Well, it's just after 2 in the afternoon and the big brown truck has not graced my house yet, and I'm sick. So, since I had no new reading material, and I'm having a very difficult time making myself finish a book I started, I decided to grab my board and hit the waves. Erm, I mean, I decided to park my bottom in my roll around chair and surf the 'net - semantics. Anyway, I found myself checking out Meg Cabot's blog and found out she's been banned.
As you know, dee and I love banned books. Remember dee's contest and her dish on To Kill A Mockingbird? (And shame on whoever you are that keeps googling "What happens in To Kill A Mockingbird?" Read the book. Educate yourself, your report on this book will not happen through google.) Anyway, it appears that Meg Cabot can now be added to that list of banned books.
I have to wonder, what is going on in today's society that it is perfectly alright to allow kids to watch cartoons that have adult themed jokes (whether they go right over their heads or not) in them but not want our children to read? Give. Me. A. Break. The things that are allowed on television these days are far worse, IMO, than reading a book. At least if the book has a sexually charged scene, the younger child has to actually use their imagination, where as on television nothing is left to that.
dee and I both encourage our children to read, and while some books may not be allowed to be devoured by them yet, as they get a little older they'll be able to read them. Miss Beautiful is but 5, but I can assure you, that when the time comes that she's reading on her own, Meg Cabot will be on her shelves. Perhaps I can get Gret and Jo (two of dee's beautiful daughters) to read this book for us and give us the dish. I'd love to see the thoughts about this supposedly inappropriate book from their point of view.
How do you feel about the banning of books? Do you think it should be allowed? If so why?
Take Care
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11 comments:
I don't believe in banning books. I DO agree with a parent making a decision to with-hold a book from his or her child until they feel it is appropriate, as you stated. BUT, for one parent to make that decision for others? NO WAY! And it irks me, that the school that is banning Meg Cabot's book, is in my state! Also note that many books that are banned for kids today, were allowed when we were the same age, and that we were encouraged to read them and sometimes REQUIRED to read them!
I don't think there's any real logic in banning books, especially when we have hate- and filth-filled music on the airwaves (yes, I'll emphasize rap on this one, since there are a few dirty rock songs I actually like ;)). Do we have any ban on those? Oh, no, no, no. As Chari-Dee said, with a book, the imagination can be used. It's not in-your-face. And if you don't want your children, or even yourself, reading a certain part...skip it! But if everything else remains "controversial", why not books? At least a book will get a person to thinking. I've never heard a person say "Man, I heard that rap song by Chingy-D and I just looked at things differently..."
(Note: I don't think Chingy-D is actually a rapper, but you get the point.)
I don't think books should ever be banned. People can find something offensive in EVERYTHING from TV, to newspapers, to movies. If they don't like it, they should just not read it.
( I have Gemma Halliday on my blog today for an interview and giveaway, come visit me)
I don't believe in the banning of books. Loved To Kill A Mockingbird and was deeply shocked to learn that it had been on a banned books list. It is one of the most elegantly written books.
i see no reason why any book should
be banned
Just one more Freedom they are trying to take away...to read a flippin book to escape from the real world for a while. What's next? a ban on corn flakes, cause they might make you flaky??!
I don't agree with the banning of books because if everyone gets to pick what they don't like and ban it then we would have very few books on the shelves for our children to read. It is up to the parents to decide what is appropriate for their children. Children with the same chronoligical age can be very different in their maturity levels and therefore it is up to the parent to determine when it is the right time for different topics to be introduced.
I think books should be burned, not banned. If a book is banned, the author gets nothing and starves to death, but to be burned a book must be published and sold. I mean, if the critic is really moral they can't just steal it, can they? Furthermore, it looks cheap to just burn one book, so if they really want to impress people they have to buy a bunch of them and burn them all. This would be of direct benefit to authors, and sooth the publishing industry's worries about people not reading very much anymore.
I don't think books should be banned at all, it's ridicuous!
I'm not a book banner. Or one who bans books. :)
I don't believe in banning books. Period.
That said, there are books that I won't allow my children to read... yet. The books that I am writing are on that list. I think it's part of my job, as a parent, to know what they are reading, what they are watching, what they are listening to, and make adjustments if necessary, based on my parental beliefs.
However, as right as I may believe my own personal parental choices to be for MY OWN children, I certainly hope that I'm never so arrogant (nor so ignorant) as to believe that I could make the same decisions for someone else's children. How ridiculous!
I do not beleivein banning books. I feel parents shuld decide what kids read and don't read. However as a middle school teacher, I was surprised when the English teacher told me one of the books on thier list to teach involved some explicit sexual things. They were bounced fromt he middle school.
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