I could sit here and explain this to you, but I think I'll let this guy do it:
More on this when the rage-blackout is over.
Update: Extended reading on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Facebook support page
Update: Extended reading on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Facebook support page
6 Scribbled Comments:
I saw this on yahoo and wanted to thwack someone. On the bright side, there's a lot of support for Judy Mays (the writer/teacher). There's a FB support site, even.
So I'm not objective on this subject. But she has every right to write what she wants, especially if she's doing under a pen name! Teachers aren't robots. Many even have children. And I'm pretty sure that requires romance. Unless I'm missing something? Are teachers now made of yeast? (Hey, look! Teacher's budding!)
Personally, I think the parents who complained should see a psychologist, and be themselves fired from parenting.
My big problem with this is that a parent went out of her way to point out that this teacher was writing romance under a pen name - something that probably wouldn't have come to light without her interference.
Also, I'm wondering why that parent was scouring the internet for interviews with the author. Presumably, that means she read one of the books and wanted to know more about the author, and then was surprised to see that it was her child's English Teacher using a pen-name.
Why go so far out of her way to unearth something that wasn't doing any damage? None of the students knew, and she wasn't trying to make them read her book. Teachers are allowed to have private-lives.
Now, if she were writing about High School teachers having wild sex with their students, I might be concerned, but this is as ridiculous as saying that teachers shouldn't have sex lives.
What really gets me is that one of the mothers said something to the effect of "How will my son feel sitting in her class wondering if she's looking at him a certain way...." WHAT!? This woman has been teaching for years and there haven't been any complaints about her before. There was no reason to suspect her then, so why now? I did my student teaching in that district, and knowing the district and location, which is very rural, I can't say that I'm terribly surprised. But the students love her (as evidenced by this video) and if they're not bothered by it -- and they don't seem to be -- the helicopter parents need to back off a little.
R.: I agree. As long as the students aren't feeling uncomfortable because of it, I don't see any harm.
Thanks for posting this. Brilliant. I shared on FB.
AJH
AJ: Glad I could put it in front of you to share. :)
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