Go Ask Alice
Date: 1998
Region: North America
Subject: Language
Medium: Literature, Education
Artist: Go Ask Alice, author anonymous
Confronting Bodies: School Principal, the mother of a student
Dates of Action: 1998
Location: A middle school in Tiverton, Rhode Island
Description of Artwork: The book is the diary of an adolescent's struggles with drug addiction and its tragic consequences
The Incident: Eighth grade students were reading Go Ask Alice as a class assignment when their teacher collected the books from her students, on orders from the principal who had never read the book. He had received a complaint from a student's mother who objected to the language in the book, after which he demanded that the books be collected immediately from the students and also removed from the library. The principal's actions violated the district's complaint policies and procedures.
Results of Incident: A review committee examined the matter and decided to return the book to the library. The committee was also to consider returning the book to the classroom.
Source: NCAC