Should Public School Libraries Be Censored Essay
Kim Stewart
A-CAPS 4360
Instructor: Jennifer Greene
2 December 2004
Should Public School Libraries Be Censored?
Introduction
Six years ago, I walked in to my oldest son’s school eager to participate in their celebration of reading, a week long hiatus from regular school activities in which the children simply read books all day. Parents and members of the community were invited in to read aloud as well. This was the first year my sons were in a public school, and I was so excited to discover that the school district and I shared a very important priority: the love of reading. My son and I had just finished reading The Giver, by Lois Lowry. The book had a profound effect on both of us, eliciting thoughts and insight into the values of our society and the cost of conformity. This was the book I …show more content…
When a child is missing, adults throughout the community spend countless hours searching for her. In our nation, we have an instant and comprehensive alarm system when a child is in danger, the “Amber alert,” because the safety of children is so valuable to all of us. “The principle of sheltering the young from certain kinds of material is deeply rooted in our culture” (Boardman). When teaching children, who can argue with the premise that “books, materials and ideas should be selected with extreme care and common sense, keeping in mind the desire to present and model the highest moral, civic, patriotic, and cultural ideas” (Clark 3). Children do not mature at the same rate, that is common knowledge, but they all do value peer approval. If a book in class was disturbing to a child, she might not yet have the courage to speak up; she would need a parent who was aware and involved to protect her. It could be argued that “Free speech may be too successful and create a problem of excessive tolerance, which may have equally pernicious effects for the society as its opposing vice” (Bollinger
A-CAPS 4360
Instructor: Jennifer Greene
2 December 2004
Should Public School Libraries Be Censored?
Introduction
Six years ago, I walked in to my oldest son’s school eager to participate in their celebration of reading, a week long hiatus from regular school activities in which the children simply read books all day. Parents and members of the community were invited in to read aloud as well. This was the first year my sons were in a public school, and I was so excited to discover that the school district and I shared a very important priority: the love of reading. My son and I had just finished reading The Giver, by Lois Lowry. The book had a profound effect on both of us, eliciting thoughts and insight into the values of our society and the cost of conformity. This was the book I …show more content…
When a child is missing, adults throughout the community spend countless hours searching for her. In our nation, we have an instant and comprehensive alarm system when a child is in danger, the “Amber alert,” because the safety of children is so valuable to all of us. “The principle of sheltering the young from certain kinds of material is deeply rooted in our culture” (Boardman). When teaching children, who can argue with the premise that “books, materials and ideas should be selected with extreme care and common sense, keeping in mind the desire to present and model the highest moral, civic, patriotic, and cultural ideas” (Clark 3). Children do not mature at the same rate, that is common knowledge, but they all do value peer approval. If a book in class was disturbing to a child, she might not yet have the courage to speak up; she would need a parent who was aware and involved to protect her. It could be argued that “Free speech may be too successful and create a problem of excessive tolerance, which may have equally pernicious effects for the society as its opposing vice” (Bollinger