The Smyrna School District does not intend to remove Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” from its Advanced Placement curriculum, despite a political group’s recent criticism about the book’s graphic content. Smyrna Superintendent Pat Williams said Thursday that the book is an approved part of the course aligned with an exam designed to test students’ knowledge of subject material. “All of our AP courses offered at Smyrna High School are strictly voluntary, and students who sign up for them are introduced to postsecondary curricular content established by the College Board, as noted on the course syllabus,” Mr. Williams said in a letter to Smyrna School District families.
- AP is college curriculum. If parents feel their student cannot handle it, they don’t have to let them take it. — Michael McKain
- Agree! Also, hope they don’t let them read the Bible! That has some crazy stuff in it! — Elizabeth Brode
- My kids would not be allowed. I believe it should be taught at home or by a medical professional! Not a teacher. Sorry. — Pamela Miller Marek
- Ahem, teachers are professionals. Many educators have master’s degrees. Medical professionals have enough to do; they do not have time to teach literature. — Kerry Schab Stahl
- Just because a child is smart does not mean they are mature. There are 9-, 10, 11-year-olds in college. Are they mature enough to learn this? — Pamela Miller Marek
- So because there is like one or two 10-year-olds somewhere in a college, 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds in an AP class shouldn’t read a book? By that logic, because a pedestrian in New Castle County got hit by a car, no one in Smyrna should be allowed to drive ever again. — John Smith
- I’m starting to think it’s a slippery slope, banning books for high school students who are soon to be considered adults and need a well-rounded education. They will be faced with real-life situations. Parents should have discussions with their children, so they can decide for themselves what they think of books and content. — Ruth Ann Curry
- Lord knows they aren’t exposed to any adult themes on the internet. — William Mazzariello
- True, plus, very few of us were naive to how the mechanics of human sexuality worked by the time we finished our freshman year, even back in the dark ages before the internet. It’s hard to believe how many people like to pretend teenagers are not going to be curious. The end result is they don’t feel comfortable speaking to adults about it and have to try to put it together with each other’s sketchy knowledge about it. — Julie Penny-Stowell
- Have they removed Shakespeare out of the schools yet? Because Macbeth was a highlight and the only reading I truly remember. — Jeff Grzeszczak
- Good for Smyrna for not backing down! — Jonathan Beenick
- Yeah, so now, young girls can be demeaned and prepared to be mistreated! — Karen Justison Rhodes
- Have a nice day! You have apparently not been educated on this subject. — Jonathan Beenick
- Oh, I’ve read the excerpts from “Song of Solomon.” Have you? — Karen Justison Rhodes
- Lines just keep getting blurrier until it is a line no more. — T.J. Mitchell
- Don’t remove it! This sounds more like communism each day. I thought freedom was also freedom to learn different views, not one specific group. When education is restricted due to politics, only the politicians have access to all the information. They will create a class of uneducated people who cannot think. All we have to do is look back at how socialism, communism started in Europe and how far it went. History is history and cannot be erased. If we cut the parts we don’t like, it will repeat because it was forgotten and not learned. What is happening to this nation? Watch the movie, “Interstellar,” not for the sci fi but for the view of the U.S. as republic. That’s where we are changing history and science to suit. — Pao Mac
- Exactly! We have to see the world through each other’s eyes to form a true and lasting empathy. — Lisa Steinberg
- Can we stop now? The ones who scream “cancel culture” now want culture canceled. — Jo Dee
- Seventeen-year-olds can go and see a R-rated movie. To be in AP Literature, you have to be a senior; therefore, 17-18 years old. If you can go see a R-rated movie, you can critically read a book with some bad language in it. — Dale Bert
