Skip to main content

censorship

The current discussion ensuing among the Carolina region of SCBWI is the issue of parenting vs. censorship. A parent, who is also a writer, was mortified at some books her child brought home from the school library (classified as narrative nonfiction for 4-8 grade, they are in an elementary library and discuss actual crimes that have happened and the CSI techniques used to solve them). Evidently the books are quite graphic, but the larger discussion has been over the issue of whether or not the books should be in the library at all. Does that amount to good parenting, or censorship?

When I was 12, there was a series out that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. A friend of mine had the entire set, and would loan them to me. After my Mom read one of the books, she told me she didn't approve, and why (the main characters, in HS, had no problem with gossip, lying, backstabbing, etc) and stated she really didn't want me reading such stuff. She didn't tell me I couldn't read them. And that was my loophole. I simply read them at school. But by book three after our discussion, the books didn't seems as great. I knew what the characters were going to do; I knew it wouldn't be kind or nice, and the plot seemed a little lame. By book four, the fun was gone. That was my last book in that series.

Now that I'm older, I understand the wisdom behind Mom's dislike. But I think I shocked her later by asking questions about one of her books. Having read most of ours, I simply moved up one shelf to her books. I was blessed to be surrounded by a lot of great books, but I wish I had been exposed to more classics and adventurous, fun books in Middle School.

And I guess that makes me question the assertions of some librarians that if you don't approve of a book you don't have to check it out. In theory, that is very true. But when you're dealing with a child, such as I was, then that child will find a way to check out a book they want. They may never take it home, but it will almost certainly be read. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do think that sometimes a little censorship doesn't hurt.

Comments

Lydia said…
I agree. I really struggle with this issue of how far censorship should go. You remember that there was a time when people were trying to get Huck Finn banned from libraries and there were even book burnings held because of of the "N" word. I would be proud to have my kids read this classic ONCE THEY UNDERSTAND that this is NOT a nice word. So where do we draw the line? Also, I have not allowed my girls to read the Junie B Jones series because this little girl is a BRAT and never pays the consequences. But other mothers I know LOVE these books because their daughters are finally interested in reading. Where do we draw the line as to what's appropriate for certain ages? I think we have to be the kind of parent that your mother is and read the books our children are reading and explain to them why these things aren't appropriate. If we try to get things banned from public libraries thenwe run the risk of living out what Ray Bradbury was trying to say in "Farenheit 451."
Carroll said…
Indeed. I think this goes for TV as well...

Popular posts from this blog

things we do for love

Saturday we had a baby shower for Bobby's niece. As I was making the mints, Bobby asked what else was on the menu. After I recited off the litany of items, he responded with "No peanut butter?! This shower is for Hannah! What's she going to eat?" (Hannah has had stomach problems over the years and has been unable to tolerate many foods, but peanut butter has been her staple.) Despite my assurances that she would enjoy the foods we were having, he was adamant that I needed to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for the shower. Even though I protested that NOBODY took that to a shower, he persisted, and informed me I could make them dainty with my little cutter. And so I did. To my surprise all but 3 were eaten. Who'd a thunk it?

get your house in order

My grandmothers were very clean people. My mother thoroughly enjoys cleaning, though she doesn't quite hit the same level my grandmothers were on. I don't enjoy cleaning, but I do like things to be clean. I've almost given up on neatness. One thing that they all instilled in me is the crazy concept that your house must be in order before you go somewhere big - like a vacation or something. After all, you could die in a car crash or have to go to the hospital, and then people would go into your house and find it in a terrible mess. Who wants to be remembered by that? So up until this past year, I would sometimes be up almost all night not only trying to get things packed up, but also trying to totally clean house as well. Or should I say, make the house presentable? The Chinese had a horrible superstition that my mother and grandparents would have enjoyed. Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year based on the lunar calendar) required EVERYTHING to be cleaned top to

Wait...it's almost March?!?

 10 more months 'til Christmas. This last month has been an absolute blur. Cleaning at Mrs. Bryan's house, cleaning at our house, lots of thinking and brainstorming and rearranging, appointments upon appointments, sinus infection/allergies, Bobby's surgery, meeting with surgeon and finally agreeing to future outpatient surgery for me, ongoing updates from my parents, garden tilled and snow peas, potatoes and beets planted (and yes I left several rows empty between the potatoes and beets for something else to go later as a buffer), chickens are laying, we may have a broody hen..in FEBRUARY!!!, we have two roosters that need to disappear, lots of family have been in from out of town to assist with the sorting and cleaning at Mrs. Bryan's house, and somewhere in the midst of it all I've found time to pay bills and catch up on a few emails. While I no longer feel like our house is a disaster zone, it is still overwhelming. Years ago a friend posted a quote by Martin Lut