When I was in college, I decided to take a course called Religion of the world. It probably wasn’t the best course for my career, but I was eager to learn. I took courses because they sounded interesting and I wanted to learn.
My mother told me I couldn’t attend the class. This of course ensured that I would attend, but I was still curious why she didn’t want me to attend.
Any guesses?
I come from a very Christian family. It ranged from Southern Baptist to Methodist. As long as it was Protestant, it didn’t matter. If you started moving toward Catholicism, my family would raise their eyebrows, and anything outside of Christianity was downright satanic.
My mother said that if I learn about other religions, I might convert. I have heard this argument from many parents. Leave the child in ignorance so that he or she can carry on the traditions I have established. Her logic is not always elegant, but her intention is clear.
As someone who values knowledge and truth, I still find it hard to understand why parents do this. If they truly believe in what they preach, be it religion or something else, then why do they hide the rest of the world from the child?
It is not the truth that they value.
Ignorance is bliss. Stay in your bubble.
It’s so strange how books have become a political issue. I would tell people to read dystopian novels or look up historical accounts of book bans, but unfortunately they would be too offended to read them.
Books? How dare you!
But I give them the synopsis. It’s not usually the good people who throw the books away.
This battle began with required reading in the classroom, expanded to the presence of books throughout the school, and is now a battle in the public library. The number of books to be censored in public libraries increased by 92 percent. in 2023.
Public libraries are open to everyone, but in many cases they want to remove books from the libraries entirely.
For those who don’t know, public libraries are usually divided into sections. There is a children’s section, a youth section, and an adult section. Most of the books that are scheduled for removal are in the youth or adult sections.
If you’ve never been to one, they’re a magical place. I highly recommend checking them out. Seriously, I can still get lost in my public library for hours.
Parents sometimes argue that these books should be removed altogether because the child could end up in the wrong section. If this is the case, the parent is leaving their child unsupervised. The child will probably have a phone. They are likely to talk to other children outside the bubble the parents have created.
Books shouldn’t be a parent’s biggest concern. I don’t think I need to explain the wide range of content available on phones, but simply allowing children to socialize exposes them to new thoughts and ideas. Teenagers will hear about sex unless their parents keep them trapped in the house. Usually, it’s happening all around them. Most of the books these parents want to ban are actually giving children the tools to understand the world around them.
Librarians are ready
My school librarian quit a few years ago because she had to fight off the constant nastiness. She was always very careful about what books she brought to school, but she was still pushed out.
She is not alone. Across the country, librarians are quitting for similar reasons.
They are not allowed to do their jobs. I am exaggerating a little when I say that they are not even allowed to encourage children to read.
At my school, we celebrated Banned Books Week every year. It was a way to get the children excited about reading. What don’t they want to show you?
Most books have been banned or challenged at some point.
Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory was banned because it described the Oompa-Loompas as an African pygmy people. Alice in Wonderland was banned because of talking animals and sexual innuendo. Harry Potter was of course banned for religious reasons.
The list is endless. I want to motivate children to read themselves. Most of them hate it because they see it as work. Reading makes them better critical thinkers. If we’re honest, it probably makes them better people too, and I wonder if that’s why some parents don’t want their children to read.
I want a sex book
At the beginning of every year, I take the students to the library and let them borrow a book. I explain to them that books are not just old things that teachers give you as homework.
They can be fun. If you enjoy a movie, you can also enjoy a book.
Every year I have students who act as if touching a book would cause them physical harm. Whatever their resistance, it is probably more.
Some of them are crying.
Some of them are trying to negotiate.
Some of them just lie.
Most people borrow a book but wait until the due date to do so.
I ask my children what interests them. What kind of films did they like? The answers I get are usually reasonable.
One year I had a student we call Jelly. She was transferred from another class because the teacher couldn’t control her. Their confrontations were epic fights in the hallway.
When she came to my class, I at least knew what to expect. Her first day was library day. Of course, she refused to borrow a book, so I asked her my usual questions.
“What kind of movies do you like?”
“Sex movies.”
I didn’t flinch. I’d been a teacher long enough to be prepared for anything that might come out of a child’s mouth. “So, we should go to the library and get some sex books. Let’s talk to the librarian about it.”
The librarian was an old hand, and after some conversation they found an educational book for her.
Don’t get me wrong. She actually read a large portion of the book.
As she left my class, she offered to read poems to her classmates.
I may be in the minority, but I would rather have a wide selection of books to capture a child’s imagination or interest, especially when they are teenagers.
Even as a child, it was not considered cool to enjoy reading. But the more nerd culture becomes mainstream, the more reading becomes taboo. Even popular celebrities like Kanye West And J. Cole I confessed, with a pride I do not understand, that I did not read.
I’m afraid that one day I’ll wake up and nationwide book bans are justified. I hate the slippery slope argument, but it only takes one to open the floodgates.
In a world full of commercials that contain more sexual innuendo than actual information about a product, and in a world where the Internet is always just a click away, I see no legitimate reason to ban a book entirely from a public library.
The situation of books may seem insignificant compared to the other problems of the world, but it is a central problem. If books disappear, all other problems will be exacerbated.
Read a book.
Encourage a child to read a book.
Think about things outside your bubble. I promise it’s okay.
