Catcher in the Rye . . . Harry Potter . . . Captain Underpants . . .
Every year, there are hundreds of attempts to remove books from schools and libraries. Celebrate YOUR freedom to read and right to choose your book during Banned Books Week, September 24 to October 1, 2011. For more information, visit http://www.ala.org/bbooks.
@SafeLibrary,
ReplyDeleteWow. Thanks for the spam.
Books ARE challenged and removed from libraries all across America. Intellectual freedom is an important principle. Books should not be removed based on content, because access to ideas for all age groups is one thing that makes this country great. I'm sorry you don't agree.
"@SafeLibrary" - No, it's @SafeLibraries
ReplyDelete"Wow. Thanks for the spam." - It's not spam. I intended to have a conversation with you about the very topic you raised, and I am.
"Books ARE challenged and removed from libraries all across America." - True. I'm glad to see you know they are not banned. That's different.
"Intellectual freedom is an important principle." - True. That's why I want people to treat it seriously, not as a excuse to claim keeping inappropriate material from children in a legal manner is "censorship."
"Books should not be removed based on content, because access to ideas for all age groups is one thing that makes this country great." - True. Fortunately, pornography and the like is not considered "ideas." See, for example, Board of Education v. Pico.
"I'm sorry you don't agree." - False, I agree with you 100%, as explained above.
Who are you to decide what is "appropriate?"
ReplyDeleteAppropriate is based on reading level. NOT content. I don't want another "concerned" person deciding my children should not be exposed to things that bother them. I don't want someone deciding that my children shouldn't be able to borrow something from the library simply because it offends a patron or two.
The only person who should decide what is appropriate for my child is ME.
Books that are challenged and removed are nearly always targeted because some parent with an agenda is offended by the contents. I don't want some bigoted, narrow minded person deciding that books dealing with homosexuality or violence should be censored.
The answer for those offended by the books is simple: don't read them. Don't let your own children read them. Do NOT attempt to keep my children from having access to those potentially controversial ideas.
And yes, you absolutely did spam me. You targeted this blog to pick a fight based (probably) on a Google alert or a Twitter search. If you don't want to participate in Banned Books Week, fine. But please do not use my blog as a soapbox for your own agenda. Use your own blog for that.