Teacher Suspended For Buying Student ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’

A teacher has been suspended from his school after he bought a 14-year-old student Fifty Shades of Grey to peruse during an independent reading period.

Philip Aidoo, the Eastern University Academy Charter School instructor, purchased the book for his ninth-grade students. Aidoo had previously asked his pupils for a list of books that they wanted to read.

However, a student’s mother found the book in her son’s backpack and became incensed. She then rang the East Falls school and contacted officials who have now started an investigation into the purchase, which has seen Aidoo now suspended for a week without renumeration.

The school’s chief operating officer, Yvonne Turner, confirmed the above, but also stated, “We’re not adding anything more,” about the matter.

Turner remarked, “Unfortunately, Mr. Aidoo did not have an awareness of this popular book and ordered it with his own money,” she also added that he bought it for numerous other students.

The student’s mother, Maya Ladson, did speak to NBC, adding, “This is not okay to me. This is major.”

She then went on to state, “It clearly states on the cover, that the book is for mature audiences and has high sexual content. This was a 100 percent act of negligence. There should never be pornographic material purchased and distributed to a student by a school teacher.”

Ladson added, “I find it highly unlikely that a teacher who teaches reading and has a classroom for sustained silent reading period is unaware of contents of material that he’s giving to the students.”

E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey revolves around the sexual relationship between Christian Grey and the college student Anastasia Steele. It has sold over 65 million editions across the globe and an adaptation of the novel is expected to be released in 2014 through Universal Pictures and Focus Features.

Do you think that Philip Aidoo should have been suspended?