Banned Books?

[Brikker]

So I'm writing a research paper on the topic of banned books for a Teen and Child Literacy class. I wasn't even that aware of this topic until a few class discussions, where I learned a lot of "Other World" style books have been banned in many states and counties. By "Other World" I mean, generally, fantasy. Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Giver, etc, they've all been banned in numerous school districts across the country.

I was wondering if anyone wanted to share some opinions on this, or give a little information (or sources of information) if you had any.

[Sunder]

Originally Posted by Brikker

So I'm writing a research paper on the topic of banned books for a Teen and Child Literacy class. ...
I was wondering if anyone wanted to do my research for me.

No. Now get off the FoH forums and do your homework.



AND GET OFF MY LAWN!

[Lewstelamon]

I wasn't aware it was banned in schools, but I've heard of churches(such as Catholics) frowning/banning things like Harry Potter and I know there is/was a big thing about the Golden Compass as well, beyond that I've no idea~!

[Kez]

Dude. American Library Association Banned Books Week. First result when searching for 'banned books'.

[...]

ALA | 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000 is the top 100 of 1990-2000

I think Huck Finn was the most commonly banned book for a damn long time.


I'm a librarian. like half of library school was us learning about censorship. heh.

[Mithandriel]

What I find fascinating is that several of those books (i.e. Of mice & Men, Huck Finn, To kill a Mockingbird, etc.) were required reading when I was in school. I guess times change but damn, that is getting pretty crazy.

I can understand American Psycho and the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice not being appropriate for school but many of those books are classics of literature.

What's next? No more learning about Shakespeare, Eudipus or any of the Greek tragedies because that's offensive subject matter.

[Malice]

Schools walk on eggshells these days.

[Agraza]

The Giver was awesome. It was like the first sci-fi thing I'd ever read.

I probably haven't even read ten entries on that list. I think I'm missing out. You know they never had us read the catcher in the rye in school, and it seems like everyone else has.

lol@scary stories

[Occido]

I'd like a list of what school districts have banned these books. I remember reading The Giver, The Catcher in the Rye, and various other books listed when I was in high school. Is there even a reason given for banning them, or just school districts being retarded, or better yet... banning these books because they're too hard for the fuck ups of today to read.

[Schatze]

Parent complains, lobbies other soccer mom, librarians and teachers refuse to stop providing access/including them, soccer moms go to the board and the board sometimes wusses out.

Oh, and sometimes frivolous lawsuits are included.

Sort of weird though, up here in grade 7 + 8 we watched classic movies that sometimes had nudity/sex/extreme violence. I had a whole grade 12 class devoted to watching these movies; hell, we were given the choice of watching Apocalypse Now or Redux, depending upon if we wanted the nude bits included (actually, the original cut was better). If there wasn't any outspoken criticism to these, I doubt there was any towards literature. Then again, this is one of the areas where our countries differ a bit.

And look at me, I turned out just fine. Except I'm now a hetero-homo peeping tom/flasher/sexual deviant who has a fist of glory in his back room. See, I turned out alright!

edit: I'm giving odds that most of the recent bannings were in the bible belt with some in the Midwest.

[DoctorSpooge]

Hasn't Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun been challenged in the past? Either way, most depressing book ever.

[Xakk]

I don't really get the point of "banning" books since it increases the amount they are read by bringing attention to them. I guess theres a certain group of people that will never read any banned books.

Originally Posted by Mithandriel

What's next? No more learning about Shakespeare, Eudipus or any of the Greek tragedies because that's offensive subject matter.

Richard III was pretty evil and Oedipus slept with his mom, neither of which is holy!!

[Scorp]

I don't understand why some things are censored. Of Mice and Men, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher In The Rye.. these were all required reading for me in high school, and all of them are definitely good books. I was always the jock type, didn't enjoy reading nor did I do much homework, but I actually read those books in school, and reread Gatsby on my own time. They're classics and theres a lot more to them then people think, and not allowing todays high school kids (I'm only 21, not that old so this is all recent) to read them is unfair, because chances are they aren't going to pick them up outside of school.

[...]

They some times ban the books for retarded reasons too. In Fallen Angels the boys in vietnam curse (realistically) and harp on one guy calling him a fag. That's the most frequent causes of it's censorship. a parent will pick up the book and say "this book says shit in it!!!" then they call the school board. never mind that there's a scene in it where the boys stab a vietcong kid their age to death and pull him into a fox hole where they hide till night fall, hugging a bloody corpse...it's definitely the cursing that gets it banned. The problem is that they don't actually read what their kids read. They hear from the thomases who heard from the smiths that the word shit was in that one book that radical teacher had assigned.

[Mithandriel]

Originally Posted by Xakk

I don't really get the point of "banning" books since it increases the amount they are read by bringing attention to them. I guess theres a certain group of people that will never read any banned books.



Richard III was pretty evil and Oedipus slept with his mom, neither of which is holy!!

Let's not forget that Oedipus murdered his father in a fit of rage before banging his mother.

As for Shakespeare:

Romeo & Juliet deals with teen sex

Hamlet and MacBeth both deal with fratricide in some context.

Julius Caesar deals with betrayal and murder.

The list goes on and on with that evil bastard Shakespeare. Let's ban all of his works since society obviously can't handle these concepts and our little darlings must be sheltered from this insidious poison.