states recall book for sex scenes and jargon

Copies of the book “The Outside of the Skin”, by writer Jeferson Tenório, are being collected from public schools by the Education Departments of the states of Paraná, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, which now consider the work inappropriate for students under 18 years of age. The justification is that the work contains “description of sex scenes” and “inappropriate jargon” for the age group of students.

The question about the book, which is included in the National Textbook Program (PNLD), came to light after the principal at a school in Santa Cruz do Sul (RS) criticized the content on her Instagram page. Despite this, the government of Rio Grande do Sul, a state led by Eduardo Leite (PSDB), maintained literary work in state schools.

The book has as its backdrop discrimination against black people. Publisher Companhia das Letras describes the work as “a novel about identity and complex racial relations, about violence and blackness”.

In the assessment of the State Department of Education of Paraná (Seed-PR), despite the issue of racism being important in the educational context, the measure aims to support teachers in their pedagogical work. “The analysis of the book, however, proved necessary due to the fact that, in certain passages, some expressions, jargon and description of sex scenes used may be considered inappropriate for exposure to children under eighteen years of age (age window for most students). high school in the State)”, replied Seed in a note.

The management of Goiás governor Ronaldo Caiado (Union) informed, in a note, that the collection guidance has the “purpose of enabling an analysis of the book in terms of meeting the pedagogical proposal of the state public education network.”

By determination of the governor of Mato Grosso do Sul, Eduardo Riedel (PSDB), the copies were immediately collected and sent to 75 of the 349 school units, according to information from the state government’s advisory service. After collection, the books will be sent to the collection of the State Department of Education.

O government of Santa Catarina, under the management of Jorginho Mello (PL), responded that the work will undergo content analysis to adapt it to the target audience and redistribute the copies. “The review of the collection, from a pedagogical perspective, prevents specific works for the adolescent/adult audience from being offered to students of a younger age group, such as those in elementary school, who are outside the indicative classification for this type of content. In this process , copies of ‘O Avesso da Pele’ were located in some state schools”, explains the note.

The Santa Catarina government reported that some copies of the work were redistributed to the Professional Education Centers (CEDUPs) and the Education Centers for Youth and Adults (EJA).

Secretary of Education of Paraná denies censorship against book

In an interview with People’s Gazette, the head of Seed-PR, Roni Miranda, refuted the allegation that the Ratinho Junior (PSD) government is censoring the book “O Avesso da Pele”. “Censorship would be if the government of Paraná prohibited the sale of the book. That’s not what happens. If there is a parent, someone responsible who signs a scientific agreement that they will give this book to their child to read, we will authorize it. In the Paraná, the governor did not issue any decree banning the book in the state, that’s not it”, he counters.

Miranda explained that the state has the autonomy to remove books from schools and made a comparison to justify the measure. “Our high school students are between 14 and 17 years old, they are minors. If this book were a movie, it would certainly come with that recommended age range for adults., due to sexual references and illicit drugs. So in no way do I see this as censorship,” he argues.

The decision to withdraw “O Avesso da Pele” was motivated by pressure

According to the Paraná secretary, the book was sent to Paraná schools through the federal government’s PNLD. According to Miranda, the teachers received from the Ministry of Education (MEC) only a preface to the work, without “any hint about the controversial themes”.

In a note, the MEC stated that “the choice of literary works to be adopted in the classroom is made by the educators of each school based on the Digital Guide, where the works included in the program are listed for the knowledge of teachers and managers”.

Miranda explained that the school community, especially students’ parents, appeared “uneasy” with the sexual content and explicit language of the book. Once collected, Miranda said, the books will undergo analysis to determine what will be done next.

“Now, we will submit the work to a pedagogical analysis by the secretariat’s curriculum team and a legal analysis by specialists in the Statute of Children and Adolescents. This will be done to see how and if we can provide this book, if we provide access with restrictions, finally, what will be the approach in relation to the book. It can be returned or I can use them in Youth and Adult Schools, which are for adults”, he explains.

For the author, removal of books is censorship

O writer Jeferson Tenório considers the decision to withdraw the book he authored by order of the state departments to be an “unconstitutional attitude”. “It is important to remember that no authority, be it director, secretary, councilor, deputy, governor or president, has the power to order the collection of teaching materials from a school. It is an unconstitutional attitude”, he stated in a post on Instagram.

He criticized the collection and claimed that it is not possible decide what students should or should not read “with the stroke of a pen”. “These are violent acts that hark back to the dark days of the military regime. An undemocratic attitude like this in the middle of 2024 is unacceptable. We will not accept any type of censorship”, counters the writer.

For the book’s publisher, the recall was based on a “distorted interpretation”

In a note, the publisher Companhia das Letrasresponsible for the book “O Avesso da Pele” stated that “the removal of copies of a book, based on a distorted and decontextualized from isolated excerptsis an act that violates the fundamental principles of education and democracy, impoverishes cultural debate and undermines students’ ability to develop critical and reflective thinking”.

The chief minister of the Social Communication Secretariat (Secom) of the Presidency of the Republic, Paulo Pimenta, also expressed his opposition to the removal of books from schools. “In my opinion, this is a demonstration of ignorance, prejudice, but also cowardice on the part of these people,” he says.