Teacher bypasses restrictive law to teach students concepts from banned library books

Teachers often end up having to take drastic measures when circumstances prevent them from teaching their students important things. u/BikerJedi shared how they did just that when the state that they taught in made it a felony to give a kid a book that their parent thought was "objectionable." The post has got 1.5K upvotes and 520 comments on the platform. The teacher mentions that they worked in Florida and they and their colleagues had to throw out a lot of books from their classroom libraries because of the law.

They write, "It made me sad. I had books about dinosaurs, the planets, animals, just good stuff that kids love to read about." The teacher also mentions how they did not have any books that could be considered inappropriate, except for maybe the book covering human reproduction. They were not going to prison just because somebody didn't believe in evolution. The teacher intelligently found a loophole around the law by mentioning how they could still teach concepts without giving the kid the actual book.

The teacher provides an elaborate list where they would either debunk certain concepts or teach them. For example, fringe theories like flat earth and anti-vaccine sentiments would be debunked. Concepts like climate change and evolution would be taught. They write, "The best part is pseudoscience, history of space exploration, and human impact on the environment are part of our state standards, which means I'm not breaking any laws, rules or regulations at all."

They share how a majority of the concepts were already in the district textbook; it's just that they chose to maliciously comply with a redundant law. The teacher states how they would "teach with fidelity" all concepts from the banned books, aligning with the standards of the state and how there was nothing anybody could do about it. Ironically enough, the school textbook still contained material from the "offensive" library books that were banned. They concluded the post by sharing how they loved teaching and how education was essential to modern society.

People loved the way the teacher was handling the situation and shared their thoughts in the comments section. u/SuspendedDisbelief_3 commented, "I actively sought out lists of banned books so I could read them, just to see if I could figure out why they were banned. I sense this backfiring for the policymakers in a big way." u/Ejigantor highlighted, "Fascists hate an educated population - those who can think critically are harder to control. Thank you for keeping up the fight!"

u/deathriteTM said, "I have never understood why people would send their kids to a school they know does not follow their beliefs, then raise enough of a stink to get things changed for everyone and still expect the rest of us to like them. Save your kids. Deport a fanatic." u/lnsewn12 said, "I teach art and what tickles me to death is that they came down with a ban hammer on books, but never once did they consider how many social issues can be taught through artwork and art history. And in a way that is even easier for kids to relate to. Just show kids pictures and asking them to discuss it. LOLing always. Uncultured swine are in the Governor's Mansion."