Book Banning?

[eclectics]

Yet it still amazes me some think this country is a liberal wasteland and we are turning into one big Sodom and Gommorah. If anything, we are going in the opposite direction, imho. Some of those books should not only not be banned, they should be required reading. Nazis and Communists banned books. I should think we are better than that.

 

[gina2000]

I would be very interested in hearing reasons as to why each and every one of these books should be banned. And for people who support banning....do you read the book first and then ban it from your family or do you trust someone else to tell you what to do?

 

[CheshireVal]

This is one of the reasons I quit my job as a school librarian after only 2 years. I got tired of ignorant parents coming in with books they hadn't even read that they deemed inappropriate for, not only their own kids, but every kid in the school.

I had one lady come in with a book where she had gone through and underlined (in pen!) every single "bad word" and demanded it be removed from the shelves. She hadn't even read a single page of it!! I told her there was a process she had to go through to challenge a book, and she just said she would just keep it out and never return it instead. Her son wasn't allowed to check out anymore books after that because he had such a huge fine, which of course the parents also pitched a fit about.

Eventually the principal, instead of backing me up, decided to circumvent policy and told us to erase the kid's fine and let the whole thing drop.

 

[DisDarling]

Wow, no school in my area has ever banned books. Its too bad people feel the need to do that!

 

[Sparx]

I would be very interested in hearing reasons as to why each and every one of these books should be banned. And for people who support banning....do you read the book first and then ban it from your family or do you trust someone else to tell you what to do?

well apparently the people banning the books that I've read refuse to accept the basic functions of the body, sex, fantasy, alternative opinions, pictures of a black haired character in a stripped shirt, drugs, scary stories, classic literature, and the past. jmo.

 

[Just2554]

I'm surprised to see that Gone With the Wind isn't on that list. That one comes up in these book banning conversations all the time, particularly because of the parts with the KKK.

And of course, good old Mark Twain's two most recognizable characters almost always show up on these lists (Huck Finn especially). Twain will forever live on as one of the greatest American writers, not only because his books are good, but because they constantly show up as being banned. I don't know if it depends on the area or not, but Huck Finn was required reading at my middle school, high school, and college.

I've read alot of the books on this list; why some of them are banned is beyond me (the King books? Catcher in the Rye? James and the Giant Peach?? Okay then).

 

[Loves Disney]

This is one of the reasons I quit my job as a school librarian after only 2 years. I got tired of ignorant parents coming in with books they hadn't even read that they deemed inappropriate for, not only their own kids, but every kid in the school.

I had one lady come in with a book where she had gone through and underlined (in pen!) every single "bad word" and demanded it be removed from the shelves. She hadn't even read a single page of it!! I told her there was a process she had to go through to challenge a book, and she just said she would just keep it out and never return it instead. Her son wasn't allowed to check out anymore books after that because he had such a huge fine, which of course the parents also pitched a fit about.

Eventually the principal, instead of backing me up, decided to circumvent policy and told us to erase the kid's fine and let the whole thing drop.

I suppose some parents feel reading a book before judging it is overrated. My mother is an English teacher and has horror stories of parents calling and yelling about the books being taught. An English teacher of mine has this story:

A parent called in arguing about the book Night claiming it was not appropriate to be taught and how she couldn't believe the teacher actually required the kids to read it. My teacher asked her what she thought of it after she read it. The parent replied that she had not read it. My teacher told her to call him back after she had read it. The parent agreed and sure enough she called back. However, this time she told my teacher what a great book it was for the kids to be reading.

 

[bicker]

Book banning is literally un-American. The people who advocate it should be ashamed of themselves, and should be uniformly disparaged by the rest of society for the ignorant, power-hungry people they are.

 

[robinb]

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received a total of 405 challenges last year. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported.

The “10 Most Challenged Books of 2005” reflect a range of themes. The books are:

* “It's Perfectly Normal” for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
* “Forever” by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
* “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
* “The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
* “Whale Talk” by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language;
* “Detour for Emmy” by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
* “What My Mother Doesn't Know” by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
* Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
* “Crazy Lady!” by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
* “It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families” by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.

Off the list this year, but on for several years past, are the Alice series of books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

Captain Underpants?!?!?!
​

 

[princess pooh]

Reading that list made me sick to my stomach. I've read many of those books in school and many more of them in my free time. Someone in my circle of freinds would buy one of the Judy Blume books, and then we would pass them around and discuss them. A lot of the books on the banned list had a big impact on me.

I'd never thought I'd see Blubber by Judy Blume on the same list as Sex by Madonna

 

[Loves Disney]

Okay, in The Catcher in The Rye, there was technically no sexual content. Sure there was one referance to it but not enough to signify being banned! And okay, like two pages contained a "bad" word, but it appears to me (as I have said before) the ones wanting to ban this book are only looking at the smallest things! There is such great meaning in this book and banning it will only prevent some people of reading such an extraordinary piece of literature!

Omg, Captain Underpants...what has this come to?!!!

 

[LukenDC]

Sadly book banning is attempted in many different communities. It is imperative that people stand up to those who want to ban books (usually religious fantatics). Book banning has a long tradition in fascistic and communist nations and NO place in a democratic society.

 

[LukenDC]

I suppose some parents feel reading a book before judging it is overrated. My mother is an English teacher and has horror stories of parents calling and yelling about the books being taught. An English teacher of mine has this story:

When I was in high school, a teached assigned the novel Of Human Bondage by W. Sommerset Maugham. The next day a parent called demanding that the assignment be cancelled because her religion considered "sado-masochism" a sin. The teacher had to explain to her that the book was not an S/M primer and the only bondage was emotional and mental in nature.

By the way, Of Human Bondage is one of the best novels I have ever read. Magnificent book and the movie with Bette Davis is not bad either.

 

[Tantor]

We have a book that is geared towards Gr 4 and 5 (9 yrs to 11 yrs) called Three Wishes. Alot of the school boards here in Toronto have banned it in the school but our District did not.
It is called Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak
Author: Deborah Ellis

Deborah Ellis's enormously popular "Breadwinner" trilogy recounted the experiences of children living in Afghanistan; now Ellis turns her attention to the young people of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After visiting the region to conduct interviews, she presents their stories here -- in their own words. Twelve-year-old Nora, eleven-year-old Mohammad, and many others speak directly about their lives -- which prove to be both ordinary and extraordinary: They argue with their siblings. They hate spinach. They have wishes for the future. Yet they have also seen their homes destroyed and families killed, and live amidst constant upheaval and violence.
This simple, telling book allows young readers everywhere to see that the children caught in this conflict are just like them -- but living far more difficult and dangerous lives. Without taking sides, it presents an unblinking portrait of children victimized by the endless struggle around them.


There is also a part about one of the girls idolizing her sister because she was a suicide bomber and that she would do that some day. That is why it was banned. I have read the book and think it should be left on the shelves.
One of our Grade 5 students said. "What do they think I'm going to do blow myself up because I've read this, give me more credit than that".

 

[teacherforhi]

I'm on the media advisory council for my school. Every year I have to go through books and decide whether or not I would recommend them for purchase for our library (it's a middle school, by the way). I refuse to recommend any of the Captain Underpants books. Our students honestly don't need any help coming up with underwear jokes.

We're never had anyone come in and complain about books that were already on the shelf and we do have such classics as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Fahrenheit 451. We don't have the fifth and sixth Harry Potter books, but that has more to do with that series of books being stolen repeatedly, so our librarian refuses to order them anymore.

 

[Stitchfan]

Such a shame to see so many books get banned. I live in the same area as the OP, the real kicker of the story is that the woman who is calling for the ban has admitted that she has never even read any of the Potter books in their entirety.

 

[Mugg Mann]

The subject of banning books has got me thinking...first of all, I'm very surprised that no one on the DIS has come forward in favor of banning some of the books; I have no doubt that some people reading this thread are absolutely in favor of banning certain books based on comments they've posted on other threads. I'd genuinely like to hear an intellectual argument made as to why they think the book should in fact be banned.

And second, how about books that should be required reading for everyone? Having finished it recently (and having re-read it for the first time since high school), I'd like to nominate 1984 by George Orwell for the top of that particular list. It's a very eye-opening book, especially in the times we currently live in.

 

[robinb]

Such a shame to see so many books get banned. I live in the same area as the OP, the real kicker of the story is that the woman who is calling for the ban has admitted that she has never even read any of the Potter books in their entirety.

Well ... you do need a 4th or 5th grade reading level to get through them .

 

[Mugg Mann]

Well ... you do need a 4th or 5th grade reading level to get through them .

And there's never a 4th or 5th grader around when you need one....

 

[liamsaunt]

Banning books is ridiculous! People are, believe it or not, capable of reading books, ingesting their stories, and (gasp) interpreting for themselves what the books mean. My local bookshop has a huge table stocked with "banned books" from the top 100. It is so sad to see the stories that people want to ban. I think it is nothing other than ignorance.