What's everyone's opinions on banned books in public schools? Are you okay with it? Do you think it's absurd for people to try to protect the youth by saying "No, you may not read this because of it's questionable language or challenging ideas" even if it has a valuable lesson? I'm curious.
Against, for too many reasons to expla
It's a disbursing example of how oppressive our society can be. The fact that To Kill a Mockingbird or 1984 or Animal Farm is banned from public schools is upsetting.
Wait, when did those get banned? I read those when I was in school.
Quote from: Crapshooter on July 21, 2013, 07:03:24 PM
Wait, when did those get banned? I read those when I was in school.
Accidentally hit modify.
To Kill a Mockingbird was banned within the last few years. I don't know when the others were banned.
Here's a list of just a few banned books:
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics
GAAAAH! LOTR IS BANNED!
To kill a mockingbird? We read that in class
We have all of those books in our public school library! I've read most for a project, so have my friends.
Quote from: FlickerYourOwnIdentity on July 21, 2013, 07:51:32 PM
We have all of those books in our public school library! I've read most for a project, so have my friends.
Evidentially they're not banned everywhere. Just in some places. I know the three I mentioned are banned in Caddo parish, and that's ridiculous.
I think it should be up to the teacher what books are allowed to be read or not
I heard the use of the word "racist term for African Americans" was a reason for some book(s). I think language is a stupid reason for it. We read parts of To Kill a Mockingbird outloud in class, and ended up "re-enacting" the trial part. We had a student say "you goddamn .bore., I'll kill ya" in class. Oh no, all of us 16-18 year olds are now scarred for hearing words we all already say. To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and (IMO) Lord of the Flies were all interesting. The only reason I read them was because if school.
I know that the textbooks for almost all of high school were nearly 100% focused on civil rights and similar topics. You can only read about segregation for so long before wishing literature/English wasn't a mandatory class.
This isn't an NSFW thread, moron. -Silent
The reason those books are bad is because of language or the actual consept behind them. Haveing said that I disagree with most of the books on this list I mean those are classic novels and for the times they where written in they made sence even though kids these days have worst Things coming out of their mouth than racial slurs. I think the majority of these books on this list should be part of our curriculum and most of them are.
Banning a book because of language is a stupid reason. Especially when high school students are smart enough to realize the context in which certain words are said.
We have nothing banned here in DC. However, we are quite liberal. Could it vary from area to area? I know my school library has To Kill a Moking Bird as well as Mein Kampf, which is a little weird but it is there.
I hate banning books but I appreciate why it's done. A public school (or any school) has to cater to a diverse demographic. I think it is best if content is concerning to a significant part of the local constituency then remove the book. Allow parents to decide what they want their minors to read. Free access to literature is what bookstores are for; it's a lot harder to ban a book from a bookstore.
As an added measure to allow parents to decide the books their families read I love what one of our local school libraries does. The librarian has a reserve list of "bad" books in a back room. These require permission for younger students to access. It's just like that mysterious forbidden section in the Hogwart's library. The juicy stuff should be there but available at parent's discretion.
Quote from: Xaol on July 21, 2013, 09:13:53 PM
We have nothing banned here in DC. However, we are quite liberal. Could it vary from area to area? I know my school library has To Kill a Moking Bird as well as Mein Kampf, which is a little weird but it is there.
I believe it is area to area. To Kill a Mockingbird is banned from the high school I went to to this day, yet I read it in eighth grade where I attended a private school. 1984, Animal Farm, and the Bell Jar were all pulled from my high school's library when I was a freshman. Naturally, that made me seek out the books and read them on my own.
Quote from: Mikefrompluto on July 21, 2013, 09:27:21 PM
Quote from: Xaol on July 21, 2013, 09:13:53 PM
We have nothing banned here in DC. However, we are quite liberal. Could it vary from area to area? I know my school library has To Kill a Moking Bird as well as Mein Kampf, which is a little weird but it is there.
I believe it is area to area. To Kill a Mockingbird is banned from the high school I went to to this day, yet I read it in eighth grade where I attended a private school. 1984, Animal Farm, and the Bell Jar were all pulled from my high school's library when I was a freshman. Naturally, that made me seek out the books and read them on my own.
Interesting. I am very against that kind of censorship. Where are you located, roughly?
Quote from: Langku on July 21, 2013, 09:15:50 PM
I hate banning books but I appreciate why it's done. A public school (or any school) has to cater to a diverse demographic. I think it is best if content is concerning to a significant part of the local constituency then remove the book. Allow parents to decide what they want their minors to read. Free access to literature is what bookstores are for; it's a lot harder to ban a book from a bookstore.
As an added measure to allow parents to decide the books their families read I love what one of our local school libraries does. The librarian has a reserve list of "bad" books in a back room. These require permission for younger students to access. It's just like that mysterious forbidden section in the Hogwart's library. The juicy stuff should be there but available at parent's discretion.
I can understand why they do it too, but at the same time, isn't high school's job to prepare students for life/college where there is no such thing as a banned book in today's society? I do not think an elementary or even middle school student should be reading things like "f this, GD that you SOB'in A-hole" but should we really be trying to shelter 15, 16, 17, 18 year olds from it?
Quote from: Xaol on July 21, 2013, 09:30:15 PM
Quote from: Mikefrompluto on July 21, 2013, 09:27:21 PM
Quote from: Xaol on July 21, 2013, 09:13:53 PM
We have nothing banned here in DC. However, we are quite liberal. Could it vary from area to area? I know my school library has To Kill a Moking Bird as well as Mein Kampf, which is a little weird but it is there.
I believe it is area to area. To Kill a Mockingbird is banned from the high school I went to to this day, yet I read it in eighth grade where I attended a private school. 1984, Animal Farm, and the Bell Jar were all pulled from my high school's library when I was a freshman. Naturally, that made me seek out the books and read them on my own.
Interesting. I am very against that kind of censorship. Where are you located, roughly?
Shreveport, LA. So it really shouldn't be a surprise that we have banned books in the Bible Belt.
Quote from: Mikefrompluto on July 21, 2013, 09:31:43 PM
Quote from: Xaol on July 21, 2013, 09:30:15 PM
Quote from: Mikefrompluto on July 21, 2013, 09:27:21 PM
Quote from: Xaol on July 21, 2013, 09:13:53 PM
We have nothing banned here in DC. However, we are quite liberal. Could it vary from area to area? I know my school library has To Kill a Moking Bird as well as Mein Kampf, which is a little weird but it is there.
I believe it is area to area. To Kill a Mockingbird is banned from the high school I went to to this day, yet I read it in eighth grade where I attended a private school. 1984, Animal Farm, and the Bell Jar were all pulled from my high school's library when I was a freshman. Naturally, that made me seek out the books and read them on my own.
Interesting. I am very against that kind of censorship. Where are you located, roughly?
Shreveport, LA. So it really shouldn't be a surprise that we have banned books in the Bible Belt.
Ah, I figured it was the Deep South.
Hey I'm from SC, and we have those books. I used to live in Alabama, and we had those books in the elementary school. For some reason...
Quote from: Mikefrompluto on July 21, 2013, 07:01:43 PM
It's a disbursing example of how oppressive our society can be. The fact that To Kill a Mockingbird or 1984 or Animal Farm is banned from public schools is upsetting.
Are these banned or just challenged as lectures and proposed to be banned?
Quote from: Piotr on July 22, 2013, 05:00:40 AM
Quote from: Mikefrompluto on July 21, 2013, 07:01:43 PM
It's a disbursing example of how oppressive our society can be. The fact that To Kill a Mockingbird or 1984 or Animal Farm is banned from public schools is upsetting.
Are these banned or just challenged as lectures and proposed to be banned?
In my area, they're banned. Or at least at the high school I went to. According to other people who commented, it's an area to area thing.
Nc here and to kill a mockingbird and animal farm were not only not banned but required reading.
In fact 1984 is one of my favorite books
Books are written to be read.
Banning such books is to shelter children from the real world. If a 5 year old wants to read "fifty shades of grey", more power to you. At least the kid can read.
Not as long as my usual rants but i cant think of anything else to put.
Banned books?
I live in America.
And go to a private school...
Doesn't affect me much
Half of the books on that list are required reading here!
Honestly, if a book was to get banned it should be see no evil, that book (and the movie for that matter). Also if you have read the zombie books by charlie higson you would know how messed up they are.
Quote from: The Pyromancer on July 23, 2013, 03:16:45 AM
Banned books?
I live in America.
And go to a private school...
Doesn't affect me much
Shinfo?
Quote from: Moneekahh on July 23, 2013, 04:59:01 AM
Half of the books on that list are required reading here!
I went to a private school for middle school and read a good chunk of those books. I get to public school for high school and find out most of them are banned. I'm slowly learning that my high school was just closed minded and about 50 years behind on the times, and that this is not a widespread thing :(. Le sigh.
I know for a fact that To Kill a Mockingbird is banned at my HS. It was banned in '95 and never put back. My freshman year ('02,) 1984, Animal Farm, the Jungle, and the Bell Jar were banned. I remember because they sent a letter out to parents about what not to expect their children to read and vague reasons on why each book was banned. So I went out and read them on my own. They turned out to be some of my favorite books.
That's the catch, isn't it mike, banning a book causes everyone to run out and read it😄.
Hahah maybe that's the real reason people ban books. To get kids to read them.
LSUS here (a sister school of LSU) has Banned Book Week every year in which they encourage people to read a banned book. Colleges do tend to be more progressive than other schools, though.