Obscene Literature & Forcible Exposure at Ladies’ College Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
The nearly unimaginable scenario regarding the Sri Lankan school girl who was told that she cannot be excused from class when the teacher was discussing a lewd and degrading novel was highlighted recently and may be reviewed here:
The problem faced by concerned parents is that, apart from school authorities wanting to expose the young and formative ones to and shock them with depravity, is that few parents are concerned, or at least sufficiently concerned, to object. Even, it so conspires, the assigned Parent-Teacher Association representatives lose their reason and backbones when they are approached for support because their daughters are also in school and they will tow any line to ensure their daughters’ likelihoods of receiving prefectures, captaincies or other honours are not hindered by displeasing those who decide on whom such favours are conferred.
Here is reproduced a communication from a concerned father who found the principal and vice-principal unrelenting in their stand that his daughter be exposed to the vile and lurid novel “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Earlier they had attempted to force her to study this novel for her exam, even though the syllabus provides a choice of texts for students. When the girl selected a more wholesome option from the syllabus for studying privately, they insisted that she sit in class for “The Handmaid’s Tale” nevertheless. The father’s letter summarises what is objectionable in this disgusting novel and appeals for support from the PTA representatives of Ladies College Colombo.
The Letter to the PTA Ladies College Colombo:
“Dear Mrs Shyam Fonseka and Mrs Kumi Shanmugalingam,
My daughter is facing a strange type of tyranny from the school’s authorities, and if you are able to help resolve this problem and enable her to proceed peacefully with her school life, I would be very grateful. The matter is described below, but caveat lector.
Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale has been chosen by the subject teacher Farah Macan Markar for study at Ladies’ College Colombo for students taking the Cambridge AL English Literature course. It is an extremely objectionable novel.
This novel contains:
· Lewd and deviant sexual content and acts of copulation are dramatically and graphically described inclusive of the motions and rhythm, the odours, the climax, and noises
· It contains swearing and obscene language of the most repugnant type, that the school students would be forbidden to use in their conversations.
· There are vile and graphic descriptions of torture and gore - such as the use of shears to cut off women’s breasts
· There is further perversity with doctors groping private sections of women’s bodies and inserting his finger into the vagina during a medical examination
· There is reference to sucking penises
· The presentation of spirituality contains of the prayers of women that they may be filled with semen
· It presents scenes of dried orgasmic fluids on beds
· Contemplation of gang-rape and date rape
· Imagery of women killed by hanging and their naked bodies exposed with their legs spread apart
· Sadomasochism and lesbianism are alluded to
· Indulgence in pornography is presented as an amoral norm
· There is a negative and scary depiction concerning the mise-en-scène of giving birth,
· Characters contemplate suicide
· Adultery and fornication appear to provide fulfillment to the perpetrators.
Even adults of worldly experience, and of far more maturity and resilience than teenage girls, will find this novel despicable. My daughter does not, and I as her father do not wish her to engage in this lewd and nauseous novel.
Since the syllabus provides a choice of texts, my daughter will study an alternative and more wholesome novel from the choice provided to students, so that she can face the exams.
Position taken by Ladies’ College Colombo
Mrs. Speldewinde and Mrs. Dassenaike have communicated to my daughter that even though she is not studying “The Handmaid’s Tale” she still MUST sit in class while this filthy novel is being taught by Mrs Farah Macan Markar.
It appears that the only option the school authorities offer to my daughter is by way of engaging in explicit vulgarity, obscenity, vile behavior, and lewd thoughts via exposure to this lurid and degrading novel.
It is an offense against the dignity of my daughter if she has no option but to engage in explicit pornography and deviant sexuality, obscene language and perverted concepts in order to gain a high school qualification. Forcing exposure to the novel is harassment and abuse of a young girl. It is violation of the child’s fundamental human rights to force her to sit in class when she does not wish to be exposed to the degrading ideas and pornographic descriptions.
Request
I seek your intervention to protect my daughter from the harassment being meted out to her, in forcing her to be exposed to vile pornography and obscenity. I have already corresponded and sat at discussions with the below mentioned authorities and it appears that they are unrelenting.
All that is needed at this stage is that Mrs Eesha Speldewinde and Mrs Deepika Dassenaike permit my daughter to be excused from class when the pornographic novel is being taught by Mrs Farah Macan Markar.
It is difficult to believe that the above officials were of the view that it is better for girls to be exposed to the idea of sucking penises at school, so that they will be better prepared when such requests are made of them when they get to university.
I apologise for having introduced a highly unsavoury subject, but this is what the girls are exposed to in class.”
The reply of the PTA representatives was surprising to the naïve father who thought he had found a helpline:
“Dear Dr. xxxx
Having carefully considered the contents of your email together with a careful analysis of the steps taken by the school in this regard, we regret that we cannot agree that your daughter is being harassed. Hence, with due respect, we are of the view that the stance taken by the school needs to be followed.
Best regards,
PTA Vice-President Sumudu Coilpillai,
PTA Secretary (Parent) Shyam Fonseka &
PTA rep for BAL Kumi Shanmugalingam”
There can only be one conclusion:
It baffles the mind as to which dictionary these learned ladies referred to in gaining their understanding of “harassment” but the substance that constitutes their spine appears to be fluid.
The call-to-action: One does need to speak in the first instance to the perpetrators – the teacher, the principals who endorse the teacher’s behaviour. Then one needs to approach peers such as the past pupils association, the parent-teacher association and friends with connections to these officials. If these endeavours prove futile, higher authorities and more powerful influencers need to be engaged with for the purpose of justice and in defense of common sense, such as school governing bodies, lawyers, the media and even the police. It will become easier if parents unite and display courage in the face of the indignities their children are compelled towards, even if it means becoming unpopular with their liberal-minded acquaintances. Your children come first, and dispelling the institutionalized filth and depravity from their lives and edifying them with truth, excellence, and beauty is your responsibility.
By: "A Caring Parent & a Doctor" and In-the-field Contributor to Extremely American