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Bedford parent urges board to rethink use of graphic novels for teaching 9/11, Holocaust and internment
Summary
A Bedford parent told the board she objects to using comics and graphic novels (examples cited: a 9/11 comic, the graphic novel Mouse, and George Takei's memoir) to teach grave historical events, and urged policy IJ be reworded to require materials treat such subjects with 'respect' and appropriate skill level.
During public comment at the Bedford School Board meeting, parent Anissa Hunt Carr said she attended a Bedford High School open house and objected to several instances where graphic novels or comics are used as source material for serious historical topics.
Hunt Carr described a 10th‑grade assignment that asked students to interview someone who lived through Sept. 11 and contrasted that oral history with a comic strip the class was shown about 9/11. She said her mother worked in the Pentagon on Sept. 11 and survived the attack, and that the comic medium reduced the gravity of those events. She also cited concerns from another parent who described dismay that the graphic novel Mouse was used to teach juniors about the Holocaust and that George Takei’s graphic memoir on Japanese American internment was used in an American Dream class.
Hunt Carr said the district’s updated IJ draft, which encourages current materials and multiple media types, could inadvertently encourage introduction of materials she regards as inappropriate to teach matters of grave historical importance. She urged the board to add language emphasizing that materials addressing serious historical events be treated with "respect" and be appropriate to students’ grade and skill level.
Board members thanked Hunt Carr and asked administrators to research the specific items she referenced.
