I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Inappropriate Tool for School
In today’s society, more and more inappropriate material is becoming acceptable. Children are becoming more comfortable with bad language, corrupt movies, and offensive books as they are exposed to this material more frequently. The age they begin to learn about violence, drugs, and sex is lower than ever before. Today’s generation seems to be more experienced and knowledgeable about these shockingly crude things than most adults! Parents can not stop this maturing all together; however, they can slow it down by monitoring their children. It is a parent’s right to know what their child is learning, in case it goes against their family’s views. A parent should …show more content…
The book’s graphic depiction of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in many schools and libraries. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has had thirty-nine public challenges or bans since 1983 (Baldassarro). For example, in Kansas parents were uncomfortable with the book and attempted to ban it based on the “vulgar language, sexual explicitness, and violent imagery that is gratuitously employed” (Baldassarro). It was challenged for being on a Maryland high school reading list in 2001 because of its sexual content and foul language; it was banned for language and being too explicit in the description of rape and other sexual abuse in 2002; It was challenged in 2003 as required reading in Montana due to sexual exploration by teenagers, rape and homosexuality; and finally, it was challenged in Virginia school libraries by the group Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for “profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct and torture.” 2005 resulted in a banning due to racism, homosexuality, sexual content, offensive language and being unsuitable for the age group (Baldassarro). With so many challenges and bans, one can see how controversial I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is. This book has been challenged for years, always offending parents as they find the material unacceptable. People usually only take the time to challenge a book if they feel strongly about it’s content. Going to court takes a lot of time and effort and obviously these parents are very uncomfortable with their children being exposed to this material. Therefore, due to it’s history in court, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is not appropriate for children and should be restricted in