Source: AP
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) – A fourth-grade student was reading a magazine when his teacher, Wanda Nelson, grabbed it, called it “pornography,” ripped up the offending pages and threw them in a trash can.
The magazine was National Geographic, and the pornography was an article on evolution that included drawings of naked humans.
Yesterday, the Cherry Street Elementary School teacher received a written reprimand for “inappropriate action.”
But the school superintendent did not believe censorship was an issue.
Bay County School Superintendent Larry Bolinger said he supported the teacher’s right to stop what she considered a disruption, but said she crossed the line when she damaged the magazine.
Sebastian Allen, 10, had taken his older brother’s magazine, a rare collector’s issue, to school after Ms. Nelson had encouraged students to bring reading material from home in case they completed a state assessment test before time ran out.
