Author: youngblood (Page 2 of 2)

The Huffington Post article, “How They Do It”by Chris Crutcher, the author of Whale Talk describes the detrimental effects of his own book’s banning in a high school in Fowlerville, Michigan. After the book was immediately pulled from the curriculum, possibly without following necessary procedure, the school came under public fire; teachers took “personal abuse.” Crutcher gives the reader a unique insight into this particular case of censorship because he is not only the author, but the receiver of supposedly countless letter and emails thanking him for his book, calling the school’s adding of the book into the curriculum “the most gratifying [project] ever.” In fact, the author states that every book he has ever written has been censored since 1983. He originally believed that the censors had “the good of the kids” in mind, but now, as Crutcher states, he believes control is at the root of censorship today, saying:

“No matter how many teenagers respond, testifying to their particular connection to a given book … these folks cling to some obscure holy pronouncement that allows them the illusion of control. This is the trick, folks: within ignorance lies safety.”

I believe that Crutcher makes an important point regarding the reasoning behind censorship today. As discussed in class on Wednesday, February 6, the modern world, especially the world of a public-school student, is filled with circumstances out of a parent’s control. A student’s friends (and the conversations held thereof), the internet, social media, and other factors that surround a child today which lie outside the protective bubble of a parent and their household. Every parent wishes to protect their child from the harshness of the adult world and, whether it be cuss words or porn, they attempt to control what their child does and does not see. That task becomes increasingly difficult as common parts of life like the internet and social media grow unchecked and more dominant in a child’s life. Books, more specifically, books read in schools, are somewhat easier to control; I believe certain parents latch onto this power to further their agenda for “the good of the kids.” Crutcher makes an accurate point when he states that parents attack the educational community with disruption. They charge at books with vulgarity or sexual themes when not completely understanding the entire message of the book. To the parents in question, a cuss word is a cuss word, regardless of the book’s point. As it has been believed for centuries, literature is a stoic being – a constant statute of educational scholarship – with the attack on books in schools seeming not only necessary, but in defense of a monument of civilization.

Last week on Wednesday, Maelyn and I met with UMW’s reference and humanities librarian, Mr. Jack Bales. Even before our interview, Mr. Bales was quick to assist us in our research, emailing us many helpful pieces of research including news articles, press releases, and much more. Mr. Bales’s 30-year research background at our college made his expertise invaluable, especially upon meeting him. Our window to the research world open when Mr. Bales showed us the numerous databases including EBSCO and LexisUni, allowing for us to greater understand the restrictions placed on The Diary of Anne Frank and how we can build upon our findings to create a website. After combing through the numerous files found with the help of Mr. Bales, Maelyn and I have found that the book itself has not been widely challenged in the United States since the American Library Association (ALA) had begun monitoring formal written complaints to remove or restrict books in 1990. In fact, it has only been challenged six times. The book, especially its 50^th anniversary republishing which includes once-censored material, has come under fire for sexually explicit material. One record dating to 1983 from an Alabama textbook committee said the book was “a real downer” and called for its rejection from schools.

In addition to interviewing Mr. Bales, Maelyn and I have begun to contact Culpeper County Schools in an effort to receive a copy of their approved reading lists for the classroom. We hope this will give us a better insight into what the schoolboard considers “necessary” to read in the classroom and what they leave out. I have sent preliminary “feeler” emails to the county’s superintendent’s secretary to see if they would be able to share the patron complaint concerning the restriction of Anne Frank’s diary, the county’s challenge policy, and adoption policy. As of February 4^th, I have yet to receive a response from the school. I am hoping that the superintendent is easily persuaded to help us in our project, especially since the diary was not completely banned, rather, a newer edition was restricted to the school library.

This upcoming week, Maelyn and I hope to continue using the research databases given to us by Mr. Bales to better understand the outcome and later reversed-decision of the book’s restriction. I also hope to get a look at the patron complaint and see exactly why the book was brought to the attention of the school in the first place.

Throughout my first week in COPLAC’s “A Burning Idea,” my partner and I have slowly been gathering necessary information on censored books and researching a possible case study. It has been difficult to find widely available information on local banned books such as James and the Giant Peach and The Diary of Anne Frank. My partner and I have yet to fully agree on the way in which we will discuss our case study, but as we comb through our research, we are getting closer to a solid idea. In addition, with this being my first blog post, I am still learning the ropes of WordPress and may soon start developing my website further.

I believe that The Diary of Anne Frank, a book that has been banned in a nearby county, is a strong case study for our project. Opponents of the book range from the detractors of its veracity and parents who do not believe their children should be learning about their bodies at a young age. Over the years, several groups attempted to discredit the diary as a work of fiction despite the work being published by Otto Frank, Anne’s father and the only surviving member of those in the attic, and studies done that proved it true. A new edition of the book had items inserted that had been left out where Anne talked about her body, menstruation, and sex in general, at times almost clinical discussions by Anne of her own vagina. These new sections caused parents to ask the book to be removed from school libraries and reading lists or replaced by the old copy. Hiding or erasing parts of uncomfortable truths is part of the human condition, though, something Anne new all too well. Locally, the book was challenged in 1982 in Wise County after parents argued against the displays of sexually offensive passages. Most recently, in 2010, Frank’s diary was challenged at Culpeper County Public Schools after a parent asked her child not to be required to read the book aloud. Initial reports stated a version of the book would stop being assigned for sexual material and homosexual themes. The version, the 50^th anniversary edition, would not be taught. This version “includes passages previously excluded from the widely read original edition…. Some of the extra passages detail her emerging sexual desires; others include unflattering descriptions of her mother and other people living together.” Although the newer version would remain in the library, classes would revert to using the older version.

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