catapult magazine

One more thought pertaining to your comment from your first posting….at what point do we pull books for one student or from the library shelves?
For one student?….not if you’re already in it…see my other posting for compromise in this matter. For consideration to be pulled for next year?…definitely considerable if there is a replacement of equal worth and if it won’t compromise requirements or set a precedence. Sometimes it pays to lose a battle for strategy’s sake…send this set of parents off happy and prevent an all out public jumping on the bandwagon. Wisdom my dear!
Now a library…that’s another matter altogether. It is a rare, rare book that I would ever want pulled from a library shelf. Are there some I might choose to never put on our Reformed Christian library shelves? yes. Do I practice wisdom in book selection guidance and purchasing? I try to…prevention sometimes applies here, especially at the elementary library. I discuss openly with the elementary students about books they ask about us not having on the shelves and why…I try to teach respect for different points of view and why I choose to not purchase some popular titles. I also point out that with their parents permission they can visit a public library where the selection may include these books for checkout.

we’ve recently had a bit of an uproar at my school about Snow Falling on Cedars being taught in a Junior level English class. I’ve been nominated (whoopee!!) to be on a review committee for that book and all the others that will be seen as inappropriate in the wake of this complaint.
The only book I’ve read that I would not consider teaching (as far as I know right now) is Toni Morrison’s Beloved. It was a good book, and I’m glad I read it, but I wouldn’t want to read it again and I wouldn’t want to teach it.
I’ve read Snow Falling on Cedars and I liked it. I thought it was a very well-crafted book that should be taught in our high schools. At what point, if ever, does a book become offensive enough to pull it from a reading class instead of one student? from the shelves of a library (as these parents are hoping)?
Have I and other English teachers become desensitized (I hate the overuse of that word) to offensive material?
Any thoughts?

What specifically was considered offensive material in Snow Falling on Cedars? I remember there was some sex in it, but I also remember the sex being very beautiful. However, there were many other more important themes from the book that stick out in my mind: racism, truth, compassion….

The way I see it, we read to understand our world better so that we can navigate around in all its complexity with a greater sensitivity and wisdom. I don’t think the question is whether you’ve become desensitized to offensive material, but whether people are purposely desensitizing themselves to the reality of life.

Well Sarah, that’s my argument right there. The parents are very conservative Christians of the “let’s pretend evil isn’t there and shelter our daughter til she’s 30” mentality. Their problems are the sex scenes, one in the hollow log and the night before big fisherman dies. Both of those scenes were descriptive but very tastefully done and important to character development and plot movement.

I think this issue (parents wanting to ban books) will keep coming up as parents feel more and more out of control when it comes to what their kids see and do. Targeting the school library is just a manifestation of their desire to “do” something. Obviously, they don’t have confidence in the way in which they’ve raised their children.

Out of curiosity, what do you know about these parents? Are they the types that you can, with confidence, say are policing material that enters their own home? Or are these people, in your opinion, a bunch of hypocrites?

Bit of a loaded question isn’t it Anne?
I don’t know the parents, though I do know the student. She’s number one in a very academically competitive class. She’s a neat kid. I think the parents are making way more a stink about this than she ever would. I’m guessing she’s kind of mortified about the whole process.
To a certain extent every parent second guesses themselves. Schools (public schools in particular) have always been/and always will be a natural target. If only there were some place for Christians to go to gain a better understanding of positive constructive reactions to a largely secular culture….
=)

Oops. I didn’t mean to ask a loaded question. I was kind of venting.

What are their arguments against the book? What are the parents afraid will result from reading it?

So what kind of movies do these parents let her watch? Does she play video games? Does she read Seventeen? Does she listen to Brittney Spears? Does she live in the same world we do?

I understand protecting your children. I really really do. But pulling the wool over their eyes is rediculous because kids still know what is happening around them. Reminds me of that Old School movie where the father tells his son to cover his ears whenever they start to swear…like the kid can’t still hear what is going on.

I also understand that if you choose to send your kids to a Christiant school, you should trust the judgement of the educators a bit.

What a pickle.

Actually JaBird, this is a public school. I’m not sure if that simplifies or exacerbates the problem. I had the same problem in the Christian school I taught at three years ago with a parent going off on Lord of the Flies of all things. Then, my principal and superintendent could echo my reasoning that we teach the book but don’t condone the boys’ behavior, which for some reason that particular parent just could not understand.
Here the issue is a bit more tricky. At what is a public school answerable to individual parents on individual assignments in particular classes? Yes, she is their daughter and that trumps being a student everyday, but should we have our responsibility for a portion of her education taken away because of their inability to see the big picture?
At what point should parents request or demand that their child does not participate in an English classroom be it in a public or private school? We’re obviously not asking the students to act out the sex scenes in front of the class, but where do we put the line? Regardless of parent motivation, they should have the right to interfere somewhere in a “child’s” education right? So where should it go?

These are such good questions—thank you for asking outloud. But what are the answers????

This year I’ve been challenged about The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier being checked out to a middle schooler. I actually concurred and it slipped by us in the library inadvertently. I’ve had to respond to the parents via the teacher with our means of rectifying the situation. Now they want their children to read “Christian” fiction titles/authors.

Okay, getting on my soapbox now…so much of what is sold under those auspices has in the past been such poor literature or full of teachings that I would consider untrue to Scripture or misleading. Just because it has a Christian publisher/author does that make it truthful? Does that make it good story? There is so much good literature…one unhappy encounter should not cause one to"throw the baby out with the bath water"! It always feels to me like ignorance and fear…I just wasn’t raised that way and have a difficult time with this viewpoint. I digress…I’m sorry.

It is admirable that parents are paying attention. I respect that as well as their right to hold different viewpoints from mine.

As teachers, are there just as many books we can choose that are excellent that won’t have ‘stumbling blocks’ in them? Might it behoove us to do so or would we be setting precedence for weeding out anything that might provoke controversy? Heaven forbid!

As thinking Christians, can we often overcompensate for popular or fundamentalist Christianity by insisting that nothing is untouchable? That all is good for thought, discussion, learning?

A classroom is a bit different from a library…you are actually requiring the book…I think that might call for some compromise…for working with the parents on this one. Providing something satisfactory for all concerned..let the class finish, provide this student with an alternative selection and required assignments? But where to go while the class is discussing? hmm…one thing begets another…“but Mr. N., if she doesn’t have to read it why do we? Can i read a different book too?” arg.

We don’t want to lose students from the classroom permanently…we do want to respect a parent’s right to object…and have input…might the parent have to compromise too? I’d like to think so, as far as being willing to work with the situation without bringing their judgement down on all the students.

Might we as teachers/librarians work diligently to find something equally good, beautiful, thought-provoking, truthful to replace this choice with next time? Can we be humble enough to do so? Will it be earth shattering if this book isn’t read next year?

Or, does this begin a nightmare of compromise, book banning, fear mongering?

I’ve just succeeded in asking more questions and I’m not sure I didn’t just talk in circles, but my mind spends much time on this also. Thanks for the good thought provoking topic…I want to hear more.

One of the problems with this situation, is the parents are trying to pull the book from the classroom and the library. In addition to that, they want to re-evaluate every novel we teach and every book a student can pick up in the school. While I know the very idea is laughable, I still feel uncomfortable thinking that all of my precious little books risk being at the mercy of blind Christian fundamentalism. Does anybody know a good way to explain aesthetic beauty as part of God’s creational norm besides saying that the books have aesthetic beauty that is consistent with God’s creational norm?
Does that explanation sound trite to you? simplistic?