Teacher Tense After Book Complaint

Roanoke Times & World News

A teacher at William Byrd High School briefly stopped teaching "The Scarlet Letter" after a parent last week complained about another book his 16-year-old son brought home from another English teacher at the school.

Three copies of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" were removed from Roanoke County high school libraries. A three-librarian panel will review the book and recommend whether it is returned to shelves.

Last year the coming-of-age novel by Stephen Chbosky ranked sixth on the American Library Association's Top 10 list of the most frequently banned or challenged books. The novel, written in letter form from a teenager's perspective, contains sexually explicit scenes.

Superintendent Lorraine Lange said it has been stressful for teachers at the school since an article about the father's complaint was published last week on the Web site WorldNetDaily. The article prompted readers all over the country to send e-mail messages, some of which were inflammatory, to teachers, administrators and school board representatives.

Formal requests to remove material, known as challenges, "create a great deal of stress," said Angela Maycock of the library association's office for intellectual freedom. "Teachers and librarians may be targeted personally for the professional decisions and professional judgments they make."

County school officials have not publicly identified either of the teachers involved, but the superintendent agreed the situation is tense. "She [the second teacher] got scared," Lange said. "She was halfway through it ['The Scarlet Letter']. She didn't want to see her name in the newspaper."

Students resumed reading the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel after the teacher was reassured it was appropriate for class. The classic, which tells the story of a young woman who has a child out of wedlock in Puritan New England, has been a standard part of the high school English curriculum for years.

The review of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is under way but school spokesman Chuck Lionberger did not specify when it will be done.

Two copies of the novel were removed from William Byrd High and a third was taken off the shelves at Hidden Valley High School. A third county school library, Cave Spring High School, also had the book until last school year when it was reported missing. Per the division's policy, the ruling on the challenged book applies to only the school where the complaint originated.

John Davis, the parent who complained, said in an interview last week he awaited the panel's decision. "It's not really anything I was looking for except making folks aware," he said. "I was hoping to get the Gospel out some more. We need repentance in the land."

When a challenge is publicized it often prompts more people to read the book, which could explain reports of area stores selling out of copies last week. "In a lot of ways it has the opposite of the intended effect," Maycock said.

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