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Fall-Out in Niagara Falls

The following letter appeared in the Niagara Falls Gazette on February 6, 1969:

Has pornography replaced the prayer at the Lewiston-Porter High School?

Remember when we were kids and the prayer was part of the three R's? This apparently offended some people, and to insure that the minority would not be subjected to the will of the ma- jority, the prayer was removed from the school. Currently, the Pledge of Alle- giance is under attack in this state be- cause it includes the phrase "under God." While the vocal minority feels that our immature adolescent must be protected from any reference to God, they (and our school administration) have no qualms about assigning obscene material as required reading for the twelfth grade sociology class.

On Jan. 19, I wrote a letter to the school administration objecting to the school policy of distributing the maga- zine Trans-action as required reading. Specifically, I objected to the manner in which the article, "Sexual Assaults in the Philadelphia Prison System and Sheriff's Vans" was presented. This article is little more than a catalogue of perverted acts described in the obscene language of the prison inmates.

Judging from the January issue of the same magazine I am led to believe that this method of presentation has become the editorial policy of this publication. In an article entitled "Confrontation at the Conrad Hilton," on the subject of the Chicago riots, the magazine again saw fit to employ the liberal use of the direct obscene quotes of both students and police.

My letter to the school administration called for the immediate cancellation of the school's subscription to this maga- zine.

Their response was a careful defense of the subject matter and the use of "dirty language" in its presentation.

The school policy of using this means

of presentation was justified by the school administration on the basis that this is a college preparatory course, Just what may I ask are they preparing them for? A vocabulary of choice epi- taphs (sic) to be used in student riots, or simply a source of four-letter words to be used on their placards?

The justification they gave for the use of obscene language was that the subject is ugly, and "can only be de- scribed in terms that to many people seem obscene and shocking." They ne- glected to inform me whether this is because our students are incapable of understanding a more palatable presen- tation of the subject, or if our teachers are unable to communicate in the man- ner used by our more responsible pub- lications . . . . I was told that this maga- zine is not required reading in that it is not necessary for the student to sub- scribe through the schools. However, the required topics for the seminars are restricted to those contained in this publication, and all students, whether they paid their subscription fees or not, are supplied the magazine. Apparently then, it is only required for those who wish to pass the course . . . .

The author suggested that parents read the two issues in que.rtion and that they appear with him at an open school board meeting to be held the following Monday, February 11, to express their belief that "this material is unsuitable as required reading in our schools."

Several days later, use of the maga- zine was defended by a twelfth-grade member of the sociology class (the Gazette, February 10, 1969):

I will agree that some of the language is really gross and when t read the magazine for the first time I was shocked. But the language used is real and unavoidable. The articles are com- plete in covering the topics. There is no condensation, if there was any the meanings would be damaged.

Do not feel that the youth of the

Lewiston-Porter School District are be- ing taught to use four letter words as part of a high school course. I invite [the writer] to ride his child's bus. The language used on the bus is enough to "educate" any child . . . . Also remem- ber that the magazine shows us, the generation of tomorrow, how life really is. Trans-action is a terrific complement to our course. Do not take it away from us.

Another letter writer defined the issue this way:

�9 . . I feel compelled to respond to [his] letter for many reasons, but pri- mary among these is my revulsion to- ward a steadily increasing effort to render education useless while making it inoffensive to petty sensitivities�9

This effort seems to have set as its objective a type of control that reminds one of George Orwell's Thought Police. Rather than investigate, analyze and attempt to understand certain unpleas- ant realities, the people who busy them- selves exerting this effort prefer to close their eyes and minds to all that is not in perfect harmony with their per- sonal concept of God, the American flag, conventional propriety and mom's apple pie. This is the worst kind of prejudice, and prejudice of any kind is not condu- cive to the awareness that should be a product of education.

A reputable and objective journal such as Trans-action, which appears on the periodical shelves of every college and university that chooses to address itself to the consideration of contem- porary problems, in the hands of an ex- tremely capable teacher like the man that Lewiston-Porter is fortunate enough to have in its employ, creates an ideal learning situation--one that is especially fruitful and necessary to a community which maintains isolation and insulation from problems which torment the more amalgamated community.

It can only be regarded as healthy when the sheltered suburbanite student learns in the classroom the same things that television has been telling him about all along . . . that ali's not right with the world, that some men are so trapped and frustrated in their predica- ments that they resort to desperate ob- scenities, and that the problems of the world belong to all of us.

The students of today are much more sophisticated than were the students of 30, 20, even 10 years ago. They are in constant touch with the harsher realities of existence. While waiting to attend his afternoon kindergarten session, a five-year-old can monitor divorce pro- ceedings, world affairs, presidential

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press conferences, and any number of other worldly matters that would have been non-existent to the five-year-old of another era.

I prefer not to judge whether such awareness is right or wrong; the im- portant fact is simply that it exists, and it is frequently impossible to "protect" the child from knowing. He is a little more hip, even at five, than his eventual confrontation with Dick and Jane might indicate,

This sanctimonious tendency to ap- point one's self as custodian of the morality and will of others is intrin- sically evil, despite any underlying good intention.

The school board meeting that Mon- day turned into a veritable town meet- ing attended by about 200 persons, with more than 24 faculty, students, and parents taking the floor, Legal counsel for the New York State Teachers As- sociation opened with a statement in defense of the faculty and administra- tion. "The teachers' association feels the basic issue here is academic freedom, the association feels no matter should be withheld from the teacher and it op- poses a board of education banning any books without explanation."

A number of parents supported the demand that the magazine be with- drawn from classroom use. We quote from the Gazette's coverage of the meeting:

"'Maybe a high schooI edition shouId be requested." This is a good maga- zine but not for high school students. It should present the positive ap- proach, not only the negative atrocities." He emphasized his concern with the language used in the article on prison life. "If one of my kids came in the house and said " you morn, I'd de- capitate him."

A Lewiston father said he was "fed up with academical (sic) freedom and 'tell it like it is.' . . . This just hides people in California who tear down col- leges and those who burn buildings in Montreal," he said. "How about a bill of rights for the taxpayers who foot the bill? Let's not be stampeded by academic freedom. Let's take the reins in hand."

A father and daughter who attended the meeting were divided over the mag- azine. The daughter, said, "I don't un- derstand all the fuss. We hear swear words in passing and they're forgotten. That's all there is to it." Her father said he had not read the magazine and "am opposed to her way of thinking . . . . I don't think I'd read it. It wouldn't do me any good," he said.

Others defended the use of the mag-

azine. A student said she thought it was about time parents realized their chil- dren aren't "little kids" anymore.

"We can accept our role as mature individuals," she said. "Our generation is used to this type of language. This is a freer society. In the past parents haven't taken note of what we've been learning."

Another student said that he would feel "more insulted if I felt the mag- azine was censored, that a high school student couldn't take it.'"

"I hear these words on the buses and in the locker rooms," he said. "I ride the elementary bus once in a while and I'm more shocked by the language of the sixth graders than by anything in the magazine. We're better off to learn in classrooms regulated by the teachers."

A Lewiston father commented: "It is not a question of the language

used in the magazine. The articles con- cern subjects that young people should know about and I support them and the teachers in this issue 100 percent. And I don't want to be part of any com- mittee that would go to the editors of this magazine and tell them what they can and cannot publish."

A nurse in the junior high school said she wondered "how many parents had a learning experience out of this article."

"How many would let their boys stay in jail over-night on some minor offense after reading this?" she questioned.

A mother commented that "peopIe are so aware of the language instead of what's going on in the prisons and what's the meaning of the Walker Re- port." She suggested that if parents were so upset by "obscene" language they might understand how Negroes and police officers feel about it.

Another said she hoped her children would have "these teachers" in the twelfth grade and that the school board "will allow this."

An instructor at Niagara County Community College took the teachers' side. "I commend the teachers," she said. "Students don't want hypocrisy. They're idealistic, many wouldn't mind joining a sit-down strike. You can't send intel- ligent, honest young people unarmed into a jungle."

According to the school superintend- ent this was the first time in his ex- perience "that there has been such a furor over what was being taught in the schools."

The meeting ended with the Lewiston- Porter Board of Education voting 6-0 with one abstention to uphold use of Trans-action in the classroom. In a sum- mary editorial of February 13, the Ga-

zette commended their decision to up- hold the right of teachers and adminis- trators to choose controversial materials for classroom use:

Academic Freedom Issue Is Resolved in Debate

There is no doubt that the "problem" --use of nasty language in a magazine which is offered for supplemental read- ing in a senior course on sociology--was a serious one. Vulgar and dirty words have been printed in two of the mag- azine's articles. Some parents objected and appealed to the board to discon- tinue use of the magazine in the class- room.

Defenders of the sociology course and its teachers asserted, however, that if young people are going to learn what is happening in the world--the objective of sociology studies--teaching some- times must be done in graphic and specific terms. They maintained that it is better to have such discussions take place in classroom under supervision by adults than among students alone in the streets.

Supporters of the course maintained that the obscene incidents reported in the magazine were important subject matter for study as evidence of what our society has permitted to happen un- der certain circumstances. The protesters claimed that this can be done without resorting to gutter language.

After more than two hours of dis- cussion, the board voted to back the teachers and allow continued use of the magazine--but agreed to keep close watch on future issues to make sure that a recent change in ownership of the magazine hasn't changed its aca- demic approach.

As indicated, not all parents of Lew- Port children are going to be satisfied with this action. They, too, undoubtedly will be watching the magazine for fur- ther appearance of material that they consider objectionable--which, of course, is no more than their duty as parents.

An interesting feature of the con- frontation, which reflects credit on the school board and parents, is that every- one was able to discuss the issue in a calm matter, in public, on reasonable terms.

It also was pleasing to see teachers ready to defend their fellow profes- sionals on what they felt was an issue of academic freedom, as well as inter- ested and earnest students who sat quietly and patiently and some of whom spoke articulately in support of their teachers and in favor of a sociology course which they feel helps them un- derstand the world around them.

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