Name________________________________
Mr. Arresto
Date_____________
Literature Section # __________
Decision on Ray Bradbury’s “Veldt” Not a Cliffhanger
Beaverton school administrator goes along with committee and keeps story on reading list
BY RAY PITZ
The Beaverton Valley Times, Sep 28, 2006
A Beaverton School District administrator has upheld last week’s book
review committee recommendations allowing students to read a short story by
science fiction giant Ray Bradbury.
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On Friday, Sarah Boly, district superintendent of teaching and learning,
signed off on keeping Bradbury’s “The Veldt” as part of the curriculum taught in
the Junior Great Books series.
On Sept. 20, an instructional materials review committee recommended
that Bradbury’s short story, “The Veldt,” should continue to be read in district
middle schools despite a complaint from the parents of a middle school student
who thought its language and plot were inappropriate for students.
In a written response to Kristi and Tracy Roberts, Boly stated that the story
was “consistent with the district’s general educational goals” and that the
committee did not believe the story condoned the actions of the character.
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“It was also their (the committee’s) contention that the story sets the stage
for engaging classroom interaction providing that a classroom culture of respect
and thoughtful discourse is also prevalent,” Boly wrote.
At issue was Bradbury’s 1951 story about children placed in an artificial
environment where they create a world of predators. When the parents attempt to
remove the landscape, the children lock the parents inside the fantasy room where
they are killed by lions.
“The Veldt” is part of an anthology of stories used in the district’s Junior
Great Books series.
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During last week’s review committee meeting, both Kristi and Tracy
Roberts said they believed the violence in the piece was not appropriate for
students at any district grade level.
Kristi Roberts earlier had said that the story wasn’t followed up by a
discussion of consequences for the children’s actions and she also objected to
some of the language spoken by the characters.
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Last year, the couple pulled their daughter, who was then a Stoller sixthgrader, out of the class during discussion of the story.
The review committee was made up of a middle school principal, two
middle school language arts teachers, a library/media specialist and the parent of a
middle school student. None were associated with Stoller.
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The committee could have voted to retain, remove or modify the story. In a
6-0 vote, the group recommended that the work be retained.
Rachael Spavins, a parent and volunteer coordinator at Cedar Park Middle
School, said she read “The Veldt” as a lesson on how technology has impacted the
nuclear family.
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Spavins said her sixth-grade daughter saw it as a warning that “too much
television and computers are bad for you.”
In the end, said Spavins, it came down to the amount of trust placed in the
judgment of teachers.
“Fortunately, I have a huge amount of faith in the staff in the district,” she
said.
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Teacher David Slater said he felt Bradbury’s piece was a warning that when
interpersonal relationships are taken out of the family, evil is introduced.
“I too saw this as a cautionary tale and a really rich piece for discussion,”
said Jenny Takeda, a district library specialist.
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However, Tracy Roberts noted that if the book were a motion picture
shown in school, students would have to have permission to see it.
“If this was a movie, in my mind it would be rated PG-13,” he said.
“Literature isn’t rated that way and at what point do we draw the line?”
Although there was brief discussion on whether works of literature read in
the schools should have warnings on them, the idea was dismissed.
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After the committee’s decision, Kristi Roberts said she was disappointed but
not totally surprised, having been warned that it is difficult to have such a work
removed.
Directions: Answer the following question on a sheet of loose leaf using the
hamburger paragraph. Use this page to plan your response.
Topic Sentence – Must include FAT + main idea of paragraph
Text Based Detail 1 – Line(s) #________________ Use a DIRECT QUOTE for detail #1
Commentary – Use the helpers from Writing Ditto #4.
Text Based Detail 2 – Line(s) #________________Use a PARAPHRASE for detail #2
Commentary – Use the helpers from Writing Ditto #4.
Closing Sentence – Give the paragraph a sense of finality, but don’t just reecho the question!