In this Nov. 25, 2014, file photo, demonstrators block Public Square in Cleveland, during a protest over the police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
A Florida police union’s complaint about a fictional young adult novel heavily influenced by the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice has convinced the school district to temporarily stop teaching the book in classrooms.
The book, “Ghost Boys,” by Jewell Parker Rhodes, was assigned reading in at least one fifth-grade classroom in the Broward County Public Schools district earlier this year, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The plot features a cop character who lies about killing a young Black boy, and eventually gained the attention of the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police.The police union sent a letter to the Broward County school board on Thursday writing that “Ghost Boys” was “propaganda” because of its portrayal of law enforcement, prompting the district to put all school work related to the novel on hold while the district decides whether to continue teaching it.
“This book convinces its reader—the children of our community—that police officers regularly lie as they routinely murder children, while painting police officers as racists,” Paul Kempinski, director for the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police District 5, wrote in a letter to the school board. “Our members feel that this book is propaganda that pushes an inaccurate and absurd stereotype of police officers in America.”
Kempinski also complained that the book spreads anti-police statistics, including that Black Americans are two and a half times more likely to be gunned down by police than white Americans. However, according to the Washington Post, this statistic is fairly accurate: Around 36 out of every 1 million Black people are killed by police, compared to 15 out of every 1 million white people.
Published in 2018, “Ghost Boys” follows a fictional 12-year-old Black boy named Jerome who is gunned down by a corrupt police officer while holding a toy gun. The cop responsible for the shooting fabricates a story to justify the killing and avoid prison time. The story is told from the point of view of Jerome’s ghost, who narrates the aftermath of his own murder, including how it affects the community and his family. The book also features the ghost of Emmett Till as a prominent character, whose lynching in 1955 helped spark the civil rights movement.The story’s inciting incident is nearly identical to the 2014 shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio. Rice, who was Black, was fatally shot twice by a white police officer while playing with a toy gun at a park.
The local Broward County Florida police union says the premise of the book, which portrays a cop as its main antagonist, is problematic and inappropriate for kids as young as 10.
However, Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that monitors movies, video games, books, movies and TV are appropriate for different age groups, says the book is appropriate for kids 10 and older.
The Broward County school district told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the book was approved for use as supplemental reading to discuss the relationship between community and police. But teachers who used the book as part of their curriculum never informed parents about the contents of the book, or gave them a chance to opt-out of reading it, something the school district said would have been the correct protocol.
“The timing of whether (or whether not) to implement this subject matter must include parents and ultimately be a decision by the parents of each student,” school board member Lori Alhadeff told the outlet.
This isn’t the first time “Ghost Boys” has been the center of controversy. Last year, a California charter school district removed the novel from its curriculum after some parents complained about the book’s content.
After its release, “Ghost Boys” received several awards, including the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature, and was praised by critics for its themes and diverse cast of characters.
The book, “Ghost Boys,” by Jewell Parker Rhodes, was assigned reading in at least one fifth-grade classroom in the Broward County Public Schools district earlier this year, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The plot features a cop character who lies about killing a young Black boy, and eventually gained the attention of the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police.
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“This book convinces its reader—the children of our community—that police officers regularly lie as they routinely murder children, while painting police officers as racists,” Paul Kempinski, director for the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police District 5, wrote in a letter to the school board. “Our members feel that this book is propaganda that pushes an inaccurate and absurd stereotype of police officers in America.”
Kempinski also complained that the book spreads anti-police statistics, including that Black Americans are two and a half times more likely to be gunned down by police than white Americans. However, according to the Washington Post, this statistic is fairly accurate: Around 36 out of every 1 million Black people are killed by police, compared to 15 out of every 1 million white people.
Published in 2018, “Ghost Boys” follows a fictional 12-year-old Black boy named Jerome who is gunned down by a corrupt police officer while holding a toy gun. The cop responsible for the shooting fabricates a story to justify the killing and avoid prison time. The story is told from the point of view of Jerome’s ghost, who narrates the aftermath of his own murder, including how it affects the community and his family. The book also features the ghost of Emmett Till as a prominent character, whose lynching in 1955 helped spark the civil rights movement.The story’s inciting incident is nearly identical to the 2014 shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio. Rice, who was Black, was fatally shot twice by a white police officer while playing with a toy gun at a park.
The local Broward County Florida police union says the premise of the book, which portrays a cop as its main antagonist, is problematic and inappropriate for kids as young as 10.
However, Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that monitors movies, video games, books, movies and TV are appropriate for different age groups, says the book is appropriate for kids 10 and older.
The Broward County school district told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the book was approved for use as supplemental reading to discuss the relationship between community and police. But teachers who used the book as part of their curriculum never informed parents about the contents of the book, or gave them a chance to opt-out of reading it, something the school district said would have been the correct protocol.
“The timing of whether (or whether not) to implement this subject matter must include parents and ultimately be a decision by the parents of each student,” school board member Lori Alhadeff told the outlet.
This isn’t the first time “Ghost Boys” has been the center of controversy. Last year, a California charter school district removed the novel from its curriculum after some parents complained about the book’s content.
After its release, “Ghost Boys” received several awards, including the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature, and was praised by critics for its themes and diverse cast of characters.