<p>Times do change…</p>
<p>I remember reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles in high school English and was interested to find out that it had been banned previously.</p>
<p>And Handel’s Messiah was seen as scandalous because he used biblical passages. Now, it is a classic and a staple.</p>
<p>From the following article, it is clear enough that the board member/parent Leslie Pinney acted independently and out of genuine concern (however misguided) rather than any “political” motives. Apparently she culled these particular books from the high school district’s proposed reading list for the coming year. She admits that she based her opinions of the books on excerpted, out of context, passages. </p>
<p>She also proposed substitutions for the “7 deadlies”.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bookban22.html[/url]”>http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bookban22.html</a></p>
<p>Times do change, indeed. If she can’t, she also has the option to have her child “opt out”.</p>
<p>LMNOP:</p>
<p>I think that Tess of the D’urbervilles should be banned (j/k) not because Tess is raped but because that prig Angel Clare holds it against her that she is no longer “pure.” It would have saved me a bout of blood boiling when I was in my teens; but perhaps I would not have ended up deciding I was not going to be anybody’s doormat, like poor Tess.</p>
<p>I think some people misunderstand what book banning is.</p>
<p>Book banning is when a gov’t bans a book from being published/sold. </p>
<p>Schools that choose not to use or purchase certain books are not “book banning”. Since “discernment” is needed when schools/teachers select books (what is age appropriate, course related, etc), every school/teacher/library “censors” some books because they aren’t needed or aren’t right for the class or school (I am using “censor” in a good way – not some evil way). Some books are believed to be more beneficial to the students than others – why should that be a surprise to anyone. </p>
<p>Does it surprise anyone that school librarians don’t think Playboy belongs in the periodicals??? NO. Is that “book banning”? NO.</p>
<p>Schools make decisions about books all the time and no one thinks ill of them (nor should they). For instance, when a school chooses to use/purchase Houghton Mifflin Lit books because they feel those will be the “all around best” they are choosing not to buy/use Silver-Burdett or some other publishers books. They aren’t “banning” those books. They are choosing not to purchase them or require them.</p>
<p>No one is telling a publisher that he can’t publish a particular book or offer it for sale.</p>
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<p>Regardless of what the librarians think, the (edit: majority of the) population of the school is under the age of 18. The fact that Playboy isn’t available for perusal by students reflects the law, not the sentiments of the librarians. You can’t use its absence to claim that librarians are imposing their own set of morals or values.</p>
<p>I am not claiming that librarians are imposing their own set of morals or values. I don’t think that.</p>
<p>Jlauer:</p>
<p>In most cases I have read about, the books have been order/purchased but are yanked out of libraries because someone has lodged a complaint. It amounts to censorship; it amounts to book banning.
There are reading materials that do not belong to a school library. I would not put Playboy; neither would I think a book on gardening be a good choice. As for works of fiction, who’s to say what is appropriate?
Most people who object to certain books do not have a “political agenda, whatever it is.” They are made uncomfortable by certain things and think that others, especially children, should be protected from the same discomfort. But who is to say what the source of discomfort is?
A neighboring district has been mored in controversy over a book that "promotes the gay lifestyle’ according to parents who objected to a book about a child with two same-sex parents. But I remember when a first-grader was teased mercilessly by classmates because her dad had “come out.” The source of her discomfort was her fellow classmates. Reading (or being read to) about other kids with same-sex parents was very comforting to this first-grader. It made her feel less alone, less of a freak.</p>
<p>Its the idea of 'banning" book becuase of content</p>
<p>When a school wants to ban Harry Potter because of witchcraft, and whatever, I find that absurd</p>
<p>And I would like to see what “appropriate” books this person wants to replace the “banned” ones with</p>
<p>At my Ds school, they ask the kids in English classes to rate each book used for relevence, being challenging, being boring, going along with themes, etc</p>
<p>It is the REASON claimed in the article referred to that raise eyebrows</p>
<p>There is a difference between removing a book on a reading list because the book is just poorly written and removing it because it includes some controversial themes</p>
<p>And the person in the article was alluding to the latter, not the former</p>
<p>My D had to read a book that was just bad- poorly written, and not at all challenging for an honors class- the themse were good, the IDEAS were good, the controversial topics discussed were good, but the presentation was bad- so that book will go, and other books have been suggested by staff, students, etc</p>
<p>That is VERY different from saying- “the issue arose this month when Township High School District 214 board member Leslie Pinney flagged books that she said contain vulgar language, brutal imagery or depictions of sexual situations inappropriate for students.”“” (from article</p>
<p>two very different reasons for taking a book off a list</p>
<p>And some of those books, I really enjoyed reading and were life changing</p>
<p>This lady sounds like she got her ideas straight from our schools. We’ve been through the last 18 months of two or three women gathering the people from their church to sign petitions banning books. They went to the school board, all the books were kept but a review process was put in place. There was always an opt-out for a different book option. Then they petitioned this year for about 6 straight months for different books. The originator of this home schools most of her kids, had her high schooler in the district one year and started this. Then when they started petitioning, they would go on the website to find some teacher in the district who was teaching that book to make them go in front of the school board and defend the book. Mind you, the parent might have a student in a different grade and a different school but they could make this teacher jump through hoops because of it. The school board finally enacted a process that to petition, you have to have a student directly affected by the book. The original woman was interviewed and basically wanted any book in the last fifty years not read in class, it should just be the classics and the bible.
The even more infuriating thing is that every time they were going to the school board, the tv stations and newspapers were covering it so they would get more publicity. In my mind, those people had been told to let the teachers teach, there were committees with parents,teachers and students to review the books and they needed to move on with their life. I believe the initiator took her child back to a home school environment that she approved of.</p>
<p>On top of that, I would rather someone discuss these difficult subjects with students instead of them being ill informed. Most of the more difficult books are read in AP/Honors classes with juniors/seniors who are ready to discuss the material in an appropriate manner.</p>
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<p>Fair enough…seemed to imply it, on a quick first read.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I think removing books from an book existing list is a form of banning. One must question why the books were OK before, and aren’t now. That isn’t just discernment, I don’t think.</p>
<p>Incidentally, librarians ROCK. They have worked like crazy to maintain the privacy of users, despite efforts to undermine patrons’ privacy. I have been in libraries and bookstores that prominently display banned books and banned book lists.</p>
<p>In fact, here is the most comprehensive one I know (*from the American Libary Association):</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm[/url]”>http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm</a></p>
<p>I remember reading Ole Yeller…man, THAT was disturbing</p>
<p>Also, the book The Jungle was incredebly “disturbing” but it changed and enlightened people</p>
<p>So, disturbing is a good thing…do they just want PollyAnna books, with no issues or thinking involved?</p>
<p>And, I too, thank God for librarians who have stood up for free speech</p>
<p>My D has promised herself that by the time she is 21 she will have read all the “banned” books she can…now thats MY girl!!!</p>
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<p>She can’t have read the same classics I did. See my post about ■■■■■■■■■■ over the Iliad and the Odyssey. Since this was a French school, there was no Bible reading, but is she thinking Sodom and Gomorrah edifying reads? David and Bathsheba? Lot and his daughters? Salome? hmm…</p>
<p>citygirlsmom, if you click on the link in my second post you will find the books that she deemed appropriate substitutes.</p>
<p>Jlauer, I don’t think too many people share your definition of book banning. In this country, government book banning takes a second seat to attempts to prohibit access to books made by non-governmental groups and individuals - that certainly includes removal of books from libraries, school reading lists etc. </p>
<p><a href=“http://712educators.about.com/cs/bannedbooks/a/bookbanning.htm[/url]”>http://712educators.about.com/cs/bannedbooks/a/bookbanning.htm</a></p>
<p>Censorship and book banning impinge on our fundamental rights to intellectual freedom - rights which librarians and educators take great pains to protect.</p>
<p><a href=“http://libraries.luc.edu/about/exhibits/banned/index.shtml[/url]”>http://libraries.luc.edu/about/exhibits/banned/index.shtml</a></p>
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<p>Sure it can be “discernment” if it is believed that a book or books reinforces racism, or sexism, or perhaps cigarette use, or something else that is now considered to be inappropriate. </p>
<p>I remember in California, a district removed a book “My Brother Sam is Dead” from the 5th grade reading list because it was just to violent and graphic – a beheading, etc. That is discernment – not “book banning”</p>
<p>My question would be: Was the book removed from the library?<br>
I put a stack of math books in front of a friend with a young child who has shown interest in math. She chose a few that were most appropriate. At that age, my S was reading more advanced books. </p>
<p>My S, by the way, was reading Redwall in 3rd grade. I believe that, even though it’s about mice, there’s plenty of violence in the series. But I was pleased as punch that S was no longer interested in the Berenstain Bears and instead he was reading a 300-page “real” book.</p>
<p>Jlauer, plenty of people would like (and have) banned Huckleberry Finn, claiming racism due to Clemens’ use of the “N” word. Anyone who does research on Samuel Clemens will find that he was totally anti-slavery, and not a bit racist.</p>
<p>Does excluding this piece of American literature make sense, because <em>some</em> people think it is racist? Isn’t the discussion of racism during the Reconstructionist period, through the use of literature, important?</p>
<p>I think banning books because of perceived racism, sexism, cigarette use, or whatever, is absurd. People need to think and talk. Books are a vehicle to do just that.</p>
<p>Jlauer: In this case, Pinney, a parent and member of the school board wishes to go beyond her prerogative to have her S or D “opt out” (and not participate in the particular classes that deal with books that offend her) in order to advocate in favor of prohibiting these books from being taught to all the students in the whole school district. This is, pure and simple, book banning. The school board and school district have made their position clear - their discernment in this case is that the books in question are appropriate for their high school reading list. In order to safeguard L. Pinney’s rights, she is allowed to present her case before the school board.</p>
<p>Okay, I must be having a hard day, cause i can’t find the books she wants to use instead. i looked at the link, and must have missed them</p>
<p>;) Guess i am as clueless as my kids say i am</p>