Town Loses A Good Teacher -- Courant.com

Crude language? Adult situations? Sexual references? Thank god he didn't give her a Shakespeare play... he'd be locked up for years.

No I would not recommend this article. The author's view is far too one sided. Either this writer does not have any children or he is completely insensitive just like the teacher. The town did the right by letting this teacher go.

The school board did the right thing firing this guy. I'm not sure why anyone would question there actions.

Now that this school board has defined pornography as strong language and adult situations, I think they might want to remove all those pornographic Holy Bibles from the library now.

You people are morons. I am absolutely at a loss here. Moreover, I am deeply saddened that future students have been deprived of an effective educator because some stupid, kneejerk, closed-minded, overreactive, cravenly PC parents got their panties in a twist over what sounds like nothing more than a somewhat unorthodox reading assignment (I bet it's a pretty good book, too). I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope the people responsible read these comments. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.

Seems I ought to have put in my two cents earlier, when I first read reports of this sad comedy of errors, but I was paralyzed with the fascination that can come when witnessing a train-wreck. So, though it may be too late, My hat is off to Nathan Fisher for offering one of Dan Clowes' best works to a ninth-grade student. It's a work richer, more complex and far less licentious than many on the school's approved reading list—and a book, coincidentally, that I 'd passed to my own daughter when she was in ninth grade (she's at Yale now) with no obvious ill-effects from that reading experience. Clearly, the comic book format brought out atavistic tendencies in the authorities concerned who have damaged Guilford's reputation and all the parties concerned.....If Nathan Fisher needs a letter of recommendation for his next teaching gig, I volunteer my services.

—art spiegelman, author of Maus, a Pulitzer Prize winning comic book. who can be reached through Dan Clowes' and my mutual publisher, Pantheon Books.)

Yet another example of decreasingly literate parents and communities imposing hypocritical and contradictory limitations on young people's reading material. CHARLES BUKOWSKI is on the school's list of approved summer reading, for god's sake. All that dude does in his books is screw prostitutes and get falling down drunk.

And saying the comic in question is intended for "older" students is technically true, but misleading since it's approved by the American Library Association as "appropriate for 10th grade and up", and the girl was in 9th grade.

Yet another example of the dumbing down of America. Frank Zappa said it best with, "It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with stupidity and make it work for you."

Today's America, where EVERYTHING is blown out of proportion relative to the "cult of the children" which has been cultivated by overprotective parents who blame everyone when their child is involved. Kids can no longer be punished by schools or teachers in fear of a lawsuit. School policies are decided upon based mainly on what the liability exposure is rather than what is best for the child. Any school in America can be the target of this kind of witch hunt on teh whim of any ignorant parent determined to "protect" their child. Wouldn't it be fair to say that there is some book or curriculum in any school in America that could be blown out of proportion as this was and the school and or teacher brought down by it, while the ignorant, overprotective parents feel so righteous in their success. What a shame.

Hey Houston, TX- wow exciting name calling, but the teacher got it right and quit, truly atavistic.

Another non-balanced journalistic effort by Mr Green,my bird cage needed new lining.

God Bless America-free speech works both ways

Yes, it's so very good that these busybody parents were adamant in dealing with one of the bigger problems we face today -- kids reading!
We wouldn't want that, now would we? We all know that kids reading books and comic books are running amok and ruining our Earth!
After all, it's been proven time and again that books, comic books, TV, music, art, video games, and knowledge in general are VERY dangerous and must be strictly controlled!!! Right?

The takeaway? Insinuate loudly, use anonymous postings on the Internet to make your point, whine about the persecution of your child as a result of your own actions, and above all….spread lies and feed hysteria, and you will accomplish much. Much, at least, as it relates to the illiteracy rate in that particular neck of the woods.

Congratulations, Guilford. You just made a victim of the only innocent person in the bunch while rewarding his victimizers.

www.drumsnwhistles.com

Wow, a lot of you who posted here could really benefit from spending some time in Nate Fisher's english class. First, for those who have their knickers in a twist over the supposed one-sided-ness of this article - it's from an opinion column which is placed in the editorial section of the newspaper. This section of the newspaper is SUPPOSED to contain opinionated writing! If you'd picked up and read a newspaper front-to-back more than once in your life you'd know this. And Marcus, it's "their" not "there".

That said, I was greatly saddened when I came across this news item today on the Huffington Post. Nate is a wonderful guy and was a good friend of mine when we were both undergraduates at UConn. I can only imagine what an amazing teacher he is, and I truly hope that this ridiculous affair does not ruin his career and his life.