Angry parents collected more than 400 signatures in south-west England to ban the Simpsons at Kingsmead Community School. A six week course looks at the character's language, what kind of audience the Simpsons are aimed at and what makes the series funny.

Some parents think this is a "waste of time" and argue against it. "I don't think it's strong enough content", the initiator of the petition said. "The national curriculum actually lists a great number of authors we could use and The Simpsons is never listed." An assistant head teacher said: "Students are encouraged to look at the text in a critical way. Initially it's about building up their skills as critical thinkers." Because of that, they have decided to continue the Simpsons course.