The censorship debate has two very important sides to it. Obviously those who agree with censorship and those who disagree with it. This entry in my blog will deal with the arguments given by those that agree with censorship. People who think censorship is necessary in order to protect students from harmful issues rather than to expose them to unhealthy language and situations. Wendy Day writes that
“Limiting children’s reading material is good stewardship of our responsibility to the community to provide safe schools.”
She claims that while parents are able to choose what movies children watch in the home, what music they listen to, and the language they are exposed to; it is the responsibility of the school to choose what it exposes to students while they are in the school.
Many question censorship by claiming that students experience racial or sexual issues within the real world so why should they be kept from experiencing the very same issues within literature? Wendy Day claims
“Where do we draw the line? There are terrible things that happen in this world. Is it our responsibility to make sure children have detailed information about all of these things? What about incest? What about sado-masochism? These are very real activities in our world, but what is the value in exposing our children to them?”
She is right. What is the value? Are there other books that would teach the same ideas without using foul language or sexual scenes? Can we as teachers find materials that attack serious issues that are “suitable for children?”
This article opened my eyes to why it may be important to keep certain books from our students. However, it also left me with many questions and doubts. While I understand her point that students should be protected within schools I ask “WHY?” Aren’t we as teachers trying to prepare our students for the real world? Shouldn’t they be exposed to the harsh realities of life? At least then they would be a little more equipped to face the real world and all of its difficulties.
In my English class we are reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. This book is such a good book to teach because it is short, fun, easy, and it has a lot of themes that are important for students. However, this book has foul language and also deals with racial issues. Does that mean that we should not teach it to our students? You make the call.
Wendy Day, “Our Schools Have A Duty to Consider Content”. Press and Argus. Jan. 21, 2007
Chris Cochran said,
January 29, 2007 at 5:13 am
Censorship is an issue that all of us are probably going to have to deal with as future English teachers. I think that we can expose students to these harsh realities in life through books in a responsible way, and that by doing this we can better prepare them for life in general.
I completely understand parent’s concern over some of the material that is often found in English classes. You mention Of Mice and Men in this article, and I agree with you that it is a great book to teach, yet has some language and themes that some parents would find unsuitable for their students. If parents don’t want their children reading some of this material, then giving the students a choice of what they read or explaining what is going to be approached in each book before reading it is not a bad way to go.
As a future teacher, I can see a lot of disclaimers over books that are even the slightest bit controversial. As an opinionated college student, I say expose the students to everything there is in a professional manner and they are more likely to get something out of the experience.
canknight said,
January 29, 2007 at 5:15 am
Marie,
I actually just did a piece on the same article that you looked at. I thought the article was interesting because of the parental viewpoint that it expresses. Similar to you, I found myself semi-torn on the issue. As a teacher, you want to be able to decide what you teach, and make sure that your students are ready to operate in the real world, but what are we sacrificing to do so? Are we putting morality to the side?
I am not trying to say that just because you read books with foul language or sex it will corrupt you for life. I do think that as teachers you have to consider the background of some of the students. It is a harsh world and the reality is that some students do not know right from wrong because they do not necessarily have a parent or two that is home to teach them. If they are constantly subjected to foul language or violence and then they come to school and that is the content of their literature, they may begin to wonder what else is out there. There is only so much that one can do as a teacher, but I want to do what I can. It is a reality that the world can be cruel, but there can be so much more.
I also agreed with what you said about possibly choosing other literature that is more suitable for children. I think that there is plenty of good literature out there, and this is a very feasible option for teachers. It is a difficult call to make, and we are future teachers need to look at the different viewpoints to prepare ourselves for the decisions we will have to make at one point in our careers.