Category: Education
Texas’s Book Censorship Hysteria: An interview with Ashley Hope Pérez
Ashley Hope Pérez responds to the recent censorship of her award-winning book Out of Darkness in Lake Travis ISD and Leander ISD, Texas.
Happy Birthday, Nikki Grimes!
Nikki Grimes, award winning poet and author of books for children and adults, was born on October 20, 1950.
Fall IFRT All Membership Gathering
The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) invites all current members to attend our fall All Member Gathering of IFRT on Friday, October 22nd, 2021 from 4pm-5pm (Central Time). This virtual gathering will feature Banned Books Week show and tell, trivia, and time to chat and meet other IFRT members.
Intellectual Freedom Censorship After Banned Books Week
Examining the top 10 challenged books of 2020 during Banned Books Week reveals deeper and more widespread attempts to limit intellectual freedom.
How Should We “Bee” Thinking about Satire?
While some argue that Facebook and other large tech companies are suppressing or censoring conservative viewpoints, the companies argue they are only taking down “false information.” But how does satire fit in?
When Education Standards Stereotype, Marginalize, and Eliminate Indigenous Peoples
South Dakota’s Department of Education eliminates numerous proposed revisions to its Social Studies standards related to the Oceti Sakowin in favor of a more “honest, patriotic” curriculum.
Mahoney v. Levy: the Evolution of Students’ First Amendment Rights
On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of Brandi Levy and public school students’ speech rights, in the case Mahoney School Board v. Brandi Levy. In 2017, Levy, then a 14 year old high school student in Pennsylvania, tried out for her school’s varsity cheering squad. After not making the team, she vented her frustrations in a Snapchat video, where she flipped off the camera and dropped a few swearwords. The school, after seeing the video, subsequently suspended her from the junior varsity cheer squad, saying that her video and its message violated the cheerleading code of conduct. After failing to come to a resolution with the school, Levy and her parents sued, arguing that punishing her for off campus speech violated Levy’s First Amendment rights.
AASL Tackles Labeling Practices in School Libraries
AASL formally dissuades school librarians from labeling items according to content and reading level.
New from ALSC: Intellectual Freedom Programming Toolkit
The ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee has just released their Intellectual Freedom Programming Toolkit. Intellectual freedom is not just for Banned Books Week, and this toolkit offers ways to provide bitesize servings of important IF concepts at any time of year. Rather than replacing existing programs with IF-centered activities, we can embed those ideas in popular programming that’s already being done.
Stop Bullying Trans People!
A U.S. Court of Appeals upholds an elementary school’s decision not to publish a 4th grade student’s essay encouraging people to stop bullying transgender people.