http://www.svherald.com/content/sierra-vista-news/2013/09/12/359300
I admittedly have issues with the lady that brought this issue before the school board. My opinion, which I am allowed to express, is that she has divisive, political motivations for almost everything that she does. I think that she is a close minded neo-con...and it isn't just this issue that brings me to that conclusion. Whatever the case may be, I have my own mind and the right to post my own thoughts on my own page. I was not making allegations...I was stating an opinion...as I do many times when I post on facebook.
I had a friend who was commenting on the post. We both had a differing view, but supported each other's views and understand that we can be friends and sometimes have differing views. I appreciated and respected everything that she posted. She made clear points that made complete sense and was related directly to the topic at hand. She is a good friend and I love that we can express different views in an educated manner and still respect each other. That is how it should be.
Later that night I received a horribly rude and insulting PM on facebook from someone who is mutual friends with the lady that went to the school board in the article above. This message was not just rude and insulting it was threatening. She attempted to attack my character in ways that crossed lines that I would never think to do. She is entitled to her opinion of the situation and is entitled to her opinion of me as well. I have no problem with wanting to defend her friend's position, but this was not in defense of her friend at all. This was a pure bully move and the ways that she attacked my character were not opinions of me, they were threats. However, I found it a true testament to this person's character that she didn't have the guts to post her message on the thread that my friend and I were actively talking on. After I got this message, I took down the post. Not out of fear, but because I did not want to drag my friend that was commenting to get dragged into anything unnecessary.
I then told another friend about what happened this morning and she reminded me that I should not have to take down anything that I post on my own wall and that I shouldn't feel bullied by other people to remove my opinion. I had already decided to blog about this topic...but this just compelled me even more.
So I am going to post my blog about censorship. This is not going to be just about the above situation. I do want people to know the back story of what compelled me to write today. I was already planning on writing about censorship and banned books and was going to post it on September 22, which is the start of Banned Book week. Given yesterday's events I am doing it now.
Most people that know me, know that I am against censorship and book banning. I have a note that I wrote a few years ago that I post every year. Perhaps next year I will start re-posting this blog entry. I realize that there are many arguments over what our children should be exposed to or not exposed to. I find them to be relevant arguments until the censorship starts to equate to taking away parental rights or any rights for that matter. In the article above the Superintendent clearly states that, yes they should have reviewed the books better and advised the parents of the content and allowed the parents the option to choose an alternative read for their child. They do not want to start banning books. That I agree with. I feel that to blatantly just remove a book from an approved curriculum list because you personally don't agree with it is censorship. Ofcourse, if you have such little faith in your parenting skills and the morals and standards that you have been instilling in your children since birth than by all means feel free to remove any free thought from the education process. If you truly believe that reading some pages from a book or listening to an inappropriate song is what is going to be the downfall of your teenage son or daughter perhaps you should lock them in a box until they are 18 and then just spring the world on them then. I find it obtrusive to not give parents more credit in their ability to raise their children.
I understand that not everyone parents the same way and that unfortunately some children get a raw deal when it comes to the people that raise them. Children's moral values are already instilled in them by the time they are in high school. I understand the argument of peer pressure and of teenagers still not being mature enough to handle certain situations. I don't understand the argument, that a passage from a book is going to deter the complete moral core of the student body. I don't understand the people that don't want to educate their children on the real world and the injustices that happen to others through censorship. I don't understand not giving me, as a parent Many of the same people that support book banning are extreme neo-con's with hypocritical fundamental religious beliefs. Yes, those are certainly the people that I want making decisions for my child. (I hope you could smell the sarcasm in that.)
I don't want anyone taking away any decision that I make for my child. I have taught my children to be open minded thinkers that are not scared to question something that they are told is wrong or right. I have taught them to not see in just black and white and I maintain an open communication with them that encourages them to tell me things that may be uncomfortable and to not fear having to ask me difficult questions.
My children have minds of their own and I don't believe in stifling that. I realize that my youngest still needs guidance and is not mature enough to handle certain situations. However, I don't discount that she can think for herself and give her the leeway to succeed or fail based on her own merits. Lessons learned are not truly learned if someone has given you all the answers and made all the decisions for you. My son is an adult now, but I took faith in his abilities, his intelligence, and the moral base that he was given by me and my parents. He judged inappropriate things based on his own perception of the situation and most of the time just took it as face value.
Censorship is what causes people to become uniform and think like everyone else. Censorship is what causes tyranny and the loss of free thought. Our children are who they are based on how they are raised and not based on what the may read or see on TV or watch in a movie. If a child is swayed that much by something they read in a book than the root of the issue is a lack of parenting and other support. Don't blame a book, a teacher, or a school board for your own parental inability or your lack of faith in your parenting. The world is full of things worse than what you read in a book. Give your children the skills to live life successfully and don't teach them that if you disagree with something you should remove it altogether. How are they going to get through life with that philosophy. If you don't agree with something find a reasonable alternative...don't pull out everything you have to turn a community against something. The unfortunate thing in small close minded situations is that when the censorship flag is raised their are so many people standing up to keep it flying. People jump on a bandwagon because they believe that they are looking out for the interest of our children. The bigger picture is that people that stand up and call out for something to be censored for their child will also do the same thing in other situations.
In hindsight I realize that the person who sent me the nasty message was in her own way trying to censor me and I fell for it by removing my post. Granted I removed it to keep other people's names out of the mix, but just the fact that they made me question my right to post my opinion is a small victory for her.
I do want to acknowledge one thing that my friend had stated on my page. She said that she believes that children should be provided sex education and not sex encouragement. That I agree with and understand her view. Her view is as a good parent and I take no fault with parents that are genuinely concerned with what happens in their child's classroom.
I will never side with people who blatantly cause disruption within in a school and call for censorship in order to benefit their own agenda and then disguise it as "parental concern" in order to reach another platform. Which is what is going on in the article above. All you have to do is look at the links that were provided in the comments section of the article. If you have a problem with the new statewide curriculum and want to bring about change than take on a different approach and don't target one book and one teacher as your platform to get rid of the new state curriculum. I called it a witch hunt yesterday for a specific reason. A witch hunt is something that is used to cause moral panic or mass hysteria and I truly believe that is what she is trying to do. She hopes that she can cause this panic in order to push people towards her true agenda which is the new curriculum. I find no fault with trying to point out faults in the new curriculum, but there are many other ways than this way. I don't believe that there is anything more morally corrupt about our high school than any other high school in America. She is hoping for a national story and she may get it if she pushes for more censorship.
My mother in law reminded me last night that when she talks to people about censorship the first thing she brings up is that the first thing the Nazi's did was ban books. I will add to that the next thing they did was target intellectuals that did not have the same like mind as them.
We need to keep encouraging our children to be free thinkers and not fall into that pigeon hole full of judgmental thought and action. We need to give our children praise and recognition when they discern for themselves (based on the moral base that we as parents have provided) what is inappropriate. We need to recognize that they need that room to make those decisions.
This is the note that I post on my facebook every year for Banned Books and this is the summation of my thoughts.
"I have so many thoughts on this topic. Censorship makes me ill and, in my eyes, book banning is on the top of that list. Don't use bureaucracy and censorship to raise your children. If you aren't hands on enough with your own children to teach them boundaries or instill some type of moral code in them, then you shouldn't have children. Don't let your inability stifle my child. I believe that my kids have the sense to question me about things that they see, hear, or read that they don't understand and I trust the values I have shown to my children. I don't overtly expose them to things that are not age inappropriate, but I certainly don't shield them from the world. The world is filled with millions of differing thoughts, views, and cultures. As a parent I want my child to be prepared for that world...not be ignorant or naive to it. Those are my views on censoring books for kids.
Now if you are an adult and think that there is any book out there for adults that should be banned you are a complete moron. If as a grown man or woman you can't formulate your own thoughts enough to recognize that certain pieces of literature may not be for you then you need help. If you are so full of hatred, bigotry, or intolerance that you think books that go against anything you believe in shouldn't be written...there is no help for you...your ignorance has killed your braincells anyway. Censorship breeds ignorance, ignorance breeds intolerance, and intolerance breeds hatred. If you don't like something don't read it and leave my free will ALONE!!!"
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned
http://ncac.org/Kids-Right-to-Read
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