Parents and students phoned into Joe Duffy’s Liveline on RTE Radio One today to discuss the graphic material taught on the Leaving Certificate curriculum.
English teacher Wendi Drinan has warned parents of the inappropriate and explicit content taught to their children in school.
In a document, Ms Drinan said: "Upon analysis, it becomes evident that the balance in the choice of text has emerged, 52% of the senior cycle novels and 15% of the junior cycle novels contain a high level of inappropriate and explicit graphic… or offensive sexual material."
Outraged parents phoned into the show to express their concern for their children.
One listener said, “I had been alerted by a friend on email about some of the curriculum and then asked my daughter what she was studying… it was one of these books that was mentioned on the email.”
The listener said that he and his wife looked through the book's content and read the reviews posted on Ms Drinan's website.
He said, “Based on those, we requested that our daughter would not have to use that book for this year for their studies.”
He said the book titled ‘The Lauras’ by Sara Taylor contained “a lot of graphic, objectional graphic content matter” and “graphically describes detailed rape of a minor who’s the main protagonist of the story”.
The listener said he informed the school that he did not want his daughter studying the book, and they immediately changed the text.
He said this was not an issue of censorship but an issue of age appropriateness.
"If the children described, if they spoke in the language and described the events in that book in the corridor of that school, they would quite rightly be subject to sanction.”
He added the book “almost condones” the rape of a minor as it “implies” that the ordeal was a positive experience for the character.
The listener said he understands that children hear about these situations in the media; however, schools should be a "safe place".
He said, “Kids are subject to this stuff across from the media we know that, but the school should be a safe place.
He added: “The statistics say one in four kids, and it's horrible to say it, are sexually abused, now they should not have to be sitting in a classroom, in a classroom sitting, listening to that description.”
Mr Duffy asked the listener if he would not let his daughter read the book, would he also not let her read the Ryan Report on industrial schools in Ireland.
The listener responded: “And what if at the end of the report the authors of the report said and that was all okay, that was normal?”
He said the book “validates and normalises” paedophilia as the protagonist does not report the crime or seek counselling. Instead, the book implied the character had a positive experience.
Another young listener contacted the show as she had read the book as part of her Leaving Cert curriculum.
She said, “We were just sitting here listening, and we're young girls ourselves. I myself read the book… reading this book and being able to analyse it we have developed the skills to analyse the relationships in our own lives that may turn abusive.”
“I think that him (the other caller) restricting that is opening up his daughter to far more trouble in the future because she feels like she can’t even talk about this.”
“So when she’s in closed doors, and she has never had any experience with that type of situation, then it could be far worse for her.”
The caller completely disagreed that the book supported paedophilia and said, “it did not validate paedophilia.”
She said discussing horrible situations such as the rape of a minor in class helps students to recognise the warning signs of unhealthy relationships for themselves.
She said, “The second we start censoring any dark topics within a book means it becomes something that can’t be talked about, and we need to be talking about it.
“By talking about that scenario in a group setting, you are helping victims or potential victims.”
The listener said she trusts teachers to have a positive discussion about these topics as they have had training in how to teach this material.
The material is there to educate students on the signs of an abusive relationship and not to promote sexual objectification.
She said, “That''s why I trust the teachers. They’re not going to put Fifty Shades Of Grey onto the curriculum.”
