A woman walks past a poster for the "Assassination Classroom" comic book in Tokyo. Associated Press Some schools in Florida and W...
- Some schools in Florida and Wisconsin banned a manga comic about a monster teacher that encourages its students to assassinate it.
- The bans came after conservative parent groups called for the book's removal.
- "We don't want students to think it's OK to kill their teachers," Jennifer Pippin of Moms for Liberty told USA Today.
Some schools in Florida and Wisconsin are banning a Japanese sci-fi comic book over concerns that it promotes violence against teachers.
The manga, called "Assassination Classroom," features a large tentacled monster that destroys the moon and threatens to destroy Earth. The monster starts working as a homeroom teacher in a junior high school, where it tells its class that it will give them the opportunity to kill it before it destroys the planet.
The comic was first released in Japan in 2012. It was also turned into television series in 2013 and a live-action film in 2015.
Gifford Middle School in Gifford, Florida was the first to remove the book from its library in March. It removed three volumes, according to Anime News Network. In Wisconsin, the Elmbrook School District also removed the book from its digital library system, the outlet reported.
Moms for Liberty — a conservative group that pushes for the removal of books from classrooms that they deem inappropriate and which has campaigned to get members elected to local school boards — fought for the comic book's removal from Gifford Middle School.
The group also successfully advocated for the removal of a version of Anne Frank's diary that it deemed "sexually explicit" from a high school in Vero Beach, Florida on April 5.
Jennifer Pippin, chair of the Indian River County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said that the group considered the book inappropriate because it features pictures of kids with guns inside a classroom, noting a recent spate of school shootings in the United States.
"We don't want students to think it's OK to kill their teachers," Pippin told USA Today.
The Elmbrook School District in Wisconsin also removed the book from its digital library after parents complained that it was violent and sexual, Fox News reported.
The Elmbrook School District and School District of Indian River County did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Sunday.
The Elmbrook School District told Fox News in a statement that it decided to remove the series from its library after "applying our current book acquisition guidelines."
No comments