When considering the appropriateness of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" as high school reading material, it might be interesting to read up on what's going on in Coeur d'Alene. Please read this article from the Spokesman Review on banning books and answer the following questions:
When, if ever, is it appropriate for schools to remove books from library shelves? With that in mind, do you feel the school board in Coeur d'Alene is doing the right thing by removing "Brave New World" from the reading list?
22 comments:
It is, in my opinion, never acceptable to censor reading materials, whether from schools or homes or libraries. Doubly so when such a ban is based on small minority's personal biases. When a book is banned from a school because one parent likes to believe their child is 'innocent' or 'pure' it takes away from other students' potential learning opportunities. And, like the father in The Kite Runner said, the only real sin is theft.
yeah I agree with what the "Murph" said, but I undersatnd both sides of the situation so,... yeah.
I think that they should censor books that are used in the classroom, but not censor the books in that are kept in the school library. The school can go through the books and make a list of appropriate books that the teachers use as their guideline. That way, kids are still included with the rest of the class, instead of reading an alternative book. The kids who want to read the other books can go to the school library and check them out.
In My opinion, it is viewer Discretion. If they are Uncomfortable reading the book the common mind set is to sue or to ban it. That is not the answer! the answer if you don’t like a book, DONT READ IT!!! I am going to have something to say to the next fool that suggests the banning of books!
This is what happens when parents shelter there children from the world. The end conclusion is these kids complaining about anything bad in movies, books, or even video games. Once one person complains we all suffer.
yeah this is what happens when the parents dont let their children have an outside life. So the parent should buck up and deal with it.
my opinion is this, dont ban books, when a school bans a book, then every one is goina have a fit about thats wrong or its the right thing to do blaw blaw blaw! after Awhile it gets realy Annoying! just dont ban books and we wont have this problem, ok!!
I feel that they should never ban or censor literature. When kids get uncomfortable when reading "Big Kid" books then they should have a choice. When kids then feel excluded i say "you made the choice you stupid child" so choose one or the other and get over it.
I think it is ridiculous that parents are trying to shelter their kids by banning books that have inappropriate content. Its the real world and people need to deal with it. They cry because they read a couple letters that are printed in a book. What makes them think they arent gonna hear it outside of the classroom? Its these people that ruin it for everyone because they cant be happy with life. I could go on forever ranting about how ridiculous this is but ill save you the time and end it here. Please feel free to disagree with me.
I believe that no one has the right to banish a book. Because reading the book is a choice that you are allowed to make. Why should a student who wishes to read that book be told they can't because of one student? Not allowing us to read a book because there is reality in it is wrong.
i think that it is ridiculous to take out books because of "innapropriate content". isnt the point of school to prepare you for the real world? in hte real world you cant just ban something you dont think is "appropriate". or maybe you can. at the rate that we are allowing censorship in our country of free speech it is just a matter of time before there will be lawsuits of parent saying that their kid was introduced to things that they thought were innapropriate to their precious so or daughter who more than likely stays up on late nights watching south park and family guy, laughing at the violince and crudity of late night programing. literature is supposed to be a good thing, something educational. why are we stopping books instead of television and violent video games? why are we censoring anything in our free world?
Meh!
i think that these liberal views are a disgrace to our country. i also feel that you are a disgrace. When thinking of banning literature first think about the majority don't just ban because one person says so.
Dude, if we were still little kids then it would make sense to take the books away. But we are mature enough to handle situations like that. With all the movies that are out there today if you compare the movies to the books the movies are way worse. I just think people that complain dont have to read it but if you want to you should have the right to pick what you want to read. Personally i like blood, violence, and sex it makes the story more interesting to me. If i am reading this book that is full of goody goody crap its hella boring.
Books. They should be avaible to all and not just those lucky few who had managed to hold onto a few coppies after they were banned.
Hitler burned and banned books! we did all we could to stop him and now we find ourselves banning books!
that is all. ponder on my words.
GODWIN'S LAW.
Well said, Murphs.
As a student i beleave that all greana of literature should be avalaby to a high school student.
From an adults point of veiw i think there should be a limmet of some sort. But taking away books you take away the oppertunity for those students to learn.
The board is simply evaluating what is apropriate for middle schools and high schools, and parents are voicing concerns. As long as tax dollers are funding schools parents should have a clear say in what the school does and doesen't find acceptable. Another thing people worry about is family involvment. In a scenario the article gives a kid voices a concern to fer parents and the parents help their kid out by consulting the school, that shows good communication and they did it in a democratic fashion, is that really all that bad? And no matter what the school does if a kid wants to read a book they can check it out at the public library.
this country has the freedom of speech for a reason. the whole concept of books is to share a thoughts and feelings with the reader. walking down the street in almost any town its impossible not to here the f word at least once. yet you cant send that person to jail. Yet i find that the same people who voted for bush and supported the no child left behind act are supporting this ban on some "questionable books". You cant tell every one they have to foolow these set standards and then take the tools away. thats not the way this world works. thats not the way america works. and its not the way life works. get over questionable subject matter and dig deeper into what your realy supposed to get from the book. thats my views.
the end
"When, if ever, is it appropriate for schools to remove books from library shelves? With that in mind, do you feel the school board in Coeur d'Alene is doing the right thing by removing "Brave New World" from the reading list?"
I don't believe it is ever appropriate to ban books. If the parent doesn't like it, I think they should pull out their daughter/son individually. Not ban the book for the whole classes enjoyment and learning.
kyle, you dont have that right. YOUR A MINOR
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