Guidelines for Joy Textbooks

The textbooks we publish should:

EDUCATION

• promote critical and creative thinking;


• encourage students to associate new information to existing knowledge;


• promote the development of sympathetic, fair, and honest people so that students—as individuals or as a group—can make a positive contribution to society;

• encourage students to treat others with respect, and act in a manner that reflects an educated, reasonable, and responsible individual;


• be supported by reliable references and are accurate scientifically and historically;

• agree with scientific consensus;


SOCIAL ISSUES

• avoid stereotypes which motivate ethnic, gender, cultural or racial prejudice;


• help students understand their role in the family and society, as well as their role as citizen of the world;


• depict people in situations that reflect an average standard of living. Readings, pictures, or illustrations should avoid focusing on things that suggest great wealth;


• depict physically disabled individuals as part of the group involved in everyday life. They should also be seen in active or leadership roles. The ability of the physically challenged to cope with everyday life and to adapt to the environment should be shown. This will draw attention to their special needs, such as those of people in wheelchairs;


• not depict old people as lonely, helpless individuals who no longer contribute to society;


• not idealize or glamorize urban or rural life—a balance of different settings should be used;

• avoid childhood stereotypes: tomboys, sissies, wallflowers, jocks, etc;


• not deal with romantic situations that go against the cultural norm;

ENVIRONMENT

• bring attention to sustainable use of the environment. Public transportation, such as riding the bus, should be depicted instead of driving cars;

• show people walking or riding a bicycle while traveling to their destinations. This should be depicted as not only enjoyable but as an excellent way to conserve energy;

• demonstrate respect for animals;


GENDER ISSUES

• portray a balance of men/boys and women/girls in active roles and different age groups. A ratio of 50:50 should be used in both content and illustrations;


• both sexes should be depicted as being engaged in independent activities, as well as in leadership roles. Both sexes should be depicted equally in domestic situations—doing household chores or caring for children;

• show true friendship between the sexes;


• not show women as mere observers or only from a male perspective;


• show the sexes equally as mentally strong so that they can serve as role models. At the same time, men should sometimes be shown as caregivers;

• avoid words that specify the gender of a person. Use "chairperson" not "chairman," "flight attendant" not "stewardess," "mail carrier" not "mailman";


• not show boys playing only with traditionally "boy toys" and girls playing only with traditionally "girls' toys";


• consider that some women are taller than some men;


• not cater to a particular gender. Readers should not be able to distinguish the gender of the author from the content or tone of an article.

HEALTH

• portray individuals living a healthy lifestyle; if portrayed to the contrary, readers should be made conscious how detrimental an unhealthy lifestyle can be.

OTHERS

• not contain political agendas;

• not contain religious agendas;


• not be influenced by hardships the author may be undergoing;

• not deal with parenting issues and problems unless an acceptable alternative is presented;

• not deal with sexual situations;

• not focus on physical beauty;

• promote a general acceptance of oneself;

• not make references to children smoking or drinking alcohol unless it is done so in a negative light;

• not feature registered products like Coke, Nike, etc;

• not feature live celebrities unless they have made significant contributions to society.

• not include violent, sexual, or graphic material in any way.

• not include plagiarized works;

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

• follow the Chicago Manual of Style;

• employ Standard English usage unless portraying informal speech (contractions, slang, dialect, etc);

• be based on American English usage.