More Police nonsense. Father arrested for Speaking Against Sexually Explicit Book

[Deberg_1990]

What the??? He violated the 2 minute rule.

You can jump to around 5:00 in the video.




Gilford, NH- A father of a high school student was arrested at a school board meeting Monday night after protesting the school’s sexually explicit required reading assigned to his 9th grade daughter at Gilford High School.

The book in question, ”Nineteen Minutes” by author Jodi Picoult, is about a school shooting taking place in a fictitious New Hampshire town, and it contains themes of student violence, bullying, and sexual aggression. There is one particularly provocative and graphic depiction of violent, drunken sex between two teens in the story on page 313. Click here to read the passage (warning: graphic language and explicit sexual content).

William Baer came to the meeting to voice his opposition to the school’s failure to send home notification alerting parents of the graphic content. “I’m outraged that Gilford High School would require my daughter to read this kind of material,” Baer told the Laconia Daily Sun.

Josh Youssef, a friend of Baer, spoke with Benswann.com about what preceded the school board meeting and Baer’s arrest. Youssef was at Baer’s home when they were talking about a reading assignment given to Baer’s daughter. Youssef opened the book and came across page 313, and they were shocked by the graphic description of rough sex. “His jaw dropped,” Youseff told Benswann.com.

Baer then contacted Principal Peter Sawyer of Gilford High School last Wednesday to arrange a meeting, but was told by Sawyer it would not be possible to meet before the weekend. Baer attended Monday’s meeting to make his concerns known to the school board. There was a police officer present at the meeting, Gilford Lt. James Leach. Youssef said that he had been told by other parents that it’s not common for police to be present at Gilford school board meetings.

The school board meeting allowed for public comment only; no discussion, questions or speaking more than once was permitted.

After Baer spoke for two minutes- the maximum speaking time dictated by the school board- another parent, Joe Wernig, spoke in support of the book’s content. Baer responded to Wernig’s comments, and it was then that he was asked to leave by Leach. When Baer asked if he was going to be arrested, he was escorted from the meeting by Leach and handcuffed before being placed in a police cruiser. After Baer’s arrest, Lt. Leach was not replaced by another officer for the duration of the meeting.



Baer was not the only angry parent at the school board meeting. Another parent, Sarah Carrigan, said that she was “utterly appalled that this was an ‘oversight’”. Baer’s wife, Barbara Baer, shares her husband’s frustration. “They can discuss this some other way,” she said. “They don’t need that kind of imagery.”

“Nineteen Minutes” has been part of Gilford’s 9th grade AP English curriculum since 2007 when it was published. The school issued a statement that concluded the district “will take immediate action to revise these policies to include notification that requires parents to accept controversial material, rather than opt out.” The school sent out a notice stating that the book assigned “depicts high school relationships, some of which are unhealthy.”

Baer told Benswann.com that the school’s notice was only sent out after he went to the principal to discuss it, and that the notice failed to disclose the graphic passage in the book. “I can’t believe the school requires this as reading material,” he said. “There’s no reason to expect this kind of thing.”

While some parents say that this book opens up critical dialogue between parents and their children, Baer noted that when he asked Sawyer to discuss the passage in context with the rest of the book, Sawyer said he was uncomfortable doing so.

In the extended video below, given to Benswann.com by Youssef, Baer is shown being arrested after speaking out. Youssef believes, and the video shows, at minute 5:05 the superintendent signalling Lt. Leach to confront Baer to remove him from the building.



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[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by alpha_omega

I read the article 3 times and still don't know exactly why he was arrested.

He violated some asinine "2 minute" speaking rule.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Demonpenz]

Hot sticky cum was the name of my freshman punk band

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

I can't roll my eyes hard enough at every person involved in this story.

Overprotective dad.

Teacher should have known better.

Principal should have handled immediately.

School board should have never had father removed.

Cop should have laughed in their face when they wanted him arrested.

But most importantly...

That writer should be ashamed for writing about hot sticky cum on the carpet. Doesn't move the story forward and is completely pointless. Needlessly graphic and takes you out of the scene. I'm not offended as a parent. I'm offended as a writer. Pure shock value. Stupid.

Yup.

[Amnorix]

Meh. 9th grade is what? 14? 14 years old is pushing it, so I can kind of see it being ok, but honestly I wouldn't push it quite that far.

By 14 I had a collection of not just Playboys, but Penthouse and Hustlers, and some Penthouse Letters. I had read, far, far, FAR worse, and it only left me the tremendously mentally scarred person that I am today.

And with a deep and abiding affection for Mindy Farrar, but I digress..

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

He violated some asinine "2 minute" speaking rule.
Posted via Mobile Device

No, he followed that rule according to the article. He was removed because he was trying to argue against another speaker by taking a second turn himself. I would imagine that the rule was set up to prevent conflicts.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Meh. 9th grade is what? 14? 14 years old is pushing it, so I can kind of see it being ok, but honestly I wouldn't push it quite that far.

By 14 I had a collection of not just Playboys, but Penthouse and Hustlers, and some Penthouse Letters. I had read, far, far, FAR worse, and it only left me the tremendously mentally scarred person that I am today.

And with a deep and abiding affection for Mindy Farrar, but I digress..

I was selling Playboys (etc.) in 9th grade. There was an old guy that supplemented his income by dumpster diving and I bought a stack of about sixty off of him for five bucks. I sold them for fifty cents per pictorial. Made some good money.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Fish

Damn. No way I'd let my 9th grade daughter read this..

Uhhh, yeah.....I would not allow my kids to be reading that in 9th grade.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by alpha_omega

I read the article 3 times and still don't know exactly why he was arrested.

Disorderly conduct. He knew the rules going into the meeting and he violated them after another parent spoke in favor of the book. If the guy would have just shut the **** up and listened to other people's viewpoints, there would be no story.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

Disorderly conduct. He knew the rules going into the meeting and he violated them after another parent spoke in favor of the book. If the guy would have just shut the **** up and listened to other people's viewpoints, there would be no story.

^

[Dayze]

"Dear Penthouse"....

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

No one had previously complained. Perhaps they were underprotective parents?

Perhaps other parents didn't think to skim through a book called "Nineteen Minutes" looking for sexually explicit material.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Perhaps other parents didn't think to skim through a book called "Nineteen Minutes" looking for sexually explicit material.

Perhaps if the book had been titled "Nineteen Seconds"...

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Perhaps if the book had been titled "Nineteen Seconds"...

So they did it twice in the book? I didn't read much of it.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Meh. 9th grade is what? 14? 14 years old is pushing it, so I can kind of see it being ok, but honestly I wouldn't push it quite that far.

By 14 I had a collection of not just Playboys, but Penthouse and Hustlers, and some Penthouse Letters. I had read, far, far, FAR worse, and it only left me the tremendously mentally scarred person that I am today.

And with a deep and abiding affection for Mindy Farrar, but I digress..

The difference between what you describe and what this book apparently portrays is that the characters are of the same or similar age to the intended audience. They can be identified with and come across as being more "real" and more imitable. To make it a required reading without parental consent would definitely upset me as well.

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by El Jefe

Over protective? You would allow your 9th grade daughter (hypothetical if need be) to read that?

By the time they reach 9th Grade, kids know all about sex. I don't see anything particularly attractive literature-wise on that particular page, but it's not like it's going to make the class room instantly turn into an anal rape orgy.