A Little's Enough

Censorship and Banned Books 

**all information is taken from the American Library Association** 

          Today in class we briefly talked about banned books, and I would like to provide a little more information.  First, lets look at some the terms (as defined by the American Library Association):

challenging a book- is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. (They are treating their values as the values of ALL people).

banning a book- is the actual act of removing a book from the curriculum or library, restricting others from accessing the book. 

Reasons that books are challenged:

• it is against the person or group's personal values
• not age appropriate
• adults are "protecting kids" from the content
• book is too frightening for kids
• thought provoking (not same ideas as society presents)
• religion
• racial issues
• the occult (witches, magic...)
• language (swearing...)
• drug use (alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes...)
• violence
• sex
• nudity
• homosexuality
• book is considered anti-family

         The most important thing to remember about censorship and banning books is that every parent has the right to prevent their children from reading something that they don't agree with BUT they do not have the right to restrict everyone's children, thinking they know whats best for everyone.  As we have explored in FNED, not everyone's values are the same, therefore one parent can not know how every child will react to the material.

         Also, it is important to realize that there is a good chance that the person/group who is trying to ban the book, might have not actually read it.  For example, they hear that there is a rape scene and therefore are against the novel... without actually reading it.  Another important thing to note is that a person/group might be challenging a book because they are afraid of it, or the topics in it.  For example, if a parent had experienced rape, they are afraid of revisiting that moment in their life and would try to ban the book using a different reason... because they are too afraid to admit why they are really against the book.  "I am banning this book for improper language and sexual content" rather than "I have experienced rape and reading the book evoked horrible memories that scared me". 

Here is a list of books that have been challenged/banned and the reasons:

•  TTYL, TTFN, L8R, G8R (series) - Myrcle                                                                                                   Reasons: language, religious view point, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
• The Hunger Games (trilogy) - Collins                                                                                          Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee                                                                                                                Reasons: offensive language, racism
• My Sister's Keeper - Picoult                                                                                                        Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence

**Visit the ALA website to look at the 2010/2011 List, the Top 100 Challenged books in 2000/2009, and many more!** The books may surprise you! 

          These are just a few of the books that have been challenged in the last two years.  It is important as future teachers to realize that you never know what a parent might object to in a book that you plan to teach.  The easiest way to deal with censorship is to send out a list of the books you plan to cover at the beginning of the school year and invite the parents to come into the classroom to look over the books.  By doing this, you are putting the ball in their court, and if they try to challenge you, you can explain that they had the chance to look over the books.

How do you feel about censorship? Is it at any point a valid movement? 

What will you do to protect yourself from censorship challenges in the classroom?

Do you have any questions about censorship/banning books, or how to protect yourself?