New Jersey Principal Censors WritersCorps Book
May 18th, 2009 by Admin
WritersCorps made the news today, but not for anything we were expecting. A principal in Vineland, New Jersey has censored a copy of “Paint Me Like I Am,” an anthology by WritersCorps students published by HarperCollins.
After one parent complained about the content of a poem, principal Don Kohaut removed pages from “Paint Me Like I Am” that included the poem “Diary of an Abusive Stepfather” by a Bronx WritersCorps student. What the news story does not mention is that the poem is followed by a second poem by the same student, Jayson Tirado, entitled “Diary of an Abused Son.” Together the poems tell a story of a father with substance abuse and anger problems, and a child who suffers as a results of it.
We at WritersCorps stand behind our students and their writing, which portrays many aspects of their lives, from happy moments to sad and tragic ones. We also thank the principal: Nothing gets teens to read poetry like banning poems.
