Mississippi Principal Fired for Reading a Book to Second Graders Should be Reinstated
The letter to the Hinds County School District said the firing of Assistant Principal Toby Price from Gary Road Elementary School on March 4 was “an extreme disciplinary action,… More
Q and A with Assistant Principal Toby Price, Fired by MS School After Reading “I Need a New Butt” to 2nd Graders
Toby Price, an assistant principal in the Hinds County (MS) School District, was fired on March 4 after reading a book to a group of 2nd graders over Zoom.… More
PEN America Letter to Hinds County (MS) School District
To the Officials of the Hinds County School District, We write from PEN America, the literary and free expression human rights organization, to register alarm over your recent decision to… More
‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill Inserts “Heavy Hand” of Lawmakers Into Classroom Lessons
PEN America issued the following statement upon passage of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill, from CEO Suzanne Nossel: "Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill amounts to a government diktat policing the… More
Best Practices for E-reader Tablets in Carceral Institutions
Produced by the Coalition for Carceral Access in Literature and Learning (C.A.L.L.) The introduction of e-reader tablets to carceral institutions is a new and growing trend. When implemented in a… More
The PEN Pod: On Self-Censorship, Book Bans, and Biden’s Virtual Democracy Summit
“Students are really crucial allies. They have, I think, an instinctive sense of not wanting to be told what they can and can’t read.” More
Educational Gag Orders: Legislative Restrictions on the Freedom to Read, Learn, and Teach
This report chronicles the alarming spread of legislative efforts in 2021 to constrict education on topics related to race, gender, and American history. More
Free Expression and Education
PEN America’s free expression and education program works with schools to ensure robust protections for freedom of speech are balanced with advancements in diversity and inclusion. More
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Crowds gathered on a recent Friday at a Melbourne, FL, Ben & Jerry's. But it wasn't the Cherry Garcia drawing the extra customers. It was opening night for the "Banned Book Nook"—and customers scooped up novels, memoirs and biographies along with ice cream https://www.npr.org/2023/03/23/1164284891/book-bans-school-libraries-florida
Fake images shows #AI's disruptive power.
Far-right activist Jack Posobiec recently tweeted a deepfake video seeming to show President Biden announcing a military draft.
“Screw them all,” he said of fact-checkers and mainstream news outlets. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/22/trump-arrest-deepfakes/
Go, Grace!!!
Be a Grace, people! https://twitter.com/PENamerica/status/1638729237027864579