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levite · 04-07-2008, 11:24 AM

Banning books is nothing but ignorance and puritanism. Obviously, nobody is suggesting that we start reading the juicier highlights of Henry Miller's Sexus to Little Johnny's kindergarten class, but it's absolutely ridiculous to ban any books from being read by high-school age children, and most books banned from middle schools are done for fairly indefensible reasons.

In any case, at least regarding high school kids and their reading, whether we approve of it or not, kids in high school are expanding their minds and trying to find themselves; they're at the very least thinking about having sex; they are confronted all the time by opportunities to drink, smoke, take drugs, engage in illicit, illegal, dangerous, or ethically questionable activities; and they face racism, homophobia, sexual harassment, anti-religious bigotry, and oppressive religious fundamentalist attitudes, as much as adults do-- and sometimes even more acutely. In short, anything that you might read about in a book.

By banning books that deal with such subjects, we are essentially telling them one or more of the following:

A) We have no concept of or are in total denial about what your real life is like;
B) We know what you face out there in the word, but we think you should do it without having great works of literature to reflect on as philosophical and psychospiritual preparation;
C) We know what you face out there in the world, but we think you're too stupid and immature to read about it;
D) We may or may not know what you face out there in the world, but in any case, we don't trust you to think for yourself, or to begin learning to think for yourself;
E) We don't care what you face out there in the world, we don't care how prepared you are, we want at all costs to retain the illusion that we control you.

All banning books really ends up doing is making sure that kids don't read challenging literature. It makes for less educated, less sophisticated, less aware kids. Nothing else.

04-07-2008, 11:24 AM	#12 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	Banning books is nothing but ignorance and puritanism. Obviously, nobody is suggesting that we start reading the juicier highlights of Henry Miller's Sexus to Little Johnny's kindergarten class, but it's absolutely ridiculous to ban any books from being read by high-school age children, and most books banned from middle schools are done for fairly indefensible reasons. In any case, at least regarding high school kids and their reading, whether we approve of it or not, kids in high school are expanding their minds and trying to find themselves; they're at the very least thinking about having sex; they are confronted all the time by opportunities to drink, smoke, take drugs, engage in illicit, illegal, dangerous, or ethically questionable activities; and they face racism, homophobia, sexual harassment, anti-religious bigotry, and oppressive religious fundamentalist attitudes, as much as adults do-- and sometimes even more acutely. In short, anything that you might read about in a book. By banning books that deal with such subjects, we are essentially telling them one or more of the following: A) We have no concept of or are in total denial about what your real life is like; B) We know what you face out there in the word, but we think you should do it without having great works of literature to reflect on as philosophical and psychospiritual preparation; C) We know what you face out there in the world, but we think you're too stupid and immature to read about it; D) We may or may not know what you face out there in the world, but in any case, we don't trust you to think for yourself, or to begin learning to think for yourself; E) We don't care what you face out there in the world, we don't care how prepared you are, we want at all costs to retain the illusion that we control you. All banning books really ends up doing is making sure that kids don't read challenging literature. It makes for less educated, less sophisticated, less aware kids. Nothing else. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)