Parent Claims 'Ender's Game' Is Pornographic; Teacher Who Read It To Students Put On Temporary Leave

from the all-those-buggers dept

Like many kids, I read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game around the time I was in middle school (where I was from, it was junior high school) -- which is about when it came out. I don't remember exactly when I got the book, but I do remember that the reason I read it was because my father had heard about it and after reading it himself thought I'd like it. He was right. As the next two books in the series came out, I read those too. About five years ago I reread the whole series (including the additional "Shadow" books that came out later) and it's still an enjoyable set of books, even if the first book is by far the best of the bunch. So it's a bit crazy to hear that a middle school teacher in South Carolina was put on paid administrative leave for reading part of the book in class, after a parent argued that the book is "pornographic." I have to admit, I can't remember anything about the book being even remotely "pornographic," though, as Julian Sanchez joked, the book is full of "buggers."

As Reason points out, the police were even called in to investigate, though (thankfully) they quickly determined that no criminal charges should be filed. But, seriously, what is wrong with people that they'd claim that such a popular book, and one that so many young teenagers read, is pornographic, and that a teacher should be investigated for reading it? Since when did we become so fearful of words and stories? Ender's Game is widely considered a good book for teens to read, and with very good reason.

Filed Under: children, ender's game, kids, orson scott card, pornography, teaching