'Class Disrupted': Students weigh in on the contentions book ban debate in new series

Yahoo

16-02-2025

Not too long ago, most education discussions centered around budgets and test scores. But today it can feel like the public school system has been pulled to the center of all the nation's most contentious debates. During the pandemic, districts grappled with whether to require masks — and whether to offer in-person school at all. In the years since, those intense disputes have spiraled to encompass a widening array of topics.
Debates about education are inherently emotional. They're about the future of the country because they're about its children. But adults often don't give those kids the chance to weigh in on how all this is affecting them. In 2025, The Tennessean will take a close look at key issues facing the U.S. education system — and how students feel about them — through our new series "Class Disrupted."
First up, education reporter Rachel Wegner joined First Amendment reporter Angele Latham to learn more about how Tennessee districts are implementing book bans. Check out their coverage below.
Over the course of this year, The Tennessean will undertake similarly ambitious projects on a range of education topics. In each chapter of the "Class Disrupted" series, journalists will prioritize the voices of the students whose days are directly affected by these issues. Please let us know what you think our reporting should include going forward. You can reach education reporter Rachel Wegner at [e-mail] and city editor Liz Schubauer at [e-mail].
High school students with a variety of backgrounds and political stances weigh in on why book removals do — or don't — matter. Their points of view converged in some surprising ways. Plus, this story is a good reminder of how articulate high schoolers can be when given a platform, something they are often denied:
Members of the Young Republicans and Young Democrats at Mt. Juliet High gathered to discuss book bans after their district, Wilson County Schools, banned the second-most titles in the state last year at 425. Watch them share their nuanced takes on the topic, and learn about the group text that keeps them engaged with each other:
To learn which school districts in Tennessee are removing the most books from shelves, The Tennessean sent more than 100 requests for records to those districts and then spent weeks sorting through the data they provided. The result is a one-of-a-kind, comprehensive, sortable list of the 1,155 titles removed across Tennessee in 2024:
When studying the list of books removed in Tennessee, themes emerged. Books on topics like LGBTQ+ identities, race, the Holocaust and even, ironically, book bans have been pulled from shelves. And some titles were banned more often than others:
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: The Tennessean's 'Class Disrupted': Inside heated education debates