Letter: Letters to the Editor Penned by WHS Students Prove Power of Education
Robin Rosen Chang said their letters demonstrate "how well these students can evaluate and respond to arguments and articulate their own views."
I am writing in response to Ms. Githens’s Letter, “Parent Asks for High Standards and Return to Common Decency in Schools,” which appeared on February 15. In this letter, Ms. Githens voices her objection to the decision by some Westfield High School English teachers to include the 2007 National Book Award winner, 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,' by Sherman Alexie, as part of their curricula. Ms. Githens complains about “new age, graphic narratives filled with expletives” and their “potential devastation…on our children’s overall quality of learning.” She also condemns the “anything goes” philosophy she feels exists in many of our schools. Ms. Githens goes on to articulate her view that books such as 'The Absolutely True …
In this Article:
Benji Schwartz
11:14 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012
You are willing to call these students "lightweight material", and yet you have shown me no material that would suggest that you are above their level in intelligence. You claim you won't criticize them because they don't have the right perspective to argue back, yet your arguments are the ones that are lacking said perspective. @Steinbeck, yes this is speculation, but; I think you're the one who… more ›