First off, let me apologize for dropping off the planet! I'm in my second week of college and I've just been bogged down by assignments (I'm making an attempt to not shrug off my homework this semester!) and band practices. I promise I'm going to try to make more regular postings soon though!
I know I've made a post about this before, but I saw this link from the American Library Association, and I couldn't help but make a small rant on my personal Facebook about it, and I decided I wanted to share with you guys as well. So here it is. Please feel free to share your thoughts and feelings on this subject! I love to hear other opinions and views!
There is literally nothing that makes me angrier than the attempted
censorship of literature, not even because I love to read myself, but
because every one on this planet should have the opportunity to decide
for themselves what is and isn't "appropriate". People have to
understand that we live in a world with opposing beliefs, drug and
alcohol use, differing sexual orientations, and many other ideas,
products, and facts that one might not want to be exposed to. However,
pretending like these things don't exist just creates a world full of ignorance, and believe me, there's nothing more dangerous.
Many of the books on these lists I've read myself, and almost all of
them have helped me understand things in my life in a way that wouldn't
be possible otherwise. I can understand wanting to shield your children
from some things like drugs and alcohol, but would you rather your kids
learn bout these things from the pages of a book, or out on the streets?
Take it from someone who grew up on books, and knows many
others who feel the same way: many of these books that are considered
"controversial" or "inappropriate" can and will save someone's life.
Just think about that before you condemn a book.
Until next time,
xox
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rants. Show all posts
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
A Late Night Rant on the Banning of Books
*Let me apologize ahead of time for any incoherency and/or rambling.*
I was just doing my nightly browse of Facebook, when I stumbled upon a Book Riot article discussing banned books in schools, and honestly, it's put me in a rage.
This issue has come up many times before, and it will come up many times again. That still doesn't make it okay. Anymore, the main reason many books are banned from school reading lists is because of a disgruntled parent or an ignorant school official. Most of the books mentioned in the article I unfortunately haven't read myself, but I did read John Green's Paper Towns, and the reasoning behind why this book was taken off the reading list is completely ridiculous- sexual content and language? Okay, lady, if you're afraid of a JOHN GREEN book ruining your child's innocence, you had best just lock her in a cement box for the rest of her life. Seriously. By time kids get into junior high these days, they know more about sex and swearing than I did in my senior year of high school.
I don't even know. The mere idea of preventing any child from reading any book for whatever reason just makes me so angry! I mean, yes, there are some books that some kids shouldn't read until later points in their lives, but there are also many kids who are mature enough to handle and understand the subject matter.
I think my main issue with this is that I never had any rules as to what I was allowed and not allowed to read. If it was a book, and it struck my fancy, I read it, no matter what age level it was geared toward. And the great thing about that is I learned SO MUCH! Books are more than just stories. They help you learn things about life that you might not have otherwise learned, or might have learned far too late in life. Books also help mold you into the person you are. A person isn't just a culmination of all their life experiences- a person is also the culmination of all the life experiences of all the characters of all the books they've ever read.
I can't even explain to you all the books that have helped make me who I am, helped me understand difficult things about myself, been the friend I needed when I had no one else or didn't feel like I could go to anyone else.
Jill Guccini, the author of the Book Riot article says it best, I think : "There are 10 kids whose lives could be saved by that book. That book might annoy or offend one parent. But it could literally SAVE. THE. LIFE. of a child."
Seriously, there are a number of books that have saved my life, and depriving any child of a book just because one person finds it offensive is the worst crime I can think of.
Alright, end of rant, for the most part. There is definitely more I can say, but I'll leave it at this.
Again, I apologize for the crazyness of this post...
Until next time,
xox
I was just doing my nightly browse of Facebook, when I stumbled upon a Book Riot article discussing banned books in schools, and honestly, it's put me in a rage.
This issue has come up many times before, and it will come up many times again. That still doesn't make it okay. Anymore, the main reason many books are banned from school reading lists is because of a disgruntled parent or an ignorant school official. Most of the books mentioned in the article I unfortunately haven't read myself, but I did read John Green's Paper Towns, and the reasoning behind why this book was taken off the reading list is completely ridiculous- sexual content and language? Okay, lady, if you're afraid of a JOHN GREEN book ruining your child's innocence, you had best just lock her in a cement box for the rest of her life. Seriously. By time kids get into junior high these days, they know more about sex and swearing than I did in my senior year of high school.
I don't even know. The mere idea of preventing any child from reading any book for whatever reason just makes me so angry! I mean, yes, there are some books that some kids shouldn't read until later points in their lives, but there are also many kids who are mature enough to handle and understand the subject matter.
I think my main issue with this is that I never had any rules as to what I was allowed and not allowed to read. If it was a book, and it struck my fancy, I read it, no matter what age level it was geared toward. And the great thing about that is I learned SO MUCH! Books are more than just stories. They help you learn things about life that you might not have otherwise learned, or might have learned far too late in life. Books also help mold you into the person you are. A person isn't just a culmination of all their life experiences- a person is also the culmination of all the life experiences of all the characters of all the books they've ever read.
I can't even explain to you all the books that have helped make me who I am, helped me understand difficult things about myself, been the friend I needed when I had no one else or didn't feel like I could go to anyone else.
Jill Guccini, the author of the Book Riot article says it best, I think : "There are 10 kids whose lives could be saved by that book. That book might annoy or offend one parent. But it could literally SAVE. THE. LIFE. of a child."
Seriously, there are a number of books that have saved my life, and depriving any child of a book just because one person finds it offensive is the worst crime I can think of.
Alright, end of rant, for the most part. There is definitely more I can say, but I'll leave it at this.
Again, I apologize for the crazyness of this post...
Until next time,
xox
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