Experimentation

Over the last month or so that I have been looking at censorship within schools I have found many articles against censorship and a couple that are all for it.  Today I ran across an article that was talking about censorship within all aspects of life not just novels. 

The article talks about how censorship occurs within politics, and our laws—the example that the article used is that we do not allow child pornography.  As far as politics go, the beginning of the article talked about various cases where assassination was used as censorship.  If a person does not want another one to be heard, in essence they want to “ban” them, they do so by killing them.  Obviously this form of censorship is wrong. In the case of censorship based on laws it is needed or people would run rampant and child porn could potentially be legal but how far should we let censorship go?  How culturally based is it?  

After talking about political censorship the article moved on to censorship in literature.  It proposed a reading of various previously banned books.  It claims,  

“Reading the great banned books of other times and other climes will hardly sort out the dilemmas and contradictions that recur in the history of public speech. It might, though, help us to understand that the sands of taboo and transgression, of heresy and blasphemy, are forever shifting under our feet. Within a generation (to take just two obvious examples), Joyce’s Ulysses and Lawrence’s The Rainbow moved from being proscribed to being prescribed – from the magistrates’ court to the seminar room. Other novels travel in the contrary direction. In 1900, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery saga Uncle Tom’s Cabin seemed to millions one of the noblest, most influential books since the Bible. By 2000, it had become a byword for patronizing ignorance. Our shibboleths and scapegoats will no doubt look as bizarre to future critics as the passions of the past so often do to us.”

I agree with this part of the article.  Many novels that were banned no longer are or maybe they still are but no longer should be.  People who are thinking about banning a book need to truly look at the reasons for banning it.  Are we banning it because the topic makes us uncomfortable? (Homosexuality, race issues, women’s rights), or are we banning it for valid reasons?  I think that these questions need to truly be addressed before a book is banned.  How much is society playing a role in the banning?

I think that we do need to realize that censorship of literature may not always be right and we should look into how much of our lives are infiltrated by other forms of censorship.  The article ended with a lot of quotes from various authors about censorship and I will leave you with my favorite.

“’Books won’t stay banned. They won’t burn. Ideas won’t go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.’”ALFRED WHITNEY GRISWOLD, ‘THE NEW YORK TIMES’, 1959

James Madision. “Censorship: Still A Burning Issue.” The Independent. Feb. 25, 2007

When we try and heal people in hospitals we do not just heal the physical problem but rather we heal the person as a whole.  This includes allowing family members to visit, decorating rooms with flowers and balloons, making sure the patient is not depressed, and by making sure to talk to the patient everyday.  I propose that we add yet another: Give every patient a notebook and ask them to write in it everyday. 

I have yet again found another article where writing has been proven beneficial.  Earlier on my site I talked about how writing helped the women that were in prison deal with their issues.  Today, I will talk about how it has also helped patients in the hospitals—specifically those dealing with cancer. Susan Bauer-Wu, director of the Cantor Center for Nursing and Patient Care Research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, claims that  

“research suggests that by spending 30 minutes each day for four days to write out their innermost thoughts and feelings, patients can significantly boost mental and physical health.”

This blog has been very beneficial to me so far.  Sometimes, I feel very connected to my topic about writing as therapy for depression.  I enjoy telling stories about my life and connecting it to what I am studying.  I sometimes feel that this within this blog and my blog for 310 that it is therapy for me. Now, I don’t share my innermost thoughts and feelings but I do share a lot about how I have felt in the past about things and when I give my opinion about something my feelings are being shared.  I am glad that there are people out there doing research about writing as therapy and that it apparently does work because it is something that I have been thinking about for years. 

Bauer-Wu defines writing therapy as,

““Expressive writing therapy is just that: Patients are encouraged to express whatever is on their mind, letting their hopes and fears flow out in a natural, unrestrained way. It’s akin to keeping a journal, but more focused on the things that might be bothering you or triggering stress.

“We tell them, ‘Don’t worry about the punctuation, the words, just go with the process,’ ” Bauer-Wu said. “We also encourage them to build on whatever they have written before.”

The result, for many patients, is a kind of catharsis — a release and articulation of issues bottled up inside — and also a healthy coming to terms with some of those issues.””

I absolutely love how she talks about the writing process and building on what they have written before.  It connects perfectly to process pedagogy which we looked at in English 310.  Her therapy is to let people write and write a lot for 30 minutes four times a week.  The results are amazing.

““One of the things that’s been found in cancer patients across different studies is what we call ‘improvements in health-care utilization,’ ” she said. “Patients end up going to their doctor or calling nurses less frequently. They need fewer sessions with a mental health counselor. Basically, they are having fewer physical symptoms and coping better.”

Indeed, there’s data that suggest that writing out your emotions eases stress and, in turn, boosts the immune system. “We’re not sure how that might work.””

I have become so excited about Writing or Expressive Therapy.  To me, there are no real downfalls to it.  In fact, so far all I have seen or read about are benefits that writing therapy brings to people. I am a little disappointed that there have not been articles specifically relating writing therapy as a way to help teenage depression, but I feel that if it is used to help cancer patients and women in prison then writing can definitely be used within a school setting as therapy as well.  Hopefully soon I will find an article that specifically links the two together.

E.J. Mundell.”Words Can Help Healing.” Canadian Press. Feb. 22, 2007

I keep a journal of my daily life.  It contains photographs that are important to me, pictures that I have drawn on the sides, what happened in my day, but most of all, it contains poetry.  My poetry is very personal to me.  It holds my thoughts and feelings as if they were stuck in concrete.  Writing these poems gives me relief of all the things going on within my head.

I have been thinking about my poetry a lot lately (because I have been writing a lot if it) and wondering how many people use writing, specifically poetry, as an emotional release as I do.

Today I read an article that explained that many people use writing poetry as I do and that even more emotional release is given when poetry is shared among people.

According to Michael Hickey poetry is used for,

“Self-expression, exploration and self-discovery… [that] finding the words to articulate a traumatic experience can bring relief [and that] there is great release and enjoyment in sharing with others, who identify through the personality and universality of poetry.”

Hickey believes that people can get over difficulties within their lives by writing poetry that is deeply personal to them.  However, what is interesting about Hickey’s views is that he takes it one step further by saying that when poetry is shared with others its potential to help heal a person is augmented.

I brought up the idea of “personal journals” in an earlier blog entry.  I still think this idea is one that can greatly benefit students.  After reading this article I have modified my idea a little.  I think it would be really neat to have students write personal poetry and then share it with others.  They could share with the entire class, in groups, or even with just one other person.

For students that deal with issues of depression this could be very beneficial for them.  It would give them time to

“feed off their own problems and difficulties, perhaps even focus on them.”

This helps them understand events in their lives and the emotions that they are dealing with.  Then sharing their work with fellow students is beneficial in two ways:

1. The student dealing with depression can explain himself/herself to others who may not understand depression.  Thereby educating someone on the hardships of depression.

2.  The student may find that they are not the only one dealing with depression.  There will most likely be others that feel the same as they do and they will come to

“feel [them]selves as not alone in the world, but as part of and integrated with all that exists around [them], self-esteem can then grow through poetry as [their] innermost being embraces the mystery of life. Deep is calling to deep.”

I think the idea of using poetry as therapy could easily be used within the classroom giving students a chance to explore ideas within their lives and share them with others. 

Michael Hickey.”Poetry as Thearapy.” Naples Sun Times. February 21, 2007.

Minorities are often forgotten within literature or if they are present in a novel, they usually play the stereotypical role.  Hardly ever is there a novel where the main character or characters are of a minority group.  When this does occur the novel is often banned.  I think censorship based on minority issues is wrong.

Today I read a blog entitled: ““Annie on My Mind”…The freedom to explore.”  The blog is about the novel Annie on My Mind where the main characters are two girls discovering their sexual identity. There are no explicit sexual scenes within the novel just a lot of discussion about the emotions the girls face as they learn about and question their sexuality.

This novel gives insight to a minority group that most people do not pay any attention to.  Homosexuality is looked upon with disgust by the majority of Americans.  Most people would not want to read about it or worse yet, let their kids be exposed to it.  However, homosexuality is an issue that most teenagers, especially teenage girls, have to deal with at some point.  This leads teenagers to become confused.  Cecilia writes,

“Frequently among teenagers there is confusion, as with Liza and Annie in the novel, about whether or not they are gay. “I think one reason why we didn’t move away from each other was because if we had, that would have been an acknowledgement that we were touching in the first place” (Annie 77). In a society that is dominantly heterosexual it should come as no surprise that teens who are questioning their sexuality, against the norm, frequently become confused.”

Novels that explore minorities and their interests bring understanding to both the minority and to others.  I believe this novel gives homosexuals and people questioning their identity something to connect to and identify with.  As readers follow the emotions of Liza and Annie in the book they can say “Yeah, I felt/feel that way too!”  It allows them to see that they are not alone, that although they are a minority there are others out there just like them.  It also allows for heterosexuals to understand the hardships and emotions faced by homosexuals.

This novel may also be helpful to homosexual teenagers suffering with depression.  According to statistics found by Cecil,

“Gay and lesbian youth are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide and 30% of the completed suicides are committed by homosexual youths. 28% of School drop-outs are gay and lesbian high school students. 26% of gay and lesbian youths are forced to leave their homes because of conflicts with their families over their sexual identities. 97% of students in high school report regularly hearing homophobic remarks from their peers. 53% of students report hearing those same remarks from school staff. That leads them into depression, where it has been found to strike homosexual youths four to five times more severely then their heterosexual counterparts.”

This novel gives students strong role models when dealing with anxiety and depression over homosexuality.  Students see that Liza and Annie struggled with understanding themselves and made it through.  They realize that while life will be difficult they can make it through as well.

This novel holds so much potential for helping students struggling with homosexuality so why would it be banned?

“Suffice it to say that Annie on my Mind was banned and challenged for its homosexual content, even though there are no explicit sexual scenes in the entire book.”

Although Nancy Garden, the author of the novel, claims,

“many attempts at banning books that are about homosexual characters and issues are also motivated by sincere beliefs that such books are harmful – that they will encourage young people to “become” homosexual, and that homosexuality itself is evil, dangerous, sick, etc.[…]I think it’s important whenever possible to try to inform those people of what homosexuality really is and isn’t, and of the fact that one does not “become” homosexual because of reading a book. After all, gay kids read books about straight people all the time and they don’t “become” straight as a result.”

I feel that banning this book is censorship gone wrong.  This novel has the potential to help many teenagers struggling with the issue of homosexuality.  I agree with Ms. Garden when she says,

“I think it [censorship debate] is important because one of the first steps to dictatorship is thought control, and one of the first steps to thought control is censorship. One of the greatest strengths of this country is our freedom to express our individual ideas and to be exposed to those of others so we can make up our own minds what we think about all issues.”

I think we need to let the minority voices be heard.  Censorship based on minority issues is just plain wrong.

Cecilia. ““Annie on My Mind”…The freedom to explore.” February 17, 2007

An article in the New York Times discussed a children’s book that is being banned from elementary school libraries nation wide.  The book is titled The Higher Power of Lucky and has recently won a Newberry award.

So if it is prestigious enough to win awards then why is it being banned?  The book is about an orphan named Lucky as she discovers the world.  At one point she is listening through a hole in a wall as someone tells their friend that a snake bit their dog on the scrotum.  And there it is—the reason the book is banned: it contains the word “scrotum.” It honestly feels a bit odd just typing the word into my blog.  It is not used often and the sexual connotations that go along with the word make it feel—oh, I don’t know—wrong I guess. But why does it feel wrong to write it?  It is just another part of the body—right?

So, I was torn on this issue. The author, Susan Patron, claims this book is for 9-12 year old kids.  Now, by age twelve I knew what a scrotum was but at nine I think that I would have had to ask about it.  Putting myself in the position of the teacher it is a rather awkward thing to try to explain it to a nine year old girl.  Maybe some children can handle it, but I do not think that all nine year olds are ready to have talks about things that are sexual in nature. Dana Nilsson, a teacher and librarian, claims

“This book included what I call a Howard Stern-type shock treatment just to see how far they could push the envelope, but they didn’t have the children in mind.”

I understand that the word may be shocking for students to hear and read, but does that justify banning the book? I think that banning a novel because of one word takes the book out of context.  The article in the New York Times did not explain anything else about the book so I do not know what themes or ideas it teaches children but I get the feeling that the book as a whole is not provocative.  To me, it seems a bit silly to ban a book based on the word “scrotum.” Pat Scales comment that

“The people who are reacting to that word are not reading the book as a whole,” she said. “That’s what censors do — they pick out words and don’t look at the total merit of the book.”

made me think about this issue.  I wish that the article would have talked about the entire book so that I would get a better idea about what The Higher Power of Lucky is presenting to children.I also think that the book may present an opportunity to explain things about the human body to children who are curious.  They are exposed daily to commercials showing women’s breasts, so why shouldn’t they know about the scrotum?  Students can handle a lot more than we give them credit for.

I found a blog written by Benjamin Barber that disagreed with the censorship of the book.  He agrees with my point that students are being educated about sexual things through television and video games.  So, why can’t we let them be educated about the human body in literature within a safe environment?  His blog is humorous in a very sarcastic way, so be careful when you read it because he is really straightforward about his views.  So much so that I do not want to post what he writes, but I encourage all of you to check out his blog! 

I have been looking through article after article about Teenage Depression that gave me symptoms to look for and reasons why teens are depressed; however, almost none of the articles offer ways to help teens deal with their depression.  With this blog I am trying to find out how helpful writing is as a way to release emotion and deal with issues within a person’s life.Today I came across an article by a woman named Mary Riley who used writing as a way to help women in jail.  She set up classes that allow women to come and learn how to write.  She claims that the woman come for different reasons but that ultimately,

“When they start to write, it becomes an outlet for them.  It’s both creative and therapeutic.”

The women that attend the writing classes are allowed and encouraged to write about things in their lives.  They are not given the idea of “this is what a short story looks like and these are the elements that it must contain–now you sit and write a short story of your own.”  The women find release in writing about their fears, what they had wanted in life, their families, drug addiction, and much more.  Jail is a tough environment that forces the woman to put on a rough exterior.  They are allowed to dissolve this exterior within the class.  One of the woman commented to Mary Riley

“Your class gives us a place to cry.”

The notion of writing as therapy can be applied to teens and the challenges that they face in their everyday lives.  When I attended high school, we always joked that school was like jail and all of the teachers were jailers and the principal was the warden.  Obviously, this is a bit of a stretch since we got to leave the confines of school and head home for the evening.  However, there are many similarities.  In school, students need to put on a tough exterior.  They must act as if nothing bothers them whether it is comments made by fellow students or by the teacher.  Teens face many hardships that the women in jail face: many come from abusive families, many deal with drug addictions themselves or know of someone in their family that does, many fear that they will never make their parents proud, and still others deal with self-loathing issues.

“It’s been shown that writing can help both physical and mental health, especially when people are writing about traumatic events in their lives.”

If writing is shown to have helped the woman in jail deal with depression and other issues in their lives my question is this: How much more can it help our students dealing with the very same issues?  Can we help them deal with these issues before they end up in jail?I believe we can.  The power that is held in writing is astounding.  I know that I become attached to my writing especially if it is about something that is personal to me.  I think that by encouraging students to put personal experiences into their writing will help them enjoy writing, will give them a connection to their writing, and will help them deal with the emotions that they have toward a particular event in their lives.Allowing students a safe place to share their emotions and writing is key to helping them deal with their issues through their writing.  In the article, the women felt safe in the “writing environment.”  It gave them a place to let their guard down in order to discuss issues that they were dealing with.  The same must be true in our classrooms.  As teachers, we MUST provide an environment in which students feel safe to share their writings and feelings. I think that writing is one of the most therapeutic actions that a person can indulge in.  The example provided by the women in jail proves that writing can help people deal with issues in their lives.  I say this example can be expanded: writing is beneficial not only for women in jail, but for all people everywhere as long as they are in a safe environment.

Mary Riley. “Writing Program Brigns Comfort to Women in Jail”. MyKawartha.com. Jan. 26, 2007

Does this make me look fat?  I don’t know how many times I have asked this question to my boyfriends, friends, and family over the past 21 years.  Probably thousands.  In America, we are obsessed with appearance and weight.  We need to have the perfect hair, make-up, clothes, and body shape.  So, why is it that

“the prevalence of overweight children ages 6 to 11 has more than doubled in the past 20 years?” 

What is it aboutAmerica that leads to overweight children?  The answer: McDonalds and other fast food corporations.I understand that people have a choice whether they eat at home or pick up fast food on their way home from work; however, I would argue that this choice is greatly diminished by society.  Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig agrees with me saying,

“Society dictates that basically two parents need to work in order to survive. So for two parents to work, you really have to plan your meals. And when you go into stores, you’re faced with everything that’s quick and easy and is high in calories.”

After watching the video “Supersize Me” I began to examine how infiltrated our lives in
America are with messages about McDonalds.  It is true that we have a choice as adults, but what about the children of this nation?  During one section of the movie children were shown pictures of famous people and were asked to say who was in the pictures.  The kids could not name George Washington but they sure knew who Ronald McDonald was.

What I see occurring is this:  Food companies know how to make lifelong customers. According to the film McDonalds spends 1.4 billion dollars annually on commercials.  They offer toys to children who eat their happy meals.  They give kids a play land so that they will beg their parents to take them.  Once they have gotten children to enjoy a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke at age two it is easy for them to enjoy cheeseburgers, fries, and cokes for the rest of their lives.

I do understand the view of the people at McDonalds.  It is true that everyone knows that fast food is unhealthy and ultimately it is our choice to stop in and eat a Big Mac.  Also, to be fair McDonalds has taken steps to get “healthier” foods in recent years by adding salads and water to their value meal menu and by giving a choice to receive apples instead of fries and milk instead of soda to children.

Overall, the film made me reevaluate my beliefs about obese kids and adults.  I realize that it may be something more than just their choice to eat McDonalds that makes them overweight.  The film also made me think about showing it in a classroom and giving students a chance to write about what they believe and to take it a step further by taking action against the social norms.

“For the past few years, everyone from federal and local governments to school districts, from fast food industries to health care professionals, have done nothing but point fingers at who is to blame for the rise in obesity. Today, however, the focus is shifting toward taking action to fight the problem that is threatening the lives of a growing number of young people.”

This is where I would like my students to take the critical pedagogy assignment.  Once students are made aware of the situation through watching film and reading related articles about the dangers and increase of childhood obesity I will expect them to apply the awareness to their lives.

In my high school, we had one drink machine with water, juice, and milk in it.  It was stuck in between three Pepsi machines with awesome pictures of Mountain Dew foaming out of their bottles.  Looking back, I do not know if I ever purchased milk, water, or juice from the “old” vending machine, but I can remember countless times I put my dollar in the machine to get good ‘ oleMountain Dew.

I think ”Supersize Me” is an easy way to get students thinking about critical pedagogy.  They can relate to the pressures of looking skinny in a fast food world, they understand that people are infiltrated with messages from corporations like McDonalds, and they can take the issue into their own schools and communities and try to produce a change.

I believe students will stand up against the corporations.  They may not do something that effects change across the country, but even if they create change within their schools by creating a boycott of soda or by asking to have healthier lunches in the cafeteria their minds will be changed and hopefully, they will change the minds of others around them.  I think that giving students something to stand up for and the drive to want to do it will lead them to produce great writing.  If they know that their writing will be more than just for the teachers’ eyes they are more likely to spend time making it a work of art.

see complete article

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig. “A Losing Proposition: Fast intervention needed to halt childhood obesity epidemic”. Alameda Times Star. Feb. 18, 2007