The novel of the multiple-Tony winning Broadway play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has been taken off a summer reading list after parents complained about swear words and the book “taking of God’s name in vain.”
After receiving emails and telephone calls from parents over “concerns over the delivery of the text”, Allen Burch, the principal of Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida, cancelled the assignment because he wanted to “give the the opportunity for the parents to parent” according to the Tallahasse Democrat.
“To have that language and to take the name of Christ in vain – I don’t go for that. As a Christian, and as a female, I was offended,” said Sue Gee, a parent who e-mailed the principal on July 20.
According to the Democrat, “the f-word is written 28 times, the s-word 18 times, and the c-word makes one appearance.”
Critics of the decision are calling it an act of censorship. “I feel like it is second-guessing teachers. I never thought that the school would participate in an act of censorship,” Valerie Mindlin, whose children attend the high school, told the newspaper.
The novel by Mark Haddon is about a 15-year-old boy, with Asperger’s Syndrome, who investigates the death of a neighbour’s dog and uncovers dark truths about his family.
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