Michigan parents protest school board over explicit books in school library
Dr. Moe Sohoubah, who is a father of eight, joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the Dearborn school board meeting the broader concern surrounding the books in the school library.
A public school district in Wisconsin recently added a fantasy book series to its e-library about a group of students' plot to assassinate their teacher, drawing criticism from a parent in the district.
Elmbrook Schools' librarians included five books from the "Assassination Classroom" series in its e-library starting with the 2021-2022 school year. The science fiction "manga" series, which is a type of comic or graphic novel originating from Japan, documents the repeated attempts by a group of students to assassinate their alien teacher, and includes sexualized content and pictures of students bringing guns and knives into class.
"Ever caught yourself screaming, ‘I could just kill that teacher?’ What would it take to justify such antisocial behavior and weeks of detention?" the Amazon description of the series reads.
"Especially if he’s the best teacher you’ve ever had and determined to help you discover your hidden talents, raise your grades, and acquire opportunities you never dreamed possible? How about blowing up the moon and threatening to do the same to Mother Earth—unless you take him out first?! Plus a reward of a cool 100 million from the Ministry of Defense!" the description continues.
But, Book Looks' description of Volume 1 in the series warns it "contains explicit violence; mild profanity; and sexual activities."
One illustration in the first book depicts a young woman in a short dress with a small holster strapped to her left upper thigh while she straddles a man laying on his back on a mattress as she aims a handgun at him. Another illustration shows a group of students all pointing guns at their alien teacher, with the page titled "Killing in the Homeroom," according to Book Looks.
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Asian Student girls wear face mask prevent COVID-19 coronavirus in Classroom for final test education exam room on High school. Students hold pencil writing paper documents for taking exams in room
The second book introduces a female assassin hired as an English teacher at the school, who uses her "womanly charms" to kill her targets, according to Book Looks.
"He's checking her out!!" one student says of the female assassin teacher, "He's not even trying to hide it," another student adds, "Yeah … figured he'd like curves," a third student chimed in.
The alien teacher and female assassin are shown walking toward a building alone to which a student remarks "Are you serious … ? They're sneaking off into the storeroom?" Later on the woman is illustrated facing down and someone asks "He … slimed her?!" and the woman is depicted as saying "You're incredible in bed" multiple times, according to Book Looks.
In the fourth book, a male student states her "only asset is …" "her sex appeal," which includes more drawings that again show the assassin teacher's cleavage while she straddles a man.
Kay Koepsel-Benning, Elmbrook's Director of Library Services told a parent whose child attends high school in the district in an email that "context is always important" and provided reasons she believed the book was appropriate for students, according to the email, shared with Fox News Digital.
"Front and center in our discussion should be the fact that the teacher in this series is an alien octopus determined to destroy Earth," Koepsel-Benning told the parent. "This is a science fiction manga (comic or graphic novel originating from Japan) series."
The parent also raised concerns that the district might be promoting gun violence against teachers by including the series, but Koepsel-Benning described this claim as "inaccurate," adding that the district librarians "are professionals promoting reading and learning, working day in and day out serving our learning community."
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A costume of the teacher in "Assassination Classroom," which is an alien octopus. ((Photo by Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images))
She also warned the parent against using Book Looks, stating that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction "cautioned school librarians" in regard to the website as review source, "as the information provided on this site is not curated by library professionals."
Book Looks is run by "concerned parents who have been frustrated by the lack of resource material for content-based information regarding books accessible to children and young adults," and provides reviews of books parents may be concerned about.
Instead, she suggested the School Library Journal, which is a professional review source the district used when purchasing the series, and noted the book is recommended for grades 9 and up and is only available in Elmbrook to students at the high school level.
"Repeatedly parents are being told that public school employees know what’s best for their children," a parent whose child attends Elmbook Schools told Fox News Digital. The parent wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. "We keep finding alarming materials and public schools defend them."
"It’s clear there is a disconnect between community values and the values promoted by public schools," she added. "We’re not asking for schools to censor books, we’re asking for schools to offer materials that promote academic achievement and healthy psychological concepts. This series promotes content which undermines the fabric of our community."
Another parent raised her concerns about the series' depiction of violence and the sexualization of minors, especially given violent events at high schools in recent years.
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"It’s concerning that Elmbrook brought content into schools that glamorizes gun violence," she said. "In addition, concerns over hypersexualization of minors and inappropriate relationships in manga have been made for years."
The assassination attempts in the book get the kids the attention "they deserve," according to the School Library Journal, which was recommended by Koepsel-Benning.
"This seems very unhealthy to promote, especially to students who may not be able to process these characters appropriately," the parent said. "The Slender Man stabbing that happened in a neighboring school district was inspired by a fictional character, so unfortunately, this being a fictional series could still inspire real world harm."
"We cannot control what kids view outside of school, but it’s hard to see why this series was deemed appropriate to place in Elmbrook’s libraries," the parent concluded.
The Elmbrook School District told Fox News Digital "after applying our current book acquisition guidelines to this series we have decided to remove these books from our collection." The district said the decision was made Thursday morning.
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