In my opinion, so many books are banned because they challenge society, or the idea of society that society wants us to have. Talking about sex and religion? Oh no, that will never do. We need to hide these topics under the table, because we wouldn't want to rattle any feathers. But honestly, if we don't rattle feathers, then how will we ever expand our thinking, and you know, LEARN?!
I know we looked at a list of banned books in class, but here's another one that I found really interesting because of the descriptions that follows each one.. http://www.onlinecollegedegrees.org/2009/05/20/50-banned-books-that-everyone-should-read/. There are books on here that I absolutely love, and that have admittedly had a great influence on my way of thinking (which is perhaps why they want them banned..!). To Kill A Mockingbird will forever be one of the most incredible books to me. In my opinion, the message of the book is so powerful and amazing. Of course, it pushes buttons, but do you really think it would be the classic that it is without it pushing buttons?
In an effort not to make this post ridiculously long, because honestly I could go on forever, I leave you with a few questions. What are your thoughts on censorship? AND, one thought that I have a huge problem with figuring out is, how will censorship affect future teacher's careers, how do we deal with it, and how do we draw the line between what we teach our students and what is inappropriate for our students?
Posts
5 comments:
I went and read the list of books on the website you listed and was very surprised. I've read quite a few of those books and would consider them to be great literature that any individual should read. One that stuck out was a Wrinkle in Time. I remember having my second grade teacher reading it aloud to us over the course of the year. I liked it so much that I went on to read the other ones in a series. The reason the site listed it to be banned was because it protected the children from battles of good and evil. I would think that this would be a good thing for children to understand.
To answer your questions I think that it help put a burden on teachers always wondering what is appropriate to incorporate in the learning environment. It makes me question how much time has to do with it to because it was read in a classroom over 10 years ago and if my teacher thought about this at the time. I think that the final determiner is the teacher. If they want to teach a certain book but feel it might be perceived negatively by parents then involve them in the process and let them know why its important that students read it. There is constantly new literature being printed that potentially anyone can find a reason to have it banned, so I think that censorship and banning will always be inter-tangled with education.
I was shocked when I looked at the list of books posted on the link left on this post. I have read 21 of the banned books and most of them I read in school. I think it is ridiculous to ban these books from children, they are all great books and I don’t think any of them pose a real threat to children. I mean come on look at the shows kids watch on TV they are bound to hear things about sex, drugs, religion and profanity. Personally I would rather the kids read about these topics in books because most of the time these stories have morals and life lesions attached to these controversial topics. Sooner or later children are going to grow up and learn about these topics on their own its only a matter of time, it would be one thing if these books were banned for legitimate reasons but since I have read most of these books I know that there really isn’t anything too harmful in their content. No matter what there are always going to be parents who shelter their kids from everything but where do you draw the line? Can you really justify not allowing your kids to read classic books like James and the Giant Peach? I grew up being able to read whatever I wanted and I turned out just fine! Now to your question how will this effect future teachers I personally don’t think it will of the 21 books I had read from this list almost all were books that had been assigned for me to read by a teacher.
Censorship is something that is really hard to pick a side for. I think that children need to be monitored to some extent but when it comes to banning book for words like idiot or because there is a racial slur is ridiculous. I think that one of the main issues with censorship in schools is that children know way more than parents or teachers think they do. Parents might think they know what their child is exposed to but they really don’t have a clue. The world is always changing. Technology is expanding beyond what we could even imagine. Children are always going to seem to grow up faster than we thought we did or our parents thought they did or our grandparents thought they did. It’s true, the world around us is getting faster and faster and so are our children. I think the main thing that we should do as teachers and even parents is to try our best to get inside the mind of our students and children. We need to know what they know, what they want to know and what they should be learning. Every child is different but for the most part children of the same ages are going to be ready to learn and already know the same kinds of things. So for us, as teachers we should know what our students are interested in and work around that. If books continue to be banned and censored, children will be ill prepared and not ready for what is to come when they enter the real world.
I agree with what you are saying that there needs to be some sort of limits. I do not want my children to have nightmares from something graphic they saw in a book. I do however want them to be able to read books that interest them and help them understand what is going on in society. I think that it is up to the parents to censor what their children are reading and if they think their child is mature enough to handle whatever is in a book then they should be allowed to read it. I plan on becoming a teacher and I am worried there will not be any classic books left to teach. A lot of the books I read in high school are on the banned book list. I learned a lot from them and think they still need to be included in high school lessons. I think that we are on a slippery slope and if things become to censored then real life will have to be banned because it will be inappropriate and unsuitable for children. People need to realize that they can not protect their children forever. Life is messy and it is not always what you want it to be. But we can not change it and we need to deal with it the best we can. I think too much censorship really holds children back and hinders their understanding of how the world works.
Apparently, there are great books being censored. Personally, I do not like the idea of having any books getting banned due to society and sensitive topics; who is to learn and try making the world a better place when everyone is to ignore these topics? This is not making the world any peaceful either. Hence, I believe it is important for teachers to introduce decent and intellectual books in which relate to the lesson topics, and not having to think about whether the books are censored. It is necessary for teachers to talk about censored books with the principle and the parents just in case they disagree with the idea, but teachers should still promote the benefits on the importance of looking at varieties of perspectives for such big issues in world today. Reasons behind mentioning and getting permissions from the parents are due to the environment the parents expect their children to grow up and experience. Therefore, teachers do not have the complete control over such sensitive topics as parents have ideas and expectations from their children as well.
Post a Comment