Would You Ever Try To Ban A Book?

In 2010, it's hard to believe that anything is off limits. When porn is readily accessible to anyone with a cable or Internet hookup, I was rather surprised to learn that people are still trying to ban books from libraries. That seems so last century. But between 2001 and 2009, there were more than 4,000 challenges to books in the US and more than 450 just in 2009. Not a staggering number but more than I would have expected. Most challenges were due to sexually explicit material and offensive language though being anti-family or advocating the wrong religious viewpoint are other often cited problems. Check out all the statistics and the list of frequently targeted books at the American Library Association's website at www.ala.org

But what I found most interesting is that most of the challenges were brought forward by parents trying to remove books from school libraries. As the parent of a small child, I'm sympathetic. I wish I could protect my daughter from everything I see and hear that I think is inappropriate for her or simply offensive. But it's just not possible and frankly, it won't serve her well in the future. How else is she going to define her own boundaries of taste and acceptability if she isn't occasionally exposed to something that goes beyond those boundaries? How is she going to understand how lucky she is to live in a free society if she can't read about the concept of "Big Brother" in 1984? How will she know how much our world has (or hasn't) changed its attitudes about race if she can't read To Kill a Mockingbird? How can I teach her tolerance and acceptance if she is only exposed to that which is familiar? Classics are often defined by the simple fact that they challenge us to confront that which makes us uncomfortable.

Is it difficult? Absolutely. I dread the days I know are coming when I have to explain things like prejudice and bigotry. I've already had to begin what will certainly be an ongoing conversation about her body and sexuality, and it totally makes me uncomfortable but I do it anyway. Hiding her from these difficult realities would be shirking my duties as her parent and taking the easy way out of the tough job of being a mom. There are certainly questions of what is age appropriate but that's up to me to define as the parent of my child and I wouldn't dream of forcing another to follow my standard.

There is a lot in this world that my daughter will encounter that I would prefer to shield her from. But I think it's wiser to arm her with the critical thinking skills and the moral code to evaluate what she confronts rather than teach her to hide from it. It's the price we pay to live in a free society and I'm absolutely willing to pay it. What about you?