Censorship-a Good Thing?

I feel very passionate about this! And am giving away a banned book. Enter below-easy entry




Hundreds of books have been either removed or challenged in schools and libraries in the United States every year. According to the American Library Association (ALA), there were at least 326 in 2011.  ALA estimates that 70 to 80 percent are never reported.-bannedbooksweek.org
As with all things, I believe one size does not fit all. Is there a place for censorship? 

Let's look at some of the classics that have been banned for whatever reason, but continue to be read in schools: 
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Call of the Wild, Fahrenheit 451, Gone with the Wind, Moby Dick, The Red Badge of Courage, The Scarlett Letter, and To Kill a Mockingbird. (There are a ton more)

 Yep, we all read them. Are we worse for it? Absolutely not.

Seems crazy that they were banned, right?

Let' look a bit closer to school libraries.

Do you think all books should be available to children in elementary, Junior High and high school libraries, or should someone monitor it?
For example, should students be able to find the wildly popular vampire series by Kristen and P.C. Cast? I was shocked to find it in Junior High school libraries. Why? It's simple. The first book has oral sex in it. What about Mortal Instruments? Incest is the name of the game-imagined or not, it plays a huge roll in the book.  Is this appropriate for Junior High? Are they available in your child's elementary? Most likely.

It would be nice as parents to have all the time in the world to read every book before our children do, but frankly, it is impossible for most. There simply isn't the time. And in many classes, students choose books from the library and keep them at school for reading time in English classes.

So, how do we protect our children from books that teach all the wrong things and are available at their school? Heck, scholastic sells those books to our children.

Of course, public libraries should carry it all, but school libraries? 

 Hmm, that may be another issue all together. 

 Do you want your sixth grader reading a book with oral sex at school without your knowledge? What about your 7th, 8th, or 9th grader? What age is that  alright?  Families have different opinions on this, right? So, what do we do? What is the answer to the question? As more and more books marketed to teens contain blatant sex and terrible language, should schools include them in their libraries simply because they are best sellers and the cover says it is Young Adult? 

Not hardly. There is age appropriate reading and our school libraries are not keeping it appropriate. If a student is advanced or the parents allow them to read that kind of stuff, let them get it at the public library.

Maybe the answer is a system that rates books like the movies? Oh, epic fail there, right? PG-13 may as well be labeled porn a good majority of the time.

 I have a better idea. On the back of the book have the publisher have a truth-in-reading section that says, swears: and lists them. Sexual activity in the book: kissing, touching private parts, full blown sex, oral sex. Same with violence: heads chopped off, stabbings, killings, etc.

We might be able to help our kids choose books that are appropriate for them if we knew what was in them. 

What do you think?

 Would a truth-in-reading section on the back of the book help you and your children choose what books are appropriate for them? 

Just for reading that rant, you get a chance to win a banned book of your choice. Good luck.