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Board keeps '13 Reasons Why' available to eighth-graders with parental permission
Summary
After public comment and committee review, the Spearfish School District 40-2 board voted to retain 13 Reasons Why in the middle school library for eighth graders only and only with explicit parental permission; the committee recommended restrictions and a suicide-prevention 988 sticker.
Spearfish School District 40-2’s board voted March 9 to retain the novel 13 Reasons Why on the middle school library shelf but restricted to eighth-graders with explicit parental permission.
The decision followed public comment from Reverend Doctor Thomas Brown, a Spearfish pastor and father of eight, who urged removal. "This book... details the 13 reasons why Hannah Baker chose to kill herself," Brown said, warning that the novel contains "vivid" and "graphic" depictions of sexual assault and that to a struggling teenager it could signal adults "will fail you too." Brown told the board he had…
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