It makes me terribly sad that the average Joe off the street can decide what my kids are "subjected" to. This guy lives in my town, but his kids are home schooled. So why in the hell does he care what MY kids are reading? What makes him an expert on what MY kids can "handle"? My kids listen to music (my teenager's choices will make your ears bleed, I swear), watch television and movies (there are some pretty disturbing shows on the Disney Channel, in case you haven't noticed) and play video games (war games with blood and cursing). Some people would argue that all of those things are "bad influences on young minds". Uh huh. Do you ever leave your house? Do you realize that actual live, in-the-flesh PEOPLE have just as much impact on kids as the media? Do you seriously think that the "bad words" that come out of kids' mouths are learned from books?? No, they're learned from mom, dad and every other adult they come in contact with, thank you very much.
I like books. Scratch that: I LOVE books. I spent most of my childhood curled up in a chair, in or under a tree or on my bed reading. I read plenty of "inappropriate" stuff (Danielle Steele was just dirty!). Whatever. I turned out just fine. No, really. I did. Without those books, I would have been miserable. Yes, I'm sure of that. Books made my brain work; made the wheels turn and made me think about things outside of myself. And as a kid, if I saw a "bad word", it was just another word. It had a different impact when I was reading than when I heard it out loud. It was just a word.
I don't know where I'm going with this. I just think this guy needs to be quiet. Worry about his own children. They aren't in the school system, so what the hell are he so bent about? That guy is a "professor of management" at Missouri State. I guess he thinks he needs to manage everyone else's lives.
Amy - This is what I posted in response to the article your are referring to....You are kidding. Right? This is the last kind of guy I want my children to be exposed to. I hope he is not teaching at MSU - an institution of international awareness and academic achievement. How humiliating this must be for his employer. I am a taxpayer and I want control over what my children read...the more they read the better. Has Scroggins been in the real world? What will his children do when they are exposed to the real world? Run? Duck? Bury their heads in the sand? Since we find children often follow the footsteps of their parents, then it looks like their only option is the head in the sand. Pity. They live in a city of hypocrites. Thank you, Mr. Scroggins, for clearing this up for us once again. What we might not be aware of is that those outside of Springfield are not stupid, they see us for the hypocrites that we are. How can they miss? There are huge churches on every other corner while adult shops and bookstores grace the opposite. I refuse to raise ignorant children who think that proclaiming to be Christian is enough. It is not enough. We talk a good game here, but would fail if we had to play the real game outside our city limits. If I want my child to have a Christian education, whatever that is, then I will see to it that it happens. I want my children to know what is to come, what they might face, how the world really is and what others are capable of. Stay off my bookshelf, bub. I am the mom. I make these decisions and I want good books, classics and contemporary, in my daughters' classrooms and libraries. If I didn’t, I would home school.
ReplyDeleteThat is a marvelous response!
ReplyDeleteSpringfield, while not a bad town, drives me bonkers. I know SWMO is not the only place like this, but they pretend to be so much bigger and more diverse than they actually are.