Banned books in public schools.

Mikefrompluto · July 21, 2013, 06:58:49 PM

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.

Mlerner12 · July 21, 2013, 07:00:02 PM

Against, for too many reasons to expla

Mikefrompluto · 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.

Crapshooter · July 21, 2013, 07:03:24 PM

Wait, when did those get banned? I read those when I was in school.

Mikefrompluto · July 21, 2013, 07:06:03 PM

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

Mlerner12 · July 21, 2013, 07:08:32 PM

GAAAAH! LOTR IS BANNED!

FlickerYourOwnIdentity · July 21, 2013, 07:49:43 PM

To kill a mockingbird? We read that in class

FlickerYourOwnIdentity · 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.

Mikefrompluto · July 21, 2013, 08:01:06 PM

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.

5/9 Turtle · July 21, 2013, 08:03:35 PM

I think it should be up to the teacher what books are allowed to be read or not

Silent1236 · July 21, 2013, 08:22:27 PM

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

Imink · July 21, 2013, 08:23:02 PM

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.

Mikefrompluto · July 21, 2013, 08:40:21 PM

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.

Xaol · 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.

Langku · 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.