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banning of books in US schools
zider_red
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From this side of the Pond, it seems as if the US is a political laboratory in which the acid of Puritanism reacts with the alkali of the Enlightenment. We ourselves, in the UK and the rest of Europe, are confronted with the same questions of how far to go in protecting children - and we have taken a different line.
Metta to all sentient beings
lol whaa?
I thought America was all about freedom of speech? Doesn't that apply to books?
I'm all in favour of categorising books according to their suitability, when I was at school we had a system as Simon describes, there were sections for children, young adults and adults based on their content. Kids weren't allowed to take out books beyond their age bracket, but books were never banned.
Clearly, no.
It's "freedom of speech so long as it conforms to the views of a certain group and/or doesn't radically alter the way things have been done"
Why are people so afraid of literature? Even with Mein Kampf, I think it should be available to anyone. Literature is all about the ideas within the pages, whether we agree with them or not. Someone put lots of effort into writing down something, and to censor it is pretty cold.
All this is is a list of the books that get the most removal requests from libraries.
Yes its stupid, but its not banning and it certainly isnt burning.
Then perhaps concerned parents can write a note to the school saying they do not want their child to read certain books, rather than trying to cut off access to those books for everyone.
Metta to all sentient beings
although, i must admit, i didn't get very far into that book... it is very depressing and disturbing... but also realistic and perhaps for some, uplifting. rape and abuse happen in this world, it is far more dangerous to pretend that it does not.
Parents and students should have school choice so the fighting can end.
Should we complain that parents are concerned about the literature that their children are exposed to? Do you respect the beliefs of the Amish and American Indians? This just reeks of liberal religious bigotry.
You do have choice.
Excuse me but....what?
From the article, Liberals think that it's theirs and government's job to "challenge" children with "edgy" books. It's a complete load a crap. Liberlas are a joke.
And the is no real school choice and you know it. If not you should maybe check out NBC's education summit or the movie Waiting for Superman. But I guess you would rather live in some sort of big government / socialist denial.
http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/
"These hypocritical liberal elite, live in exclusively white enclaves, and sit around at Jack Fry’s sipping their Napa Valley wine, toasting the great diversity in our schools while also boasting how well their children are doing at Country Day or Collegiate and what private colleges those children will attend. In the meantime, they oppose charter schools, vouchers or any other means to help kids who lack the financial resources of the elite and are trapped in failing schools where their dreams of success are shattered. "
So to summarize:
- Challenging kids is bad
- Thought-provoking material is bad
- Not banning a book is the same as assigning it for class
Glad we're on the same page now.That's one of the most distasteful things I've read on this site in a while.
So now drinking American-distilled wine and having educated children is uppity and wrong. Noted. :rolleyes:
Some of the complaints rendered are riciculous, such as the ones against to kill a mokcingbird. But some parents have legitimate concerns about the sexually explicit material found in many books.
Second, even though I disagree with the banning of books, I want to point out that the situation being debated right now is very different from book burning or a large scale suppression of books. These parents claim they have the right to remove books they don't approve of from the public school libraries in their communities- which are funding by their tax dollars and which their children attend. Now I'm not saying that I agree with them, but this is VERY different from a group of people who say that a book should not be published at all or a group that says no one should be able to read a book. These parents are not challenging the book's right to exist, be published and be available in public libraries and book stores. They are challenging its right to be accessible to THEIR children in the public schools in their communities.
Third, I think that if we simplify the argument as Intolerant Puritans vs. Open-minded Thinkers, then all that does is make people angry. These parents are afraid of the effect that certain books might have on their kids. If you don't answer those fears and simply respond with "well you should trust us to challenge your kids" then the same parents are going to become reactionary and call for things like book bannings.
I think they have legitimate concerns. I wish that my daughter were not living in a time when little girls her age look up to heroines like Bella from the Twilight series. Bella is weak-willed and her entire life revolves around her boyfriend. I would like a better heroine for my daughter like Anne of Green Gables or Mary from the Secret Garden- girls who grow and change in response to their environment. The Twilight books have no literary merit, but young children are not born able to discern between art and media hype. Kids, to a certain extent, are going to follow trends. Reading garbage is not a way to become a thoughtful reader.
Likewise, children are not all miraculously mature at the same age. It is cruel to allow a kid to read about the horrors of Auschwitz or American slavery/racism before they can understand how to deal with it without stunting their own sense of humanity. I understand that some parents want to have some say in WHEN their child is allowed to read Number The Stars or To Kill A Mockingbird, even though these are classics and I hope all kids read them eventually.
So these are real concerns with valid reasons. You have to acknowledge that there are horrors in the world and that media hype is always going to exist, and then you have to decide how you are going to expose your child to these things. I don't think that trying to shelter your child from them is a good idea and I don't believe we should remove these books from the library. But I also don't believe that kids should be allowed to read anything they want whenever they want. They need guidance- that is part of parenting. So I understand that parents want some say in all of this.
There are not going to be widespread solutions to these problems. Schools and communities have to deal with them on an individual basis. Surely there can be some sort of notification system so that parents are made aware when their kids check something out that might concern them. Then the parents can make the decision how to handle it from there. I don't know. I'm not offering a solution, but we do need to have the DISCUSSION and it is not as simple as extremist Puritans wanting to ban books because they are intolerant or have their heads in the sand.
The danger, Bushi, is that history teaches us that freedom to express oneself, at the very root of our system and beliefs, is also extremely fragile.
Some parents do, indeed, have concerns about 'sexually explicit material' that is found in some books. Other parents may have objections to scientifically, politically or religiously explicit material. Some parents may take the view that explicit violence or vampires are taboo. There is no consensus.
At the heart of this debate are two separate issues, the issue of freedom of expression and the issue of private, familial beliefs. I may not want my children exposed to certain forms of expression, such as some of the (to me) hate-filled pornography of the body or of violence expressed in some of our media. I do not, therefore, have these in my home. Knowing, however, that they exist elsewhere, I take my time and put in the effort to educate my children, to warn them and to ensure that they have enough genuine information so that, exposed by life outside the family bubble, they can make their own decisions.
We should not forget that some of the most wonderful works of literature (not to mention science, history, philosophy, etc., etc.) have been banned. If you want sexy, read Madame Bovary.
Whilst the desire to protect and wisely educate children is a reasonable concern of parents, in my experience here in Australia it also is the concern of the education system and helping children become discerning readers and open minded consumers of literature will not be achieved by the banning of books.
My daughter ( 14 years old ) has read both Anne of Green Gables and the Twilight series ... and currently is rather interested in the vampire genre - inspired by Stephenie Myers intially and has gone to find books which I have also enjoyed reading !!! We enjoy discussing the books we read.
As for role models from literature, she has not seen either Anne or Bella in those terms from my observation - the popular media role models concern me far more as young people can adopt them from merely photographs, film and magazine articles, at least with reading novels some discernment from the individual reader is encouraged, for example when we saw the film " Twilight " my daughters first comment several minutes into the film was " that is not how I see Bella at all ".
Exactly, how far will some people go?
Since Waiting For Superman was referenced, I thought I'd share this article: "What ‘Superman’ got wrong, point by point."
That just reeked of liberal, socialist desperation. Haha.
Vikki Reyes has had it with Locke High, the school her daughters attend in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. She walked in on class one day and recalls “the place was just like a zoo!” Students had taken control, while the teacher sat quietly with a book.
Frank Wells has also had it with Locke High. When he became principal he says gangs ruled the campus. He tried to turn things around but ran into a “brick wall” of resistance from the school district and teachers union.
Locke seemed destined to languish in high crime and low test scores until Wells, Reyes, and many reform-minded teachers joined with a maverick named Steve Barr in an attempt to break free from the status quo. Their battle is just one example of the charter school education revolt that’s erupting across the nation.
So what does that mean, exactly? That you can't actually prove anything the article says is wrong, like the fact that the majority of teachers and student teachers in Finland are unionized?
As for banning books. I don't believe books should be banned. Heck I loved "Stranger and a Strange Land" yet it had some sex parts in it. It's not like schools are offering books that have sex stories like in Penthouse.