Some time ago, this happened: Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers was removed from a Summer Reading list in South Carolina. I was so upset! Frequently we hear about this or that book getting banned at some school, but this was a shock for me since it was the first book I’d read that I found out had this happen to it (that I knew of). I strongly recommend you to check out Book Riot’s article on it. But long story short,
- Book in Summer Reading List
- Mommy doesn’t agree
- School adds third book as another option
- Mommy isn’t happy and pushes to get book eliminated from the list altogether
I remember having a lot of feels about this situation because Some Girls Are is actually a VERY important story. It hit right in the nail for me. How the people who you thought were your friends can just stop to be and become your greatest nightmare in just the snap of fingers. Courtney Summers doesn’t take shortcuts, she says it like it is, and I liked that.
Like me, there most be a ton other people who relate with this story, and all the others that have been banned in one way or another. This isn’t really a problem in my country since we don’t read anything remotely that interesting here at school to cause that sort of polemics; but still I think of all those teens, who did want to read the book, and like the guys at Book Riot put it, “they’re telling those students that their voices don’t deserve to be heard, that their stories aren’t worthy of telling.”
Recently, I also spotted this awesome discussion post at Eggplant Emoji on a similar topic, nothing too specific, but still it got me thinking. Most bookworms don’t like book bans, but some people do say that some topics are definitely not appropiate for kids certain ages. How do we… measure the alert-this-is-not-appropiate-for-you-ness in books? At what age is it okay for kids to read about these topics? That’s basically what Emma discusses here.
See how awesome is the use of ‘some’, ‘most’, and ‘certain’? THERE ARE SO MANY OPINIONS. You should really take a peek at this wonderful post that inspired this one as a longer response to my comment there.
My response
I don’t agree with the banning of books. At all.
“Oh, but I don’t want my child reading about this, or that topic. I’m the parent and I know what is best for my little pumpkin.”
As I see it, every parent has the absolute right to decide what is best for their child. Of course they do! Imagine if everyone was telling one another how to raise their children and expecting people to listen. Nobody likes to be told what to do. Well, that is what people who ban books do. They make something small into something big. They impose their beliefs, their reservations on the rest of the group, whichever it may be. And that’s not cool.
Taking the South Carolina incident as an example, I agree with what Book Riot has to say about it wholeheartedly. And now I’m going to say it my way, short and sweet, but loud for those in the back.
It’s your business what you let your child read, but leave the other people’s children fucking alone. It’s not your problem.
That said, I do worry some parents have troubles deciding when to JUST STOP DICTATING LIVES. Meaning, those unlucky souls chained to parents who don’t understand the value of a good-written book will have to at some point stand up for themselves and declare they’re old enough to choose what they want to read. When that time comes, I hope those parents will let their kid be and trust their judgement.
And finally, I applaud the parents who from the beginning initiate their children in literature, and carefully choose the reads that will help them grow as people; and decide that the best way form them to be prepared for the Big, Bad World is for them to be aware of all the realities that exist, even the unpleasant ones. Those parents will know when to give them those kinds of books, but they will eventually do it, and that’s what matters.
Last Thoughts
This post is majorly about those situations in which parents are the cause of the ban of a book, but as for books that get banned by religions, or in other cases, things are a bit different. My stand in those situations is that still each person is free to decide what they like to read. I’m sure the Catholic Church has banned tons of books, but I don’t bother to even check which ones because it’s my decision what book to read.
People might at times actually pay attention to these warnings and respectfully not read the banned books, which is something I respect as well, because I guess they’re deciding to do it.
Huh, I feel like this may warrant a total new discussion, which would be dozen times more delicate because religion is serious stuff.
In the end, this is only my opinion and you all rock, whatever you do. 🙂
Except for you, overbearing parents out there. You don’t rock.
So, to ban or not to ban? What are your thoughts on this?
I actually very much agree with you on this. I read that other post that inspired this one, and I agreed with her there too. If you are a parent, and you don’t want your child to read a book. Fine. But that’s because they are YOUR child. Get your opinions and overbearing discernment away from my child (metaphorical child because I am baby and do not have my own baby O_O) .
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I agree with you wholeheartedly. I firmly support parents’ right to decide what’s right for their own kids to read, but they shouldn’t have any say in what other people’s kids get to read. The best thing a parent can do is just try to read along with their kids as often as possible and talk about any issues that may come up.
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Parents who try to get books banned for everyone are in my opinion a**holes. I was in elementary school during the beginning of the Harry Potter heyday and my 5th grade teacher started reading us the first book. My best friend’s mother was (still is) extremely religious and she didn’t want her daughter to read it, so she had her leave the classroom when he read. She didn’t make the teacher NOT read it and ruin it for everyone else, only her daughter. Also, it took me 15 years to get my BFF to finally read Harry Potter. Thankfully my parents NEVER restricted what I read, and I plan to do the same with my future children!
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That’s awful :/ Although that’s the correct way to go if you don’t want your children to read something. It’s still quite unfair and awful for the kid, but at least you’re not overstepping with the rest. YES TO BOOKS!
I strongly believe banning books is stupid. Book, unlike the internet or TV or other forms of media, offer a really safe environment for readers to explore situations that are either not an option in their personal lives or that are so similar with their own experiences, that they get to say “Oh hey, that’s me!”. Aside from the fictional element, books can teach some good lessons. They can help inform readers. So by banning books, in my opinion, these parents deny their kids access to good information. Most authors that I know and have read before do their research. And they do tons of research on a topic. So who better to help readers understand a difficult topic than authors? I bet that if asked, most of these parents know almost nothing pertaining to those subjects. I haven’t read Some Girls Are yet, but having read the blurb I think that instead of being banned, this should be one of the mandatory books to read and actively discuss in class. Topics like bullying, sexuality, consent, rape even, shouldn’t be still seen as taboo, they need to be addressed. Also, like you said, fine, if a parent wants to not let their kid read a book they deem inappropriate is one thing. But stay out of other people’s parenting.
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YES to all of this! Exactly! Some topics can be difficult to understand even when someone explains it to us, and some parents just don’t know how. That’s something books can do marvelously!
I really don’t agree with banning books either, and particularly not in the situation described. If that parent didn’t want their kid to read that book then that’s up to them, but banning it for all the others is totally ridiculous. I wouldn’t imagine it would have been on the list at all had it been wildly inappropriate for that age group (am I right in thinking Freshman are 14 or 15? They sound like the target audience for that book, so how can it be inappropriate for them? I was reading adult books by that age!).
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Hahaha ME TOO! Maybe the people who look down upon kids reading that kind of thing will only be more reassured that they’re right to steer the reading away from that, but honestly, those are the books that prepare you for real life better than anything but real life itself.
I don’t agree with book banning too. I mean, if you don’t want your kids to read a book about certain topic, it’s fine, but don’t ban other people from reading it too. I’m thankful since eventhough my parents didn’t really like my reading hobby, at least they didn’t banned me from reading a book about certain topics. Anyway, great post, Pamela!
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Yeah, that’s right. It’s awesome your parents at least respect your decision! 🙂
I agree so much with pretty much everything you’ve said here. I still have a hard time with parents being really restrictive about what their kids read, but that’s just me. Let the kids decide! But I don’t want to impose my childless beliefs on the parents either ;]
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I honestly hate book bans. I think that completely contradicts what a book is for. Books are a gateway to knowledge and is way for children to learn. It gives them creative freedom and it gives them a place to go when they need to get away.
I think parents shouldn’t ban certain books because they feel that the topic isn’t friendly for their child. If it starts to affect the child negatively, then I think is when you should take caution, but keeping books that can give them some insight and comfort to what they may be going to is just so counter productive and I think it’s what causes a lot of strain between parental relationships.
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I know, right?! And institutions that are supposedly dedicated to communicating knowledge submit to these type of things, instead of standing firm and encouraging reading about important topics.
Oooh I’m really pleased you kept this discussion going! I agree with you—I don’t like the banning of books AT ALL!
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