Photo courtesy of MailOnline
GILFORD, NH (May 8, 2014) – A father was arrested at a school board meeting in Gilford, New Hampshire, after speaking out against a sexually graphic novel assigned to his 14-year-old daughter.
The book under fire is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. It’s about a school shooting and bullying, but it also includes sexual violence.
The reading assignment had parents at the meeting in an uproar.
One father, William Baer, violated his ‘two-minute speaking time’ while discussing why his daughter should not have been given a book with sexual themes.
“Sir, would you please be respectful of the other people?” a school board member asked Baer.
He replied: “Like you’re respectful of my daughter, right? And my children?”
After a few more words were exchanged, an officer escorted Baer out of the room and handcuffed him in the hall.
The school board apologized for the failure of the school district to send home prior notice of the assigned novel, but they added that it had been part of the school curriculum since 2007 and there had been no complaints.
Additionally, the author Jodi Picoult weighed in on the debate over her book.
She tweeted: “Another parent is challenging #19Minutes bc it contains a sex scene far more vague than anything on TV. Sad to focus on that & not bullying.'”
