Censorship

The article on censorship helped me to see both sides of the censorship issue, as well as caused me to reflect on issues of censorship not only in the school I work in now, but in ones I attended. Even though I am not yet a parent, I often feel protective about my students and I do want to protect them from certain things I think are bad for them. However, I do recognize I can't protect them from everything, and reading books they may be able to relate to is good for two reasons-one, they actually want to read and do, and two, the book might actually help them personally. I think there is a fine line though-it is important to ask ourselves as educators whether or not controversial material has any redeeming materal, as well as inform parents when it might.

Looking back, I recall reading some questionable books that actually made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't tell my parents, but I know now I could have told someone and probably have read a different book. One in particular was House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I did however, see the literary quality in what my teachers made me read, and I did feel I was mature enough to handle it. Not all students are though, and it is crucial teachers do have alternative material available, and build relationships with their students so they feel like they can express their beliefs.

I also read Huck Finn in high school, and Catcher in the Rye later on my own. Both books I absolutely love and see so much literary merit in them, I think we should teach. As long as you provide context for controversial language and subjects, I think it is usually okay.

As a Christian, I always felt uncomfortable reading books with a lot of sexual references. Drugs and language didn't concern me as much. However, now that I hear about all the Harry Potter backlash, it surprises me, because I don't feel like HP condones witchcraft at all. Most of my Christian family and friends agree, and we are all very avid fans. However, I have met some parents who do disagree, and I have to respect their views too. I do think it is a shame it is banned in some places though, because in addition to making non-readers readers because Rowling is such a brilliant storyteller, I firmly feel HP is full of literary merit-she is simply a good writer, hands down.

At the conservative school I teach in now, I have to beware of all of the fantasy novels we carry in the library and I have in my classroom. This is what students are into right now and want to read, and my administration backs their English teachers up, but I still need to be prepared for backlash if parents get upset. Books are funny things because they aren't rated like movies, and someone can't generally read a book faster than they can watch a movie; you can't always just tell a parent to go read a book one night, to see if they deem it appropriate or not.