Central Fla. Mom Says Assigned School Novel Is Porn
POSTED: Tuesday, September 13, 2005
UPDATED: 6:25 am EDT September 14,
2005
DELAND, Fla. -- A mother of an 11th grade student in Deland filed a formal complaint Tuesday claiming a book her daughter was assigned to read by her literature teacher is pornography.
Vikki Reed said a 1992 novel, "Cracking India" by Bapsi Sihwal, given to her daughter to read by a Deland High School teacher is not suitable for students and should be banned.
The novel details historic events in India in the 1940s through the eyes of a young girl.
However, Reed says it discusses oral sex and should not be assigned to students.
"The real issue is a 9-year-old girl having or being introduced to oral sex by her cousin who is going through puberty," Reed said. "To me, that is totally inappropriate. I don't know where learning about India would involve learning about oral sex."
The book was recommended to Deland High School students to broaden literary horizons, Local 6 News reporter Tarik Minor said.
"Clearly there is explicit language in the book," school board member Chris Colwell said. "Clearly the book contains material that does require a mature reader."
School board members have assigned a committee to review the book.
Reed's complaint is based on four pages of the 289-page book.
"I was appalled and, to be honest with you, I was a little amazed because my daughter has been in school for 11 years now and I never thought I needed to go through and censor what she is reading," Vikki Reed said.
The committee will deliver their findings about the book to the school board in about a month.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2005 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and
Local6.com.
All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed.