It's Banned Books Week!
It's that time of year again, folks - where we honour the beautiful pieces of literary work that government throws out of our public schools and public libraries because they're "controversial" and could cause angry parents to sue the school system for letting his or her child read such filth. This "filth" is anything that has to do with: Offensive language, violence, having an occult* theme or promoting the occult of Satanism, being unsuited for an age group (<--the absolute most GENERIC reason to ban a book), promoting homosexuality, racism, sexual education, being anti-family, promoting a religious viewpoint, and/or nudity.
To me, the banning of books is just another way for parents to put on the facade of "Parent of the Year." It's like when someone curses in public and every soccer mom with her 18 kids turns around and says, "There are children present!" and runs to cover their 36 ears on their 18 heads with her 36 hands. When you know good and well, that an hour ago on the soccer field, she was sailor-mouthing the terrain in alphabetical order. They just want to cause a stink and be that parent who "made a difference in their child's life." Of course you made a difference - you deprived them solid, rich, and thrilling literature. You're shoving The My Little Pony Adventures and Go, Dog, Go! down their throats. Sue Douglass Fliess, author of education.com, made a fabulous closing argument in her 2007 article, "What Makes a Banned Book?" She states,
"As parents, it’s up to you to decide how you want your children to learn about certain tough topics. But take a second to think back. When you were young, did you learn everything from your parents or had you possibly picked up a book or two?" I highly doubt any parent has ever marched into television stations like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, or MTV with a list of shows they need to ban for inappropriate content. Shows such as, Spongebob Squarepants have made figurative references to homosexuality, Wizards of Waverly Place references "occult" content, and Victorious has made figurative alcoholic references. And yet, these children's networks are still running shows with the same content. The same content in books that parents are causing a stink about to school boards and getting them banned. It just doesn't make sense to me. If you're going to ban something that you feel has inappropriate content, ban it from your own child and household, not the entire school. Be parent of the year to your own child, not to everyone else's. What's inappropriate to you, could be educational to another. Secondly, which would you rather ban: the inappropriate content that plays redundantly on television, turning your child's brain to "filthified" goo, or the inappropriate content that simultaneously strengthens vocabulary, spelling, imagination, and creativity?
For those still lost, some examples of current and past banned books are:
-Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: For sexual content, violence, and obscene language
-Catch 22 by Joseph Heller: For homosexuality, anti-military, and offensive language
-The Tales of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: For slavery themes and inappropriate language
-Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: For inappropriate language, anti-family and anti-religion themes
-Harry Potter (Books 1-7) by J.K. Rowling: For the support of witchcraft and scary content
-The Giver by Lois Lowry: For support of suicide to achieve a Utopian society
By the way, I've read all of the above books, and they're all absolutely beautiful literary works. <3
*Occult: Supernatural, mystical, or magical beliefs, practices, or phenomena
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