Is TTYL on your school library book shelves?

Several of my Virtue Alert readers brought an issue to my attention several weeks ago that has been getting quite a bit of media attention in Round Rock, Texas (which just so happens to be a neighboring community of my hometown of Austin, Texas). In a nutshell, several parents upon discovering the book, ttyl in their child's middle school library began a campaign to have the book removed due to highly objectionable content that they argued (and I agree) is inappropriate for middle school aged children. I should note that this book has been on the shelves for several years, but wasn't contested until now. As a side note, there are other books by this same author that are being disputed in other schools districts.

The concerned parents appealed to school administrators by presenting a petition with nearly 2000 signatures supporting the removal of the book or at the very least, the need to develop a labeling system that would tip students (and parents) off to books that contain objectionable content. Mind you, the book portrays the lives of a group of girls in high school, yet has been made available to children in middle school, some as young as 11-12 years old (6th grade).

Sadly, in spite of the efforts of this group of concerned parents, the reconsideration committee voted 5-4 this past week to keep the book on the shelves in the middle school libraries. I should also note that our local news stations reporting on the story mentioned that another school district had removed the book from middle schools upon being made aware of the offensive content, so the efforts of this group of parents were not entirely in vain. I also discovered that the book is available in middle schools in Austin, but has not been challenged (to my knowledge). Sigh.

But here is where the story gets downright humorous. This is the statement the Round Rock, Texas school released regarding the decision to keep the book on the shelves:

"Parents have the right to limit the type of books their child has access to and can do so by speaking with the school librarian. A parent does not have the right to limit what other children have access to... only their own."

I say the statement is humorous because I am picturing nearly 2000 parents requesting to speak with the school librarian. And then I am trying to picture the school librarian somehow developing a reasonable strategy to uphold this ridiculous assurance given by the school. Hmmm...., did they really think that one through?! Why is it that parents who are committed to protecting the innocence of their children are often penalized in an effort to protect the rights of children whose parents could care less (or are clueless) about what their kids are exposed to? Don't we support the public schools with our tax dollars, too?

As if that statement wasn't absurd enough, the news reporter covering the story interviewed a mother who said something to the effect of this: "You know, our kids are exposed to this kind of stuff every day so what's the big deal if they read about it." Congratulations Ma'am, you just made it onto my list of wimpy parents. Let me guess -- you're also planning to host all the liquor parties at your house in the future as a "safe alternative" because our kids are all destined to drink anyway, right?

When this story came to my attention weeks ago, I asked one of my staff members to take a look at the book and report back with her thoughts on the content. The rest of this post is a book review of ttyl by Virtuous Reality staff member, Jamie Lamb. After reading it, you might want to check with your middle school and see if it's on the shelves in your school library. Here is Jamie's review:

I came to the conclusion many years ago that no matter what we do for a living, we should all have to take the Hippocratic Oath which states, in short, “First, do no harm.” So if you are an actor, a doctor, a teacher, a scientist, a mom, a writer, a pastor, an artist, etc…please use your powers for good and not for evil. After reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that it does a considerable amount of harm, especially in the hearts and minds of our girls. It does absolutely nothing to make the world a better place.

ttyl is a novel written in IM speak which consists of excerpts from the lives of three sophomore girls who are trying to hold onto their friendship while navigating high school. The most offensive conversations in the book have to do with a whole lot of talk about sex (of course), being seduced by a teacher who calls himself a Christian, teens getting drunk, lots of cussing and crass conversation, gossip, back stabbing, and poor family relationships The girls’ are short on character, a danger to themselves and each other and their relationships are shallow and sad.

Below are some excerpts from the book if you want a clearer picture of what we’re talking about. I’ve disguised some of the more offensive words to keep the p@rn googlers from landing on this page. Before reading the excerpts, I want you to keep something in mind. Part of the statement released by school officials in Round Rock was this: "Librarians use book review journals to determine which books should be purchased and for what grade levels. In particular, ttyl had high ratings and was recommended for grades 5 and up," wrote RRISD Director of Community Relations JoyLynn Occhiuzzi."

Pgs. 6 & 7 – “SnowAngel: ROB TYLER is in my French class!!!...on Friday we have to do “une dialogue” together, I get to ask for a bite of his hot dog…and tonight when I do my homework, I get to fantasize about his summer sausage. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*”
Page 7: (talking about teacher mr. h) - “did he stare at your b@@bs?..... so watch out. he makes a big deal of being all Christian, but what that means is the he’s majorly sexually repressed. whereas I, on the other hand, am not…”
Page 10: Honestly, I can’t even bring myself to type the offensive text on this page. Suffice it to say that it has to do w/ talk of orga@m in a language so graphic that it is better suited for a porn publication.
Page 15: “she said he got a total stiffie while they were talking. she said it was hysterical”
Page 59: “WTF”
Page 65: “rob is being a total p#$is-head"
Page 115: “what about mr. h? angela said that’s why you got those new jeans, to get him all hot and bothered….. did he jump your b@nes?”
Page 139: “put on cr@#chless panties and do a lap dance for him”
Page 145: (after discussing the porn site jesus.com)…“jana especially liked the endorsements section, where he gives his lubricant rec in 12 tasty flavors.”
Page 151: after discussing getting drunk at a frat party and taking her shirt and bra off…“Holy f&*^….”
Page 165: “F&*^.. did you tell her everything”… “ur not a wh@re”… “just like you’re not a lying b!#ch, stay out of my f&*^ing business.”
Page 174: (discussing hot tub attire after a male teacher invites her to join him at a residence he is house sitting)... “we haven’t even discussed your thong possibilities!”
Page 176: “jana sent pictures…. from that frat party.. she was n@ked from the waist up…subject line was ‘le$b0 slut’… sh@#, sh@#, SH@#….”
Page 186: “did mr. h talk about your bikini again? did he make any moves when u were in the car together?”
Page 205: “AND he” (Mr. H) “was wearing a speedo, which made it doubly horrific.”

The really sad thing about this book is that I (Jamie) kept getting flashes of real girls’ faces in my head. As someone who has worked in girls’ ministry for over a decade, I know there really are girls in our high schools that share some of the same problems as the characters in the book. The big difference is that when you get to know the real girls, they tend to be depressed and sometimes suicidal. They play with cutting and eating disorders because they feel like nobody in the world really loves them. They certainly aren’t happy-go-lucky and ok with the way their lives are playing out, but the author never shows this reality.

As for the author…I started out being so angry with her for the damage she’s doing in the name of fame or fortune or whatever drives her, but toward the end I just got sad for her too. Maybe she really thinks this is all ok, but someday she’ll be held accountable for her words and the impact they have had on many impressionable girls. I can’t imagine her soul is doing all that well if this book is a reflection of what resides in her heart. Matthew 15:18 reminds us, “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’”

With this in mind, here is my suggested plan of action:

• First, we pray. We pray for the kids in our schools that are dying without hope because they don’t know Jesus. We pray for authors who are a danger to their readers because they don’t know better.

• Second, we talk. If you have daughters, nieces, girls you care about, find out if they have read or heard of this book and then have the necessary conversation. I guarantee they will think this is normal high school behavior unless we help them filter it through a biblical lens.

• Third, we do something about it. Go to your school library and see if it’s on the shelves. Bring it to the attention of whoever is in charge and talk with them about pulling it, but please assume the best and present your argument in a spirit of love. Don’t go charging in there like a harpy with her hair on fire. Nobody listens to harpies.

In conclusion, consider this thought-provoking one-star book review by a TTYL reader on Amazon.com:

In the future, robot archaeologists will be sifting through the rubble of a long dead human civilization, patiently searching for the ultimate cause of mankind's extinction. After sifting through the remains of our fallen society, searching through libraries and the streets of ghost towns and the insides of long-dead computers, they will eventually find the horrific shout that set off the avalanche that would destroy us.

They will find TTYL. It will be the first time a robot weeps.

Edmund Burke once said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Will you do something?

(UPDATE TO POST: 11-2-08) I have been away from my computer this weekend (no Internet at my lake house!) and came home to comments in my inbox from the author of ttyl, as well as some of her readers. To my understanding, she has made this post available on her site or offered a link, so I expect that other readers may trickle in. For that reason, I believe it's important that those who are not regular visitors to this blog understand the purpose of VirtueAlert.com.

As I have stated before on this blog, the purpose of Virtue Alert is not to be a forum of debate on sensitive topics between the general public and my regular blog readership. Rather its purpose is to be an aid to help keep concerned, like-minded parents in the loop on topics that may conflict with our mission to raise our children in the Christian faith, according to biblical priciples set forth in the Bible. I will not make any exceptions when it comes to deviating from the purpose of this blog. For that reason, I will post the comments that I have received from the author and her readers (barring a handful that I deem to be inappropriate due to language) and then I will close comments to this post once I have posted this update.

I find it discouraging that any time a Christian states an opinion that differs in principle from someone else's, Matthew 7:1 is often cited. That passage is often misunderstood and refers to "hypocritical judgment" which in order for it to apply in this case, would mean that I had written books similar in nature to ttyl, yet judged another for the same act. My purpose in posting on the controversey surrounding ttyl was to alert parents to something that they may deem to be harmful to their middle-school aged children...not other people's children, but their children. In other words, I am calling attention to an issue for the purpose of putting it on a parent's radar. After that, the parent can decide for themselves what to do about it. Never did I call for a "book ban" and as an author, I am certainly sensitve to the censorship of books.

The issue at hand in this post (as far as I am concerned) is a parent's right to know what their child is reading (a labeling system would solve this problem) and to question the appropriate age of readership for this book. If the backcover states that it's for girls 14 and older (as one commenter states), then why is it being offered in middle school libraries? I stand by my staff member's review and general concensus that the book is inappropriate for middle school aged children. To those who argue that we should make any and all reading material available to our children and let them decide what they read, surely you would agree that that is a very slippery slope. Should public school libraries also include porn publications? There has to be a standard in place and that is what is being questioned here.

I personally do not see any merit to exposing young girls to overly-graphic sexually salacious material when other means could be implemented to illustrate the point or teachable moment. For those of us who are raising our children by principles set forth in the Bible, this type of unnecessary discourse falls under Ephesians 5:3-4 and we consider it to be "fruitless" for our children to be exposed to such banter, especially when there are so many other fabulous books of true literary quality available to read (including To Kill A Mockingbird). That is our right as parents to have such a standard in place. Just as the critics have stated that those of us who disagree cannot limit the rights of others, the same is true for those of us who do not want our children reading such books. You cannot decide for us what is acceptable for our children and we have every right to know if the material is questionable in nature. In a world where so many parents are clueless to what their children are exposed to, I would think we would get some credit even from our critics for being caring, engaged parents. :)

Again, this is not a matter of "censorship" or a call for a "book banning." This is a matter of parents' rights and an expectation that those who have contact with our children respect and honor our rights. As I mentioned before, we pay the same amount in taxes as any other parent when we send our children to the public schools and our rights should be considered. Should a parent wish to allow their daughter in middle school (or younger) to read books of this nature, so be it. I respect their right to do so, and I in turn, expect that they will in turn, respect my right that I do not wish to make the book available to my child.

When it comes to criticism, I sincercely try to live my life by Romans 12:8 (If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.) The ttyl book review is one of many "virtue alert" topics on this blog and in an effort to move onto other topics of interest as well as uphold the original overall purpose of this blog, comments are officially closed. I have nothing at all against the author and never even mentioned her in my original post. My argument is with the appropriateness of the book being offered in public middle school libraries or at the very least, the need for a labeling system to aid parents in their determination of whether or not a book is age-appriate for their particular child.