EDITORIAL
Published Sept 14, 2007
Refusal to return library books shows disrespect to others
Tuscaloosa News
I will start by stating that I have never heard of the author Ellen Wittlinger, or know the genre she is know for but, it is import to be able to expand my horizons and at least read plot overviews of the book (maybe even read it for that matter) in which she wrote that is in question in this article. For those who don’t know who she is, she is a mother of 2 children who didn’t find her niche writing children-young adult literature until she was a librarian. She enjoys writing poetry and plays as well. This information was acquired from Ellen’s Bio on her website.
The premise of the article entitled “Refusal to return library book shows disresepect to others” is that the book Wittlinger titled “Sandpiper” is under fire to be banned from a library at Brookwood
High School in the Tuscaloosa County School System. Upon my reading at Amazon.Com from the editorial review, I conclude that the novel is about a girl who is going through a crisis of identity; figuring out sexuality, friendships, dealing with death, and other tragedy.Anyways, because of themes in this story, a student and their grandmother found the story “inappropriate” to be on the shelves in the high school. The article states, let it be from the grandmother or the student that “the book is too sexually explicit and has no place on school library shelves”. Also according to this article, “state Representative Gerald Allen’s effort two years ago to ban literature by or about homosexuals from public school libraries.” So it sounds like this issue is something that has happened before.
To get at another quote from the article and my standpoint on this is the following:
“Return it and pick another book.
Nobody in the public school system is insisting that the student read it.”
It is issues like this that tend to get under my skin. Books are written and published for reasons of entertainment and information (fact or fiction) or whatever else you pleasure reason may be. I feel that this is a First Amendment issue happening; this is a censorship of writing, reading, and speech too. Plus, this is a PUBLIC SCHOOL, come on! If the student and grandmother are that concerned, maybe that student should be placed in a different setting. I can’t go and make assumptions on matters here of home life, (you assume, you make an ass of you and me…) so, I can’t go into what views they have. But please don’t go and ruin a good thing. By removing this book from the library, takes away one more resource that a student can have when reading about the world, about humanity. Also, isn’t it a good thing that students are reading?!?
Again, information from:
“Refusal to return library book shows disresepect to others”
4 responses so far ↓
1
Eli
// Sep 17, 2007 at 2:35 pm
It never ceases to amaze me how ridiculous some people can be. I agree with you whole heartedly in putting the book back and getting another one. If you don’t like something don’t support it. Don’t go around and tell everyone that they like it, or even see it. It’s pretty absurd if you ask me. The banning of books is, in my mind, a terrible thing. Someone doesn’t like a book, makes a big stink, and then the book gets yanked off library shelves for a little, only to come back later. The funny thing about this is that by banning a book, you inevitably encourage a much wider audience to read the stupid thing just to see what all the fuss is about. I think that the biggest favor you can do for an author is to try the get his/her book banned because so many people go out and read it when such a controversy arises. If you just refuse to buy the book, or read it, and keep your mouth shut (aside from telling people who ask you about that it was terrible and should not be read) you’re efforts to keep people from reading it will probably be far more successful than trying to blot the book out of existence altogether.
That being said, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that a book about sex and all that has stirred up this sort of hullabaloo. If there is one thing I’ve learned throughout my life so far it is that people always have, and always will engage in absurdity. Anyways, that’s my thoughts on the whole subject. I’m glad to hear that you don’t buy into the whole banning books thing either.
2
kempemat
// Sep 22, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Eric:
I couldn’t agree more when you argue that books should not be banned because of their content, as long as the content isn’t too extreme obviously. The book that you described sounds like another piece of literature that could be a wonderful piece for students who struggle with challenging issues such as sexuality, death, and identity, and should be available for them in schools. If taken out, these students who do deal with these issues daily will lose yet another resource on information and help to turn to because as we all know students who deal with these issues usually fear talking to someone about it, and reading about their issues is a safe option. Again I agree with you in the idea that if someone has a problem with the book, simply return it to the shelves, and never look at it again. What harm does that do you? Certain people in the modern day, as harsh as it may sound, just need something to complain about and make a big issue of it. In this case it was another valuable piece of literature that had to play the roll of the victim, and students must lose out on a lot of valuable life lessons just because someone just couldn’t live on any longer if this book stayed in schools any longer. Students, parents, and apparently grandparents need to lighten up when it comes to controversial issues. Students deal with them everyday, whether it be at school or at home, and we need to do everything we can as educators to offer answers to challenging issues that students deal with.
3
Ashley
// Sep 23, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Banning books is a very interesting topic, and it’s nice to see that someone in the class has chosen to write on it. As much as I believe that censuring books is the best form of publicity and that the author can benefit largely from this form of publicity (any doubts on that, just look to almost any French philosopher prior to the French Revolution – Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, etc.), it’s still sad to see that we live in a society that has not yet recognized the benefits of reading something contradictory to one’s own beliefs. Reading something that one does not agree with can help shape opinions and build a stronger foundation to previously held beliefs. Or it can cause a state of disruption and possibly change the beliefs of the reader – a sign of a great piece of literature. Either way, reading promotes learning, and the idea that not everyone thinks alike. Reading promotes diversity. It is sad that this grandmother is perpetuating a very prejudice attitude.
4
christiedeanna
// Sep 23, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I will have to agree with both of you. I don’t believe in the banning of books either and this mainly goes along with what Eli said, “that by banning a book, you inevitably encourage a much wider audience to read the stupid thing just to see what all the fuss is about.” This is true, because whenever you get told not to do something for a certain reason, it just makes you want to go out and do it even more to see what it’s all about. The same goes with banning books. If you have never heard about a book or read it before and then the fuss occurs where it’s about to be banned, you’re going to want to read it just to see why. I also agree with the quote that Eric mentioned, “Return it and pick another book. Nobody in the public school system is insisting that the student read it.” The student chose to read this book on her own, not forced to do so by a teacher. If she doesn’t agree with the themes, it makes her feel uncomfortable, or she is offended by it, she can very well just place it back onto the shelf and pick another book with less profane themes. I don’t believe that books should be banned, but I do believe that teachers, students, parents, and guardians for that matter can have a say in what they read or what they assign their students to read. Books should only be assigned or read by the specific age level that the book is written for. Books with mature themes should only be assigned to mature audiences. And that’s about all I have to say on this matter.
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