I will explain this as plainly as possible.
The purposes of these posts were to expose the WCBOE spending funds on books that were both not age appropriate and did not meet our community standards for what was acceptable for a local school library. Subsequent posts (and a series that will begin Monday or Tuesday) were meant to show the WCBOE refusing to handle this matter in a manner that was both truthful and respectful towards those that are footing the bill.
It ain’t art criticism. It ain’t about censorship or civil liberties. It’s politics – in the Aristotlean sense of the word.
But once Politicians start crossing the line into Child welfare the gloves come off. There is no legal distinction between a naughty little Japanese Comic like Dragonball…and the other things that we would apparently find acceptable: like ‘Lolita’ being read by a class of school kids.
What constitutes child endangerment is not open to the machinations of politicians but every time they do open their mouths to condem one thing, everything they considered acceptable fell into the same category. That is because Laws are built on Logic and ultimately they are incompatible with Politics built on self interest and destruction of the State.
Aristotle was a Paedophile who saw the prospect of being stabbed to death by some fourteen year old sitting in the forum across from him for the murder of his father as somewhat undesirable and created Democracy because with a few votes from his friends he could strip a rival of his lands and a seat in Parliament.