A few weeks ago, I wrote a post that could be
described as “thought provoking” and “handsome” by people who describe my posts
(me) about censorship and book banning in schools. At the time, I was working
on a banned book project. (Which, if tweaked a little bit, could have been an
awesome project on band books, but I digress.)
This
is a topic that I really do wish continue to explore. It fascinates me, the
idea that we are so afraid of some ideas that we have to flat out ban them
because… why? Is there ever a good reason to ban a book?
I’m
still very much in the camp that banning books is a bad idea, and historically,
it has never turned out well. Once you ban a book, you give it more power. Then
you also run into that problem that you face with kids (and me) where if you
tell them NOT to do something, they’re going to run out and do it. (of course
in that case, maybe we SHOULD ban all books…) But someone commented on the age
appropriateness of books in the classroom… I’ll give you that, but with a bit
of a Shyamalanian twist. I think you have to look at the maturity of students
before giving out some books, not necessarily the age. There are some fourth
graders more mature than 16 year olds out there. There are some 16 year olds
more mature than some television news pundits. It’s all relative, and it’s a difficult
balance to try and strike. (Like getting a bear to ride a unicycle: If it’s too
big, it’s not funny. If it’s too small, it’s not funny enough.)
That fourth grader may
not understand the intricate history involved in the killing your enemies and
baking them into a pie to serve to their parents that was Titus Andronicus. (Shakespeare was the original author of Saw. Look it up.) Does this mean that we
ban this forever? No. I think it means we wait until they are mature enough to
handle the material. (Sixth grade, maybe?) I joke and use an extreme example,
but there was a book that we read in my class that did divide some of the
students.
It was called Perfect and it featured things like date
rape, eating disorders, steroid use, and other problems that we would like to
pretend that kids don’t have to face today. I will level with you, it is not a
happy book, and it does not have a happy ending. It is not an easy read, and I’m…
well, let’s just say well over high school age. Should every high schooler be
handed this book and told to read it? No. Do I think with the right students,
they could get something out of this book and possibly open a dialogue about
these issues? I think it could. Will I ask myself questions in every post? I
don’t know… maybe. I know this book divided the class on whether or not it
should be taught. In the right setting, it could be a powerful, powerful
experience. But we have to give our students the opportunity to figure that
out. They may read it and think it’s too much. They may read it, devour it, and
seek out more books like it. I could
never pull this book so that no student could find it because I was afraid it
would offend or because I want to pretend someone isn’t going through this. The
“la-la-la-la I can’t hear you” method of going through life rarely works.
This is your food for
thought for today. And keep in mind,
these are just my opinions, not binding arbitration. This is a difficult
subject, and there are no easy answers, and a guy wearing a Green Lantern Ring while
he types this probably won’t solve all the difficult nuances behind this
subject. (But I am willing to solve the problem of the best Green Lantern: Kyle
Rayner. You’re welcome, America.)
I still plan do to do
more with banned books, doled out thoughtfully over the course of the next few
months because it is a heavy subject, and break it up more. Head to the
comments section to weigh in, or email me at shakespearebad@gmail.com.