Catcher in the Rye dropped from US school curriculum

OK, there are a few things here:

A new school curriculum which will affect 46 out of 50 states will make it compulsory for at least 70 per cent of books studied to be non-fiction, in an effort to ready pupils for the workplace.

So far, so… well, good, probably. The libraries of the world are *filled* with non-fiction books that would be good for kids to read. Any of a number of histories of the founding of the US, for example. “The Black Book of Communism.” “The Starflight Handbook.” Hell, “The Effects of Nuclear Weapons.” But what is suggested?

Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California’s Invasive Plant Council.

Ugh.

More than two years ago I expounded on the general topic of schools forcing kids to read dreadful fiction that will turn them off reading forever. Well, just as you can ruin a kids urge to read by forcing “Oliver Twist” or “Hamlet” of “The Great Gatsby,” I suspect tomes on insulation regulations and invasive plants will accomplish much the same goals.

And this is apparently going to be spread pretty much nationwide. Feh.

When I read the Telegraph article, at first I thought it was satire. Let’s hope that it’s actually just bad reporting.

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