Did you happen to catch this story on CBS 5 Phoenix? A local 8-year-old girl got a “disturbing” shock after checking out a book from her elementary school library on the recommendation of a few classmates.
“A fourth grader at Quail Run Elementary School checked out a book this week, that’s raising more than just eyebrows among parents and administrators.
Eight-year-old Faith was reading “Lovingly Alice,” from the popular “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, after a couple of her classmates recommended it.
Faith says it first covered menstruation, but “when it got to the more older and grown up stuff, I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s just a little disturbing,’ so I told my mom.”
Her mother, Hilary, was shocked at what her daughter was reading. She brought the book to the attention of the school principal, and read him graphic passages from the book, which includes a very specific discussion about sexual intercourse.”
Perhaps what is most troublesome about this story is the fact that this was an elementary school library – not a public library – and not in some far away state, but right here in our own backyard.
At CAP it’s our goal to pass legislation to promote parents’ right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, but stories like this one remind us that this is an ongoing battle.
Here are some simple things that we as parents can do to better protect our kids from these situations:
- Know your rights as a parent! In 2010, CAP worked with legislators to pass the Parents’ Bill of Rights. This year, we worked to pass a bill to extend these rights to parents of children in charter schools.
- Talk with your kids. This seems like a basic principle, but the only way this book was discovered was by a mom talking with her daughter about school. There is so much that goes on during a school day that may not be covered in parent-teacher conferences or show up in class curriculum.
- If you have questions, resource CAP. We’re here to help. It was because a concerned parent stepped forward that we were involved in extending the Parents’ Bill of Rights to charter schools.