Joanne Jacobs
It's normal for parents to object to graphic sex in kids' books
Aymann Ismail thought book-banners were prudish hysterics, he writes on Slate. Then a librarian gave him a copy of one of the...
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Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 18
- 2 min
'Hungry Caterpillar' is banned as school purges pre-2008 books
Books published before 2008 have been removed from school library shelves in a school district near Toronto, Canada, reports Nicole...
Joanne Jacobs
- Sep 2
- 2 min
LGBTQ books for all? Muslim, Christian and Mormon parents unite in protest
Religious parents -- Muslims, Christians (many of them Ethiopian) and Mormons -- have united in Maryland to protest new requirements that...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 17
- 2 min
Banning book bans: It won't work
Illinois libraries that ban or restrict books for "partisan or doctrinal" reasons will lose state funding under a new law, reports Claire...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 12
- 2 min
Beyond basics: Schools must teach 'virtues and habits' of free people
"Back to basics" education isn't enough, writes Gillian Richards on The American Conservative. "Some conservatives have responded to...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 4
- 2 min
What books are best for children?
Which books should kids be reading, asks Robert Pondiscio. He talked to Casey Churchill, who runs Liberty Common School, a Colorado Core...
Joanne Jacobs
- Jun 3
- 1 min
Good Book or bad book? Bible is challenged in Utah
The Bible is off the shelves at elementary and middle-school libraries in a suburban Utah district, after a parent's complaint, writes...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 28
- 2 min
If Mia becomes Mike, parents want to know
If Jayden was cutting school, failing classes and getting in fights, he might not want his parents to know. But his teacher wouldn't keep...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 17
- 1 min
We can't 'replace academic mastery with critical thinking about nothing in particular'
The American education system has turned away from academics and lost its way, says David Steiner, executive director of the Institute...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 15
- 2 min
'Book bans' sound bad, but so does graphic sex in school libraries
President Biden keeps talking about "book bans," writes Andrew Rotherham on Eduwonk. It's become "a nervous tic" for Education Secretary...
Joanne Jacobs
- May 3
- 1 min
Canceling SkippyJon: Everyone wants to censor something
Skippyjon Jones, about a Siamese cat who thought he was a Chihuahua, was a huge hit when it came out in 2003, recalls James V. Shuls. His...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 23
- 2 min
Madness, brilliance and tragedy
Jonathan Rosen's best friend was brilliant, even after he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic in his early 20s, he writes in his...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 19
- 2 min
'Lazy' parents want librarians, teachers to protect their kids
"Parental rights" advocates have a"dirty secret," charges Alyssa Rosenberg in the Washington Post. They're too lazy to teach their kids...
Joanne Jacobs
- Apr 13
- 2 min
Was Anne Frank bisexual? Graphic novel -- with breasts! -- is out of school library
The Diary of Anne Frank remains in the Vero Beach High School library, but the Florida school has removed a retelling of the story, Anne...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 22
- 2 min
Conservative teachers are quiet
Teachers who are on the political right "speak in whispers behind closed doors," says Daniel Buck in an interview with Rick Hess....
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 18
- 2 min
Against self-reliance
Hard work pays off. Even those born in poverty can build a better life. Self-reliance is better than dependence. Not so, argues Alissa...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 17
- 2 min
Why was Rosa Parks told to move to the back of the bus?
Florida is approving new "anti-woke" social studies textbooks, reports Sarah Mervosh in the New York Times. Some publishers think the...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 14
- 2 min
Why even kids who like to read hate English class
English teachers are teaching kids to hate reading, writes Pamela Paul, a New York Times op-ed columnist, in response to Nathan Heller's...
Joanne Jacobs
- Mar 12
- 2 min
Digital danger: Screen time is stealing childhood
Screen time is very bad for kids, argues Michel Desmurget, a French neuroscientist, in Screen Damage: The Dangers of Digital Media for...
Joanne Jacobs
- Feb 21
- 2 min
Rewriting Roald Dahl: Nobody's 'fat' or 'female'
Characters can be "enormous" and "beastly," but not "fat" or "ugly," in the new sensitivity-edited versions of Roald Dahl's children's...
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