I asked the students to list some of the topics they thought might be controversial. We discussed ways of handling issues when someone objected to a student reading a certain book, either assigned or taken out of the library for a report.
I listed the resources at NCTE, Office of Intellectual Freedom at ALA, and The National Coalition Against Censorship. I started with a few cases and explained the importance of book selection policies that would be approved by the administration and the board of education. How about WWI?"Ī professor invited me to speak in a class about censorship. Some of our students might have relatives involved in those battles and might be deeply disturbed about reading such books. When I suggested a few titles about conflicts and consequences of wars, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, she looked at me and stated, "Those won't do. This author and his book have been nominated for several special literary awards.Ī supervisor of language arts and social studies at a large urban high school asked if there were any books that could be recommended that had a more modern approach to critical issues confronting our country, books that would hook the students on reading about critical issues. All around her noticed her fidgeting and restlessness. The teacher immediately scratched out all of her notes about the author and the book and couldn't wait for the session to end.
But the sexual situations are not detailed." One teacher started: "Does your book have any cursing, drinking, sexual situations?" He read briefly from his novel based on this experience, and then he opened his presentation for questions and remarks. Isn't it interesting that there are some who worry that reading a book might give students ideas?Īt a conference in March of this year, an author spoke eloquently about his growing up in poverty in Texas and the effects on his whole family. This led the bully to call the other boy "a faggot." The bully later told his friends, word spread, and the devastated small–town boy was shunned.Ī teacher taking the course who had read this book was so distressed that he arose and stated: "I'd never let any of my students read such a book. In this graduate–level YA lit class, students were discussing a novel in which two teens confront each other because one didn't want to go to a community event he just wanted to be left alone that evening.
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