A teacher gets his students to read probably one of the only short stories vast amounts of his students will thoroughly enjoy this semester, and his job is in jeapordy?

Go around the building's halls and pass out clandestine copies of Naked Lunch. Read from American Psycho over the loudspeaker. Paste passages from Tropic of Cancer near the administration office door. Someone tell these school officials that high schoolers can like, handle and appreciate art, even if it is vulgar.

I would agree with the administration here if the suspension was based on the total lack of literary value in Palahniuk's work, but if it's just censorship then I have to back the edgy English teacher, who has no doubt jumped on many a table in his day to challenge his students' perceptions.

jimmy and matty --- stfu,,,, im a student a the skool and mr.v is a great teacher he only showed us that 2 get us prepare for the regents so dont talk if u dont know

This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.

Just read the story is sickening,totally gross. Not censorship, just very poor taste. Obviously, "kassandra lopez", needs a great deal of preparation for the "regents". Seems like she needs preparation for 3rd grade English versus 3rd year of high school.

Mr. V is a great teacher, definitely a teacher who can keep students interested in a book or story. Being in V's class, i experienced his teaching methods first hand and learned a lot from him. What i took from his lessons was to dig for a deeper meaning, question the purpose of everything. That's what V's all about.

This is an offensive book with no literary value at all. Kids can read whatever they want on their own.

I'm sure he's a great teacher, but this was a very bad decision. Instead of telling kids "don't tell anyone this happened", don't do the thing in the first place.

This is an offensive book with no literary value at all. Kids can read whatever they want on their own.

I'm sure he's a great teacher, but this was a very bad decision. Instead of telling kids "don't tell anyone this happened", don't do the thing in the first place.

I have to disagree a hundred percent with the notion that Palahniuk's work has no literary value, especially since that's arbitrary and you have no right to state something like that.

I hate censorship and I don't think this teacher's job should be in jeopardy but Guts is pretty graphic and sickening. I think there is value to it but if it's taught I think it should be to college level students who don't live with their parents who will get upset about the material in their classrooms.

Chuck Palahniuk has great work. I used to think he was just some cliche writer with some stupid teenage cult following, unti I started reading his stuff. I applaud this teacher.

I was forced by my Assistant Principal, (Miss Carmen Daniels of Brooklyn- a fraud if ever there was one) to teach a book that was far more offensive. The book, 'The Cotillion' by John Oliver Killens, is filled with anti-semitism, racism, homophobia, extremely graphic sex scenes(including a gay orgy) and more. The "N-word" is dropped about a thousand times, and is used to describe Jesus at one point, which really brought the parental complaints in.
I complained to my Principal, "Dr." Richard Forman (a chiropractor, not a PhD.) and offered to give him a copy of the book, but he refused to read it.
One of the biggest problems in NYC schools today is the abundance of administartors, a story which seems to go unreported. Clara Barton High School (the 'scene of the crime') has 15 Assistant Principals (yes, fifteen, including two for the English dept.) who earn $100,000 each and teach one class per day. They also have a Principal (one of the worst in the 5 Boroughs) and two "Vice Principals." That's almost 2 million dollars of the budget, for people who do little or no work, while the teachers are forced to buy their own paper for photocopies.

I was forced by my Assistant Principal, (Miss Carmen Daniels of Brooklyn- a fraud if ever there was one) to teach a book that was far more offensive. The book, 'The Cotillion' by John Oliver Killens, is filled with anti-semitism, racism, homophobia, extremely graphic sex scenes(including a gay orgy) and more. The "N-word" is dropped about a thousand times, and is used to describe Jesus at one point, which really brought the parental complaints in.
I complained to my Principal, "Dr." Richard Forman (a chiropractor, not a PhD.) and offered to give him a copy of the book, but he refused to read it.
One of the biggest problems in NYC schools today is the abundance of administrators, a story which seems to go unreported. Clara Barton High School (the 'scene of the crime') has 15 Assistant Principals (yes, fifteen, including two for the English dept.) who earn $100,000 each and teach one class per day. They also have a Principal (one of the worst in the 5 Boroughs) and two "Vice Principals." That's almost 2 million dollars of the budget, for people who do little or no work, while the teachers are forced to buy their own paper for photocopies.

sorry for the double post! I was trying to correct a misspelling.

i went to the school and liked mr. v, but sometimes he did do and say things that are not right for a teacher. i think if we were honest, many would have to agree. we read the story last year, too, but he didn't get caught. he did this year. we should be glad that everyone is only talking about this one thing or he might lose his job.

Kassandra you need to go back to school, why are you mad at Jimmy and Matty and telling them to be quiet when they don't know him yet they were defending him (that means they are on his side, saying he is right if you don't know what defending means!). You just showed your stupidity in a big way honey!!!

Ich bin gerade mit dem Apple iPhone unterwegs. Man kann den Weblog hier sehr gut darauf surfen.