Things got a little heated in Pasco County School District's first instructional review meeting regarding the book, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” a coming-of-age story.
- Substitute teacher assigned 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'
- Book pulled from class due to sexual content, drugs, alcohol
- Pasco Schools decided to ban book countywide
"It was my daughter that read this material, and it was pornographic," parent Matt Ramer said.
Earlier this month, a substitute teacher at Pasco Middle School assigned the book to her seventh-grade class before pre-reading it. The district says teachers are expected to read materials before using them in class.
The next day, after complaints from parents that the book referenced sexual content, drugs and alcohol, it was pulled from class.
"It's very adult in nature. I don't feel this type of book needs to be in my school," Principal Jeff Wolff said.
But it wasn’t just at Pasco Middle, it was at four high schools. Monday’s meeting decided the book’s fate for all of them with the committee moving forward with banning it countywide.
However, even though the majority of the committee voted to ban it, some thought it was a slippery slope.
“It could very easily lead to 'let's ban all kinds of books that have any kind of mention whatsoever of any sexual content,' " committee member Terri O’Brien said.