Dear Manatee Readers,

“Did you know that your School District of Manatee County has banned 44 books including I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jenings, according to Pen America?  We think this is a horrible choice. We don’t think it’s a mistake because we think they did it on purpose. We think they are scared that these books will brainwash kids into being LGBTQ. We will show you how this can’t happen so that your children are protected and can still enjoy I am Jazz and the other banned books… “

– the 2nd Grade Fearless Bumblebees

Introduction from an anonymous teacher:

When I started teaching at our elementary school over two decades ago, racial and LGBTQ-phobic epithets led to intimidation, at worst physical assaults and drops in student academic performance. One Latine child had his journal pooped on and flushed down the toilet and himself was thrown by the bully into a  recycling dumpster!  These sorts of incidents are now unheard of, ever since our District adopted a curriculum to educate students about the cultures and genders that make up our population, mostly through award winning-literature.

This year, when our 2nd grade Fearless Bumblebees learned that some of their most beloved District-mandated literary works were banned, they demanded to know where. This led to them persuading me to allow them to scour the Pen America Index of School Book Bans (2022-23), after which they concluded that Florida had done the most banning of the books they recognized.  I had a contact in Florida’s Manatee County and my students were studying persuasive writing, so I tailored our class writing model for Manatee County School District that had banned  our Bumblebees’ beloved I Am Jazz.  

After reviewing the components of a persuasive letter, I asked them to tell me what were the most important points they wanted to make and jotted these as bullet points. Next, while studying the structure of a persuasive letter,  I asked students to suggest where each point should go. I was surprised how well their organization matched my ideas, except for perhaps one bullet point that needed more explanation. But they did need more help with the transitions. I also made suggestions for more examples and more descriptive language or similes, though students came up with all these themselves. Then I made them rewrite it about six or seven times. One restructuring was prompted by a girl who announced, “I thought about this on the weekend and realized Florida thinks they are protecting children by banning books but really they are harming us!   

This is their final draft, though I did just add the title. Unfortunately, the original Florida paper they sent this to rejected it because of the timing and their dedicating all their space to the elections.

BOOK BANS DON’T PROTECT KIDS, THEY HARM US

 By The 2nd grade Fearless Bumblebees

Dear Manatee Readers,

Did you know that your School District of Manatee County has banned 44 books, including I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jenings, according to Pen America?  We think this is a horrible choice. We don’t think it’s a mistake because we think they did it on purpose. We think they are scared that these books will brainwash kids into being LGBTQ. We will show you how this can’t happen so that your children are protected and can still enjoy I am Jazz and the other banned books.  

First of all, Manatee County School District says they want to protect kids, but it’s the opposite. Banning books actually hurts kids and can lead to bullying. I am Jazz helps stop this bullying from happening by educating children about who transgender people really are. You see people are often bullied by those who feel uncomfortable or scared of folks they think are “weird” or different.  Also, hurt people hurt people. Or bullies might be jealous because they can’t be who they really want to be.

The solution is to teach about people who are different so others can stop being uncomfortable and scared and stop bullying. I am Jazz does this by educating people about a transgender child so kids won’t be scared by this when they grow up. 

The story is about a child who was born with male body parts but likes dresses, mermaids and princesses and feels like a girl inside. Her family treats her like a boy until they take her to the doctor and learn the truth: that she is transgender. Finally, she gets to start wearing dresses, swim with a shimmery mermaid tail in the pool, her hair as long as kelp swirling around her in the water.  Unfortunately, even though her friends and family accept her as a girl, she is still not allowed in the girl’s bathroom and has to play soccer on the boys team at school. Yet, she says even though she is different she is proud to be who she is: Jazz. 

I am Jazz teaches you that you can be whoever you want to be and your gender is up to you. We want Manatee County schools to stop banning this and other educational books. If Florida really wants to protect children, you should let them read books that help them be who they really are and to empathize with people who are different. LGBTQ books don’t make kids transgender just like when you empathize with manatees who are being affected by global warming, it doesn’t brainwash you into becoming a manatee.  

All bans are dangerous. That’s why you should not ban this or other books that are educational.  You have to protect and love each child, including those of us who are LGBTQ. Please don’t let us down, Manatee County!

Sincerely,
The Fearless Bumblebees
(Anonymous school and state)

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