The American Library Association will soon be celebrating their annual
Banned Book Week in the States which has got me thinking about this very interesting and controversial topic. This time last year, I was able to experience BBW while Ken and I were living in Houston and found it to be incredibly eye opening and fun. My local library there in Houston put out a lively display of banned books from history as well as books that were being challenged at the time. I was not surprised to see books like
Slaughterhouse-Five,
1984,
Naked Lunch,
A Clockwork Orange,
The Catcher in the Rye and other more infamously known and commonly banned books; however, I was startled to see so many contemporary children's books on the list:
Harry Potter (series),
Captain Underpants,
How to Eat Fried Worms,
James and the Giant Peach, and
A Wrinkle in Time. I read all of these books as a child and have reread many as an adult and was flabbergasted as to why they would be banned from any library.
This is the slippery slope of censorship. If you don't like the book and think it is a bad influence on you then PICK A DIFFERENT BOOK. If you don't want your child reading something that you think may have a negative influence on him/her, have him/her PICK A DIFFERENT BOOK. And if your child comes across any material in a book that he/she/you deem inappropriate then TALK ABOUT IT and then, if you deem it necessary, you guessed it, PICK A DIFFERENT BOOK.
I recently came across an article over at
The Exponent, a blog that I peruse every so often that sums up how I feel about book banning:
Book Burning “Friends”
A few books that have been banned at some children's schools
Remember that cute story in the Friend about the eight-year-old who read some bad words in a children’s book she checked out from the school library? She went home and talked to her parents about it. They explained what the words meant and why they chose not to use such language. They also talked about why the characters in the book used such words. Maybe the characters were struggling to choose the right. On the other hand, maybe they came from a different background where such words weren’t taboo. They talked about how they could maintain their own language standards while showing tolerance and respect for people with different standards. They used the book as a tool to reinforce their family’s values while gaining new insights and appreciation for the perspectives of others.
You don’t remember the story? That is because I am telling it wrong. In the actual story, the girl got the book banned from her school...
I think we need to be very careful when it comes to supporting censorship - book banning in particular. Instead of dealing with/talking about any particular issues addressed in controversial books, many think simply banning the book will make those problems just go away. I'm not saying we shouldn't protect our children from material that is not suited to their ages and moral principles but banning the book completely is not the answer; education and tolerance is.
What do you think?
-J
