I Am Jazz Analysis

The book I Am Jazz, written by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel, has been seen as extremely controversial since its publishing in 2014. With an age range from four to eight years old, the arguments against exposing young children to the idea of a transgender individual in the form of a children’s book have been numerous. One of the most noticed cases of this was in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, where the book was banned from being read-aloud in a classroom. This challenge against the book primarily came from a group known as The Liberty Council. This group is a nonprofit which states it’s goal is, “protecting religious freedom and the sanctity of family.” When this challenge was initiated, there were very mixed reactions in regards to whether

The challenge from the Liberty Council came about when a young girl at Mount Horeb Elementary came to school one day and announced that she was not in the right body- and therefore declaring herself as transgender. A teacher in the school then decided that I Am Jazz should be read aloud in her first grade class in order to introduce the concept to the other students in the school. Shortly after the teacher made this decision, the Liberty Council wrote a letter to the school’s superintendent with a subject that read, “Inappropriate discussion of gender confusion and sexuality with primary school students.” (Council) In this letter, a representative for the Liberty Council goes into detail about the reasons that I am Jazz should be banned from the school, including that the quick decision of the teacher to read the book “caught parents off guard” and “prevented them from opting their children out of this reading and subsequent discussion.” (Council) Therefore, they believed that the parent’s of these children were not allowed enough of a notice before introducing such

Overall, there has been many reports of anger and hatred towards the book in the U.S., but there has also been an overwhelming response to the book from transgender and LGBTQ rights activists. It has also been questioned whether the Liberty Council truly had the right to remove the book due to the first amendment which allows citizens in the U.S. to have freedom of speech and press. Although it may cause controversial reactions from students and parents, I Am Jazz is in many ways a very beneficial book for young children to be exposed to in the world we live in today- which seems to be becoming increasingly more diverse. If student’s are not allowed to be subjected to this kind of material, there then becomes the issue of how the students would handle the situation in a real-world scenario. One of the most important things to be teaching children in a world full of hate is compassion and how to show love to others despite