What’s the deal with banned books?

I am not writing this to challenge or offend anyone. However, if you feel challenged or offended, that’s okay. We are all human beings with myriad emotions, and we’re allowed to feel them.

I understand why some books have been called into question; that’s not my argument. My issue with a “banned” book is that it seems to be a replacement for being actively involved in a child’s life. Sometimes I wonder if it’s easier (and I say this to myself too as a parent) to be an activist in the world around us than being an activist in our children’s lives. And I feel I can “wonder” this loudly without judgment after the parenting fails I’ve had today.

But back to that musing; I do think we too quickly can jump to getting a book banned from an institution before, first, taking a stand in our own life or on behalf of a child in our life.

Let me give you an example. My husband was asked to read a book in high school that had content contrary to his beliefs. He asked his mom about it one day, so she spent the next two nights reading the book herself — cover to cover.

Guess what happened?

She wrote a note to the teacher asking if he could read something else because it conflicted with their beliefs. He would do the same work as the rest of the class, only with a different book of the teacher’s choosing that didn’t have an entire storyline devoted to something contrary to their beliefs.

The teacher responded favorably, chose a different book from the school’s long list of options, and that was that.

I also had an experience where I was asked to read a book that offended me. In a college comparative literature class, I read a book that was supposed to have been the subject of a compare and contrast essay. Instead of asking the professor if I could skip that one after I started reading and discovered it was a book full of characters making choices I wouldn’t have needed to read about, I decided against it.

Here’s why.

I knew that what I believed would not change simply because I read a book. I also understood that, if anything, it made my belief system stronger because I thought through each and every aspect of the book and why it cut my conscience so deeply. Now, let’s be honest. I ended up reading about 75% of the book and getting by with an essay that contrasted its “strengths” against the movie version. I knew what was required, I did it, and I moved on. I’ll probably never read that author again though.

As I’ve followed some banned books in recent news, I have become concerned in three ways: 1) What would I do if my child was asked to read a book for school that was too forward, too aggressive, too __________________ fill-in-the-blank? 2) Would I try to get the book taken out of the school curriculum, or would I approach it in a quieter way, just to make sure my own child wasn’t reading something I would not have allowed at his or her age? 3) If my child is old enough and has been raised to make his own decisions based on what he feels strongly about, can I not trust him to make those choices and to tell me if he or she feels a book is in opposition to those ideals?

Surely, at age 7, no. But at age 13, 15, 17? Maybe.

Still, I hope that if and when I find myself walking in the shoes of a parent questioning a required book’s content, my hope is that I’d speak directly with the teacher or principal first. (That’s option #2.)

Here’s why:

While I am all for being an activist for what you believe in, I do think there are times and places and ways to be heard that get efficient results. Trying to ban a book from a school library may make headlines, but it rarely keeps that book out of print, keeps the author from writing a series, or keeps the publisher from releasing similar content. If anything, being on top of a news headline may get that book the acclaim the publishing company wants.

I’m not anti-public school nor am I anti-homeschool or anti-hybrid school; I think that parents should have a say in their child’s education. I just don’t always agree with the methods we take when our ideals are challenged.

I also think book lists SHOULD grow and change more than every 20 to 30 years. There are classics, yes, but there are also mentions, cultural “norms,” and forgotten idioms that need to be addressed, yes, even in the classics. What was appropriate in one era may not be appropriate in another. What wouldn’t offend in yesteryear could very well be alienating today.

While this newsletter is generally about stories I’m reading or writing and about the practice of writing itself, I’d like to propose that banned books fit right in here. When we see a book on a banned list…

– Do we educate ourselves and research why the book has been nominated for being removed from a school or class library?

– Do we check out the book or purchase it to read for ourselves?

– Do we simply believe the hype and choose a side?

Does this mean that when my kids are asked to read books with content I don’t agree with, I’ll turn my head and look the other way? No.

But does it mean I know everything about every book they’ve ever read? Equally, no.

Just as if we trust that our decisions for their welfare are going to work out okay, we must — at some point — trust that they’ll be okay even if they read something we’d rather them not read at a particular age or stage of life.

After all, I read many books by Christopher Pike — who wrote teen thrillers — at a very young age, and I don’t consider myself scarred for it either.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with a snippet of books that have been banned in the last 30 years. I bet you will recognize a few.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Blubber by Judy Blume

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Chocolate War by Robert Comier

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Just Google “Why was _______________ banned?” and fill in the blank of any of these books. If you’ve read them, you will probably have a guess. But if you are a fan of any of these books, you will also most likely have a broader perspective than someone who didn’t take the time to read them and think about them.

This is why I love books so much; they have the power to draw us into worlds unknown and expand our perspective — or solidify it. Happy Reading!