A response to a blog post by Alison.
http://alisoninwood.blogspot.com/2010/10/censorship-in-classroom.html
I agree that people, including kids, need to be exposed to controversial issues to challenge their thoughts and views. However, I do not feel confident in saying that “no book should be off limits” for kids. This is too encompassing and there are always exceptions. I also think that parents should have the right to control what their own children are exposed to. Obviously they will not really be able to do this forever because kids grow up into adults, which leads me to my next point. I think that younger children are much more susceptible to believing whatever people tell them compared to when they are older. I admit I am no expert in this area and do not have any evidence. In the end, I think parents should have the right to make whatever law abiding rule they wish for their children.
PERSONALLY: My parents limited quite a bit of my literature and movies compared to most parents. The typical horror, gore, and sex content were forbidden but also witchcraft and magic. I was not allowed to read or watch Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Goosebumps, and others. There were some that my parents did not prevent us from watching but discouraged such as Matrix, Wizard of Oz, and Star Wars. I am telling you this because as much as my parents censored what I read and saw, I do not feel scarred for life. Although I somewhat disagree with them at this point and have read/seen some of the forbidden texts, I understand their decision and am THANKFUL for it. Listening to their criticisms gave me a unique understanding of the world and developed my own critical mind. This is partly due to my dad discussing specifically what he had issues with and why as opposed to merely making a rule. My house was constantly filled with discussion of religious, political, and social issues. As each of us kids grew older, my parents gave more and more freedom to make our own decisions.
As a parent (not that I am one), it is a scary thing to hand over your precious child to the influence of a stranger (the teacher). You don’t know what the teacher believes and thinks or how much he/she will press their own views on the students. Perhaps the teacher won’t “press” their views but a person’s opinions always bias what they do and say no matter how hard they try. They can subtly influence by the way information is presented. You can’t even guarantee that the information will be true! Perhaps I’ll change my mind once I start teaching, but I do not want to take power away from the parents. A teacher might think that she’s helping the student but the parents (and even the student) could see it has hurting. It is merely a difference in opinion, and the teacher’s should not have any more (perhaps less!) power than the parent’s.
For example, I was helping out in an elementary school after-school program. We were supposed to be doing a lesson on sexism. We were trying to explicitly teach the kids that the concept of women being responsible for the household chores is wrong, or something like that. Two of the girls were Muslim and either did not understand the activity or felt uncomfortable. I sensed that it was the latter. The opinion of the teachers is that treating men and women differently is absolutely and always wrong. They claim to respect other cultures and yet push their own views in the classroom. I just felt so wrong and uncomfortable telling those girls that what they believe and what their parents believe is wrong. Granted, I don’t know for sure what they and their families believe. So, this entire paragraph could be a moot point in this situation but it is still a realistic possible scenario.
My point is to think about the balance between respecting the beliefs and rights of the parent and presenting your own views as “right.”
