# At last, someone is thinking of the children... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631 "2004-03-22T00:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/1 "2004-03-22T00:01:53Z")
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: [This](http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0304/133762.html) would crack me up if it wasn’t so pathetic. She should be more worried that kids might think the Founding Fathers sang and danced their way to independence. Idiots. Too many idiots. ---
**Author:** ![AMM9132](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@AMM9132](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AMM9132)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/2 "2004-03-22T00:17:42Z")
Ummm…wow. Nearly everyday i am blown away by how ridiculous our society has become over the silliest of things. This one seems to take the cake though -thanks for bringing it to light. I feel inspired to go break some rules… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/3 "2004-03-22T00:37:58Z")
But…but…if they’re talking about _suggestiveness_, they left out my favorite part! You know, the part when Martha Jefferson actually arrives, and Franklin ushers Adams out of the room. Adams finally wakes up as to WHY Franklin has them leave and sputters “you don’t mean they’re going to…to…in the middle of the _afternoon?_” “Don’t worry John” replies Franklin “the history books will clean it up.” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/4 "2004-03-22T00:56:33Z")
Man, that’s where I live. That’s depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/5 "2004-03-22T00:57:36Z")
Oh, for cripes sake! This puritanism and censorship is just really getting on my last damn nerve! It not as if people are shown in the act. The poor fella misses his wife. Well, okay, he “burns” for her. It’s not like he’s actually stating he’s going throw her down on floor and “bone” her! When do we start burning witches and burning “offensive” books? :rolleyes: :mad: AAAAGH! I get so worked up over this kind of ridiculous shit, that I can’t even form a decent post. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/6 "2004-03-22T00:58:21Z")
Thinking of them _how_? As virginal ignoramuses? I didn’t see this movie until my senior year in high school (and before it started I thought it was that damned boring movie about the guy riding off to the House of Burgesses to hear Patrick Henry), but damn, woman, by age 17/18, those kids probably already know more about sex than the Founding Fathers, anyway. Frankly, I was rather pleased to see that them portrayed as men, not humourlous, grim, automatons with their minds on history. Heaven knows Franklin was as salty as they come. Some people need to get a life. I bet she wants _Huck Finn_ banned, too, on the basis that racism has no place in a discussion of literature. ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/7 "2004-03-22T01:12:32Z")
Speaking of _Huck Finn_ , someone actually filed a lawsuit up here to have that book removed from that particular school district’s school libraries. The student’s classroom was given this book as “assigned” reading. The individual who filed was offended by the use of the “N” word in the book. You know what? When that book was written it was a different world. Unfortunately, it was how people spoke. It was a fact of life then. Most of us know this word is NOT acceptable, and ARE offended by it’s use. Why can’t they use this as a chance to learn about racism and the problems it brings with it? Tie it into history and show how things have changed. Why does everything have become a lawsuit because someone’s sensibilities are offended? How are students supposed to learn if they are not exposed to the real world, what we’ve been and what we CAN become? We are going to turn out a bunch naive, unprepared adults if this kind of silliness continues. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/8 "2004-03-22T01:52:18Z")
Whaddya wanna bet there’s a handful of students secretly making up “Shoob’s a Boob” bumper stickers, posters and T-shirts? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/9 "2004-03-22T03:34:40Z")
They’re upset at Jefferson saying he burns for his wife? Obviously, they were sleeping through all of Ben Franklin’s lines: This is just ridiculous. I read Franklin’s essay in praise of an older mistress when I was about that age–and I was hardly corrupted by it. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/10 "2004-03-22T04:19:39Z")
When I began teaching in 1969, women were not allowed to teach beyond the fifth month of pregnancy. To do so would be “flaunting our sin” in front of the children. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/11 "2004-03-22T04:32:20Z")
Oh my god. I watched that movie when I was in fith grade. Why do they care? It’s not like they are showing them having wild passionite sex. Are they going to take out health because it talks about sex too? We have total idiots here. _rolls eyes_ ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/12 "2004-03-22T14:10:22Z")
Ya know, maybe it’s that terrible suggestive song that Martha Jefferson sings “He Plays the Violin” - naughty lyrics indeed… Gah! ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/13 "2004-03-22T18:57:31Z")
I think it is ridiculous that parents want movies and books banned/removed from schools. I am distraught by the fact that parents get uppity over schools reading “dirty” books such as _The Diary of Ann Frank_ as well as books that use “offensive language” (by todays standards) like _Huck Finn_ and _To Kill A Mockingbird_. Books, especially classics, and historical movies (i.e., 1776) should be allowed to be read/seen in schools. Otherwise the students will have no other viewpoint than the narrow one thier parents have. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/14 "2004-03-22T19:06:39Z")
Of course, if it were a realistic recounting of \*Benjamin Franklin’s \* life, you really _couldn’t_ show it to kids! Old Ben got nore nooky than Hefner, and that’s no jive. There are still French nobles who claim illegitimate decent from him, dating to his stay as Ambassador. ---
**Author:** ![purrplebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90ced4/32.png) [@purrplebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purrplebear)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/15 "2004-03-22T19:27:35Z")
Wow. Isn’t this 2004? The new millenium? What are those people _thinking_? Oh, wait, that’s right; they _aren’t_ thinking. I agree, **FCMom** , that is ridiculous. And worse, very sad. **LV** is right too. What is the world coming to? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/16 "2004-03-22T20:16:23Z")
I guess it isn’t as horrifying as the father suing to remove _The Diary of Anne Frank_ from school library shelves on the grounds that the book might actually lead people to the false impression that the Haulocaust occurred in the first place. All the same, this sort of neopuritainism really gets depressing. Heaven forbid our children be exposed to some vague sexual innuendo during a history lesson, when they encounter messages far more suggestive in prime time TV, even in commercials. I mean, come on! _1776_ was (IIRC) originally rated G, for God sakes! But I’m going to stifle this rant before it gets started. I’m sure you will all be relieved by this amazing display of self-restraint. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/17 "2004-03-22T20:25:24Z")
That’s my county ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/18 "2004-03-22T20:52:36Z")
Well, **Opal** , it’s up to you and **ultrafilter** to find this woman and give her what-for from all of us! Or vote her out of office or mock her in a letter to the editor or something. [Real Genius] It’s a moral imperative! [/Real Genius] ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/19 "2004-03-22T21:18:26Z")
Considering what we know now about Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, the fact that he burned for his wife is laudatory. And laughable. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631/20 "2004-03-22T21:21:06Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Ya know, maybe it’s that terrible suggestive song that Martha Jefferson sings “He Plays the Violin” - naughty lyrics indeed… While banning the movie is silly, I’d get behind a crusade to cut that song. There has to be some sort of code against forcing kids to listen to bad songs that don’t advance the plot, right? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-last-someone-is-thinking-of-the-children/235631.md?page=2)