Will you ever buy another Scholastic book?

[gulliver]

My son's school handed out Scholastic catalogs today. While I find them kind of a pain, I almost invariably buy a few books from them. If they don't unequivocally drop all association with "Path to 9/11," I will never buy another Scholastic book. Ever.

Will you?

[woodsprite]

1. No I won't. But I figured I'll send them my email again

itemizing the money I would have spent but instead have donated to a Dem candidate. :)

[rox63]

2. I will buy the Harry Potter books, which are published by Scholastic

But those are the only ones.

[wakeme2008]

there is only one more

and I will buy it but that's it.

[joeprogressive]

20. buy them used so Scholastic doesn't profit directly

n/t

[MaineDem]

25. Neither does the author. n/t

[YDogg]

3. They're just another cog in a big wheel.

Most of their stuff is decent, from what I have seen.

[LostInAnomie]

4. Are we sure that they had seen the film and knew of the lies?

They may have just accepted some free materials and distributed them hoping that it would be helpful to teachers.

I would really hate to go after a company like Scholastic that has distributed so many books to kids and has a fairly long history of doing good things for schools.

[Donnachaidh]

6. they already had a flier on the show up on the net

So the answer to your question is YES.

[cbear70]

5. have to share this

My nine year old had a scholastic catalog due today , we have been putting it off.. anyway Abby heard me talk these past couple of days and she marched up to me and said " mom, if they are lying, i can't buy books from them." Then she threw it away. Then she spit on it. LOL...she was really angry. She cracks me up.

I will buy books if they back off...but if not, never again.

[roody]

7. Someone posted here that the

Scholastic News put out before Bush invaded Iraq was mouthing the lies of Bush. After that, I never bought Scholastic News again for my first graders.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. You think I'm gonna skip Harry Potter Number 7 for no reason?

Remember, Scholastic has pulled their bullshit "Path to 9-11" materials to rewrite and fix, and have taken ABC's logo off it as well.

[LWolf]

9. Yes.

They're the biggest publisher of books for kids. If I'm doing everything I can to promote a passion for books in my students, I'm not going to be boycotting all of the books Scholastic publishes. The library for the Preschool - high school segments of the reading population would be way too thin.

I will communicate with them and make sure they know when I disagree with something they do. I'll also exercise my professional judgement in what materials I use in class.

To be honest, I've never needed to use a commercially provided "unit" or "lesson" to go with materials that I use. Those are for people who don't develop their own stuff. I also don't use commercial television programs as "curriculum."

[Acryliccalico]

10. NEVER ! ...................... n/t

:kick:

[TayTay]

11. Yes, they heard the voice of the people and pulled their support

of the ABC movie-lie. I have no problem with them now.

[CoffeeCat]

12. Here's the letter I sent to Scholastic today...

Dear Sir of Madam,

I am the mother of two daughters; a kindergartner and a first grader. We are big fans of
Scholastic books. In fact, I just placed a $20 order on Wednesday. Regrettably, if you
do not pull all involvement with ABC's "Path to 9/11" mini-series--this will be my last
book order with Scholastic.

I am not a political activist. I have never written a company to express displeasure about
a political issue. However, I could not ignore the fact that Scholastic is--in effect—supporting a movie that contains distortions, factual inaccuracies and fictitious scenes that favor Republicans and put Democrats in a negative light. By disseminating ANY materials on this movie (even if the materials are neutral and designed only to spark discussion), you are encouraging children to view inaccurate, partisan materials that distort American history and leverage one political party over the other.

I would be just as angry if Scholastic crafted materials to accompany Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Did you know that every Democratic United States Senator sent a letter to ABC's Disney--denouncing the movie and threatening legal and legislative action if the series is aired? The lies in this movie are just that serious. President Clinton and several of his cabinet members have stated that events in the movie are fictitious. Why would Scholastic want to be connected--in any way--to this film when the errors and propaganda are so obvious and serious?

By disseminating information about this film--you legitimize lies. You also encourage students to watch a version of 9/11 that is very upsetting to many parents. There are plenty of accurate, well-written accounts of 9/11 that accurately depict the mistakes made by both the Clinton and Bush Administrations. ABC’s “Path to 9/11” is not one of them.

If Scholastic truly cares about children and their parents--they will not provide ANY materials related to this film.

Again, with deep regret--if you chose to disseminate any materials to students--the last book order I placed with you--will truly be the last.

Sincerely,
*****

[WildEyedLiberal]

13. They pulled their support

Said it "didn't meet their high standards for dealing with controversial materials."

It's important for DUers to know that Scholastic did the right thing.

[Erika]

14. Scholastic is still pimping the ABC movie

They are history.

[WildEyedLiberal]

16. Um, can you back that up?

Link, please. OTOH I got an email today from American Progress Action which contained the following quote:

"Yesterday afternoon, we learned that Scholastic, a major educational publishing company that had been working with ABC, is putting the brakes on its plan to distribute a study guide on the movie to 100,000 high school teachers. Scholastic "determined that the materials did not meet our high standards for dealing with controversial issues."

So, um, maybe you should stop saying that they are "still pimping the ABC movie" or else provide a source for that assertation. Otherwise, it's a bit hypocritical for you to claim to oppose the Path to 9/11 because of its inaccuracies while you spread one yourself.

[Dem2theMax]

17. Do a search. It's all over DU. I can't do it for you. Not a doner. nt.

[AZBlue]

15. Why wouldn't I?

I have no issue with the updated guide. It's very non-partisan. It points out that actual events were changed for the movie. It also has students analyze media's perspectives and looks at how events and people can be portrayed differently depending upon that media outlet's point of view.

It asks students to do their own research, look at the bias in media, and then make up their own minds and create their own conclusions. Isn't that what we wish all Americans would do??



Overview from their website:

The guide helps teachers to discuss these important questions:
(1) What are the matters of dispute in the docudrama? What are the scenes that were altered or did not happen? How do these scenes affect your understanding? Are the changes part of an effort by the producers to shape your beliefs about these events? In your view, is this an appropriate way to treat an event such as this?
(2) What are the different views of the relationship between the attacks of 9/11, the Iraq War, the war in Afghanistan, and the unrest in the Middle East? Many people believe that there is no connection between Iraq and the events of 9/11. Others believe that the broadly defined “War on Terror” justified the invasion of Iraq. As you study the background of events leading up to and following 9/11, what do you think?
(3) There is a long history of conflict in the Middle East. How well do you understand each of the countries involved and what influences their behavior?

http://www.scholastic.com/medialiteracy/

[BlueIris]

18. Nope.

As I posted on my favorite blog, Cannonfire, this morning, finding out about Scholastic's role in this whole mess has fried a large portion of the remainder of my innocence (seriously). Totally pooed all over many happy memories of my elementary school teachers ordering books for us out of those big, shiny Scholastic catalogues I loved. Shame on you, Scholastic. Shame. Makes me real glad I didn't buy the sixth HP book, and thought the fifth SUCKED.

[depakid]

19. Kinda hurts their credibility

If they're willing to spread lies like this- then what other lies are they spreading?

[joeprogressive]

21. They have only now started to pull back b/c of threat of boycott

The fact they supported this obviously fraudulent project at the beginning has blown it for them. The only way I would ever support them again is if they came out with an official statement disavowing this film.

[Tsiyu]

22. Nope

How they can join in on the dumbing down of our kids is beyond me.

I guess some CEOs at Scholastic are on their knees for Herr Booooosch, just as too many these days. That's why we all keep hearing that sucking noise.

[roody]

23. I teach first grade.

I have sent home the book orders and always feel frustrated when the order comes back for strawberry shortcake glitter glue sticks, or some other cheap crap. Scholastic has been pimping for some time. Many of their books are some story that goes with a television show or movie. I did not vote. I am thinking about it. I quit on their Scholastic News when they supported the invasion of Iraq by presenting B's lies as truth.

[City Lights]

24. Nope.

It's a shame too, because teachers get lots of free books based on classroom orders. Ditto for schools who have those Scholastic book fairs. From now on I'll just make a monetary donation to the school in lieu of buying Scholastic stuff.

[Kablooie]

26. Good Lord people! Hasn't anyone checked the Scholastic website?!

http://www.scholastic.com/medialiteracy/

They've turned the whole thing into a discussion about the lies in the film.

This is pretty bold of them in my book.