George Dawson Center College in Texas Banned Guide Written by Eponymous Writer?

George Dawson Middle School, named for the grandson of an enslaved person who discovered to learn at age 98, is claimed to have banned a e book written by the person after whom the college was named. This rumor has appeared in social media posts since 2022, together with a Reddit post shared that 12 months with greater than 60,000 upvotes.  

The declare originated in media protection by main shops comparable to CNN, Business Insider and HuffPost. A college district in North Texas that features George Dawson Center College allegedly banned the e book “Life Is So Good,” cowritten by Dawson, in accordance with the social media posts. 

Nonetheless, it is false to say that both the e book or its content material was banned. Reasonably, some parts of its content material had been flagged as inappropriate for some age teams, and the district stipulated the e book have to be accompanied by “teacher-led instruction” if it is used within the classroom.

“‘Life is So Good,’ the e book written in regards to the life and legacy of George Dawson, has NOT been banned,” Carroll Impartial College District mentioned in an e mail to Snopes on Oct. 8, 2024.

North Texas tv information station KDFW-TV first reported on Aug. 24, 2022, that Carroll ISD in Southlake, northwest of Dallas, was reviewing sections of the e book “to see whether it is applicable to show at George Dawson Center College” after a seventh-grade instructor requested the title to make use of at school readings.

The autobiography particulars Dawson’s firsthand account of Twentieth-century America, from “segregation and civil rights, to the wars, presidents, and defining moments in historical past,” as described by Goodreads. Most notably, Dawson, the grandson of an enslaved particular person, discovered to learn on the age of 98.

In an e mail to Snopes, the college district confirmed that “nothing from the e book was banned.” Reasonably, a instructor was “requested to facilitate age-appropriate dialogue regarding delicate content material in a single chapter of the e book.” 

The varsity district additionally confirmed that as of October 2024, the “e book is on the market to learn inside Dawson Center College to today.”

Carroll ISD offered this assertion from 2022 outlining how Texas faculty districts decide content material for his or her college students. It learn: 

College districts are ruled by insurance policies that oversee curriculum and educational materials content material, which outline how greatest to find out age and content material appropriateness for college kids. Lately, there was some hyper-charged rhetoric within the media about “e book banning” and what content material is and isn’t applicable for college kids of various ages.

1. Carroll ISD has a coverage, EFA (Native) for Educational Supplies, that enables a proper problem course of (i.e. Guide Problem Course of) of educational supplies and oversight by the Board of Trustees for these supplies which might be requested to be bought.
2. With the implementation of native insurance policies, CISD has an inner curriculum evaluation course of for the academic supplies requested by our lecturers for use in school rooms. This course of critiques all required readings for age and content material appropriateness throughout all topic areas and grade ranges. The Curriculum Evaluation of Required Studying course of is carried out by a district crew through the summer season months consisting of lecturers, principals, and curriculum coordinators.

It’s by these two layers of evaluation by college and the Board that present the appropriateness for our college students. 

Forward of the 2022 faculty 12 months, “Life Is So Good” was reviewed together with different books requested for classroom readings. The district decided that content material in a single chapter was not applicable for seventh-grade college students, although it didn’t specify which chapter. Educators had been allowed to make use of the e book with “teacher-led instruction” the place they will “facilitate the supply of delicate content material and nonetheless convey the message of the creator,” the college district wrote. 

In 2023, the U.S. Home of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability acknowledged the incident, stating:

One e book, Life Is So Good, the true story of George Dawson, the grandson of a slave who discovered to learn at age 98, and for whom a center faculty within the district is known as, was recognized for evaluation as a result of lecturers had been involved they’d be reprimanded for educating it at school.

PEN America, a nonprofit group that tracks e book bans across the U.S., didn’t embrace “Life Is So Good” in its most up-to-date index of banned schoolbooks, which covers July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023.

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