It doesn’t matter how often I hear about what happens with children in school these days, it never ceases to amaze me. In this recent bit of news, it was a permission slip that was sent home for a parent to sign. It wasn’t so they could go on a field trip or for them to take part in some type of potentially dangerous activity, it was so they could read a book.
The book was Fahrenheit 451, a book about book censorship that took place in the McCarthy era amid an extremely paranoid political climate. The message of the book still seems to be apt, because some children are still not allowed to read the book without a permission slip being sign from the parents. One of those permission slips was sent to Daniel Radosh, who is the head writer for the Daily Show. His son needed the permission slip signed so he could read the book as part of a book club.
tfw your kid's school makes you sign a permission slip so he can read Fahrenheit 451 ? ? pic.twitter.com/t9lmD8vKTu
— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) October 24, 2016
The objections really fell short of the mark when it comes to this particular novel. The only thing that would be more ironic is if parents were having copies of this book burned! He signed the slip and attach the following note, giving a sarcastic praise to the teacher.
Here is his note:
I love this letter! What a wonderful way to introduce students to the theme of Fahrenheit 451 that books are so dangerous that the institutions of society — schools and parents — might be willing to team up against children to prevent them from reading one. It’s easy enough to read the book and say, ‘This is crazy. It could never really happen,’ but pretending to present students at the start with what seems like a totally reasonable ‘first step’ is a really immersive way to teach them how insidious censorship can be I’m sure that when the book club is over and the students realise the true intent of this letter they’ll be shocked at how many of them accepted it as an actual permission slip. In addition, Milo’s concern that allowing me to add this note will make him stand out as a troublemaker really brings home why most of the characters find it easier to accept the world they live in rather than challenge it. I assured him that his teacher would have his back.
Via: Daily Dot
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