Schools in Florida have removed classic literary works from the curriculum under the states new law, a teacher has claimed.
Books such as Paradise Lost by John Milton, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne as well as Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream were among the restricted works.
Dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which was passed under Republican governor Ron DeSantis, the ‘Parental Rights in Education’ law has been expanded, giving the state the power to restrict LGBTQ content.
DeSantis has faced backlash after Florida passed the law last year, which requires teachers to remove books deemed inappropriate for children by conservative parents and school boards.
Critics see the law as part of an effort to limit discussion about difficult questions around race and sexuality in public schools.
Schools in Florida have removed classic literary works from the curriculum under the states new law, a teacher has claimed. File image
Dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which was passed under Republican governor Ron DeSantis (pictured in May this year), the ‘Parental Rights in Education’ law has been expanded, giving the state the power to restrict LGBTQ content
A teacher said she was ‘gobsmacked’ to find out that some of Shakespeare’s classics are restricted to only 10th through 12 graders because of sexual content.
Other popular works like The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller have also been taken off school’s bookshelves.
She explained that she wants to ‘engage her students and offer them literature that makes them think,’ adding: ‘It’s just so frustrating and disheartening,’ she told the Orlando Sentinel.
Despite some containing sexual material, the teacher said that the works contain other literary themes that provide teaching points.
School officials in 37 states have attempted to restrict at least 874 individual book titles in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, according to PEN America.
Overwhelmingly, the 30 per cent of the books banned are about race, racism, or feature characters of color, while 26 per cent have LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
But De Santis has slammed critics that claim he has enacted a book ban, saying it is a ‘hoax’ made up by liberals.
The potential 2024 election candidate lauded his policies that allow curriculum transparency so parents can challenge what is being taught or distributed to their children at Florida public schools.
‘Part of Parents Rights means you have a right as a parent to curriculum transparency, you have a right to know what is being taught in your kids school,’ DeSantis said.
‘Pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards.
‘Florida is the education state and that means providing students with a quality education free from sexualization and harmful materials that are not age appropriate.’
Most commonly ‘banned’ books in classrooms
Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe
Reason for ban: Gender identity themes
Flamer, by Mike Curato
Reason for ban: LGBTQ themes
Tricks, by Ellen Hopkins
Reason for ban: Sexual themes and drug use
The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault
Reason for ban: Sexual themes
Crank (Crank Series), by Ellen Hopkins
Reason for ban: Drug use
Sold, by Patricia McCormick
Reason for ban: Sexual slavery material
Push, by Sapphire
Reason for ban: Sexual assault material and incest
A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas
Reason for ban: Sexual themes
This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
Reason for ban: LGBTQ themes
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
Reason for ban: Sexual themes and explicit language
Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur
Reason for ban: Sexual themes
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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