Tuesday 29 November 2022 04:15 PM Picture book about 'Mermaid boy' will remain on second-grade curriculum in ... trends now
A children's picture book about a boy who wants to dress a mermaid has sparked controversy in Connecticut after being included in a second-grade class curriculum.
The book 'Julian Is a Mermaid' by author Jessica Love, tells the story of a boy who wants to become a mermaid and take part in the renowned Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
Several parents in the Fairfield County town, Darien, have asked the school district to review its decision to approve the book.
Parent Megan Watros brought the book to the attention of the Board of Education at a recent meeting after it was read in her second-grader's class, Darien Times reported.
At the school board meeting October 25, Watros said she is 'all for' diversity in education but called the book 'inappropriate' for a second-grade class given its discussion of gender themes and what she interpreted as promoting gender transitioning.
'Education on changing gender should be completely off-limits,' she said.
Children's book Julian is a mermaid, which is about a boy who wants to dress a mermaid, has sparked controversy in Connecticut after being included in a second-grade class curriculum
Founded in 1983, the Mermaid Parade, depicted in the book pays tribute to a century of Coney Island 'ingenuity, revelry, and pageantry by celebrating the artistic vision of the masses'
Several parents in the Fairfield County town, Darien, have asked the school district to review its decision to approve the book
'If this is the path the school wishes to take with the social and emotional learning, because that's the guise that they're hiding this under, then we should be able to opt out.'
In a memo sent to parents, the curriculum team explained that the book met the district's core values of diversity and inclusion and supports acceptance and empathy.
The memo added that the book's inclusion of gender identity is not the main theme of the lesson unit but 'may be relatable to some students.'
While the publisher may list the book under gender identity among other tags, 'a book tag in no way determines or limits the scope of a lesson or a teaching point.'
Watros concerns sparked a debate in the meeting and have since circled through the community of Darien parents after an anonymous email appeared in some parents' inboxes on November 13, nearly three weeks after the meeting.
The email, obtained by the Darien Times, had been sent from an encrypted Proton Mail address listed as 'protectdarienkids' and said that the book's depiction of 'a young non-gender-conforming boy dressing as a girl, several pictures of drag queens and the boy being paraded semi-naked with adults.'
'Given the lack of transparency and the question marks around age appropriateness of this material, it is only fair that parents should know,' the email says.
The message also lists the names and contact information of the members of the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Education. It is unknown how many parents received the email.
The book which has received widespread acclaim for its artistic style and message of acceptance has also earned several prizes, including the 2019 Stonewall Book Award
The book 'Julian Is a Mermaid' by author Jessica Love, tells the story of a boy who wants to become a mermaid and take part in the renowned Coney Island Mermaid Parade
Superintendent Alan Addley said that the book falls under the social and emotional learning curriculum in the Darien Public Schools and was selected 'to support acceptance'
Alicia Johnson, whose children are in first and third grade in town, said she was surprised to receive the email.
She had not heard about the complaints at the Board of Education meeting, though she knew of the book because of its critical acclaim.
'Darien's a rather smallish town but I still want them, despite that, to learn about the greater world,' she said in support of reading the book to her children.
'I don't want them emerging from the Darien school system with an inaccurate picture of what the world is.'
She said she was 'suspicious of whoever the sender is,' and alerted members of the school administration as well as local government officials to the email.
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