From what, we ask? Protected from ideas, which lead to critical thinking, empathy, and self-awareness. This leads to growth which leads to change.
I come to this from the perspective as a reader and a parent.
The Reader
I was the child who always lugged armfuls of books home from the library, often rereading my favorites. I once loved two books so much I did not return them to my class library. I could only fall asleep at night reading a book and would wake up, looking forward to reading. My mother would walk in my room thinking I was still sleeping on Saturday morning and find that I had been reading for two hours. "Your eyes open and your book opens," she'd say. I carried books with me when I traveled, commuted to work, and even to parties (just in case, you never know if you need it.)
My parents were always thrilled with my reading and never tried to deter me. My father was an avid reader all his life, so he recognized my devotion to books. As Indian immigrant parents, they weren't familiar with the contemporary books from the library. However, I'm sure they might have been more concerned if they read it themselves. We come from a conservative culture in that they regularly monitored our television consumption - we weren't allowed to watch certain shows that had kissing and dating. This ranged from “The Love Boat” to “Happy Days.” Topics like puberty and teen relationships were not discussed in our house. Anyway, all this was fine for Americans, but not applicable to us since we would have an arranged or a suitable marriage at the appropriate age, we were told.
However, the books I read were by Judy Blume, Paula Danziger and others which helped us navigate themes of puberty and topics that we didn't discuss.
When we moved to a new area when I was in 8th grade, I was too cool to ask the librarian where the young adult books were. Instead, I wandered the stacks in the adult sections and picked up novels by Rona Jaffe as well as Charlotte Bronte. I remember there was a book by a modern witch who talked about different sexual rituals that shocked me. Again, no one asked what I was reading.
I craved classic literature as well as modern writers. Back then, my high school didn't offer the challenging literature curriculum that you see today. While others read Agatha Christie for book reports, I grabbed Jules Verne and Mark Twain. In college, I once noticed a novel on my professor's chair written by her colleague about yellow journalism and I told her I loved that book. She asked if I read it for a class. I told her I had read it on my own in high school, so she was surprised and impressed.
The point is - if your child is a reader, they will read. Ban. Block. Burn. The readers who want to read will find them. Yes, I wanted to read Judy Blume's "Forever," which is commonly banned by school libraries. Yet, I found it. In the 21st century there's so many other ways to access books than there was in 1970s and 1980s. I wouldn't be surprised if there are social media channels with banned book exchanges happening.
Overall, if they read something that is uncomfortable or inappropriate, they will grow from that experience. {With that said, I did stumble on a horrifying book about a kidnapping where children tortured the babysitter. Still horrified.}
The Parent
Let's pivot to the parent's point of view. When "The Hunger Games" was released, my daughter was about 10-11 years old. She wanted to see the movie and we told her no because it was PG-13 due to the violence. She asked to the read the books. Again, I was concerned, since I hadn’t read the books nor did I have time.
So, I reached out to her teacher and librarians. They are the professionals. This is their job. They went to graduate school for these decisions.
I actually received a good response from them saying they don't generally recommend the book for 5th graders. However, there have been students with high level of reading aptitude who did read it. Now, I know my daughter was not a precocious reader like I was. She liked to read more lightweight stories like "Princess Academy" and "Goddess Girls" books over Harry Potter books.
When I explained this to my daughter, my message was that there was time to read all these books and movies. You don't need to rush and read everything now. She protested a bit, but then eventually chilled. When she was older, she did see the movies. She and my husband started reading the book series together -- he kept commenting how violent it was and not sure if she'd be ok with it. But I think they both pulled through it all.
And then "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie came out when she was 14 and there was a lot of hype.
No. No. No.
When parents say that they don't want their children accessing porn in school libraries, I have to ask them what the heck are they doing as parents? Why aren't they talking to their children to make better choices? I didn't want my daughter to read certain books, but I never would've gone to the elementary school library and demanded they be removed.
I can appreciate the child who grows up in a conservative household that they will only want to read and see more of the world. I can imagine now that a young person who struggles being the only <fill in the blank> in their class and feels marginalized would crave a book that reaches out to them. Tells their story and assures them they are not alone. Or better yet, helps guide them through this period, potentially saving their lives.
I was surprised when my daughter was in high school and asked for Rupi Kaur's "Milk and Honey.” I was in shock. "Poetry? You want to read poetry?" She said everyone was reading it on Instagram. I jumped up and got her the book. I read it myself and could see the adult relationship angst in it. But she's reading poetry and maybe these topics will make her think a little bit more. Or, maybe this will go over her head right now. She could come back to this when she’s older and reread it.
I crack up at the parents who protest blindly without having read the books themselves. Why are you so fragile? If you’re feeling vehemently about it, read it and discuss. What is the context of the offensive section?
There’s a lot in parenting where we have had to unwillingly give up control, especially in this age. It was easier for my parents to say once a week, “Love Boat is on... you go to your room.” My daughter and her friends all binged on "Friends" – a show targeted for the twenty-thirty-something audience – by the time they were 14-15 years old. Thanks to Netflix and Amazon, our kids are watching so much we don’t know about. There are the Youtubers and the Instagram stars that are influencing in so many ways we can’t imagine. There is a lot out of our control and I could recognize the need and desire to pull it back.
The Resistance
My last comment is relevant to January 2022. The sudden bursts of book bans are politically inspired and not related to any degradation of morality concerns. There are many school board members who benefit from the controversy and there’s a subversive movement to undermine public schools. Rather than invest in public schools, they favor public money be directed to vouchers for private schools. State officials are creating a façade of unsubstantiated accusations and outrage to target their exclusive group of donors. Every time there’s a book or curriculum protest, dive deeper to see who benefits from this. And, more than likely, there’s a financial trail to it and not the moral platform they claim.
The best way to combat this is to be vocal... attend the school board meetings where decisions are made... make the noise to show that readers and parents care.
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I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed. Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children’s lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don’t read about it, their children won’t know about it. And if they don’t know about it, it won’t happen.’
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