Hot on HuffPost Parents:
New Turnaround Teacher 'Trying To Get It Right' In Tough School
Anne Woods: A Weekend for Superheroes
Summer Reading - Should 'Part-Time Indian' be Banned?
Filed under: Opinions
Some Chicago parents think this book should be banned. Image: fallsapart.com
This summer it's Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," a National Book Award winner. It's the story of Junior, a young teen living on the Spokane Indian reservation, as he makes the move to an all-white high school and into adolescence. The "New York Times" described the book as "a gem" and said it may be Alexie's "best work yet." "Working in the voice of a 14-year-old forces Alexie to strip everything down to action and emotion, so that reading becomes more like listening to your smart, funny best friend recount his day while waiting after school for a ride home."
But not everyone agrees.
Parents -- a handful, really -- in a suburban Chicago school district raised concerns about "Part-Time Indian" at a recent board meeting; they claimed that the subject matter of the book wasn't appropriate for kids just entering high school. Jennifer Andersen -- who pre-read the book before her son -- is one parent who objected to the book. "I began reading, and I started to cross out sections that I didn't want him to read," she tells the Chicago Tribune. "Soon I thought, 'Wait, this is not appropriate; he is not reading this.' "
Andersen and other parents took issue with the book's strong language and sexual content. "I can't imagine anyone finding this book appropriate for a 13- or 14-year-old," says Andersen. "I have not met a single parent who is not shocked by this. This is not appropriate for our community."
Andersen, who has a teaching degree herself, claims not to be promoting censorship in asking that the book be removed from the school. But she does not want her 14-year-old son reading it. "How can we look past the vulgarity?" she asked.
Banned Books
Ban the dictionary? That's what one Alaska school district did. Specifically, school board members objected to the American Heritage dictonary's inclusion of vulgar words and slang.
Amazon.com
John Steinbeck's classic tale of families fleeing the Dust Bowl was banned in Oklahoma and Kansas. The irony, of course, is that the novel's protagonists, the Joad family, are fleeing their farm in Oklahoma for a better life.
Amazon.com
Not even Shakespeare is immune from banning: "The Merchant of Venice" was tossed out of schools because of the Bard's portrayal of Shylock the Jew.
Amazon.com
Harper Lee's only novel is a classic summer read -- except when it's banned. Schools and libraries have objected to the novel for a number of reasons, including the story's discussion of rape and incest.
Amazon.com
Mark Twain's language -- particularly his use of a racist slur to describe a black slave -- has had teachers and parents up in arms about "Huckleberry Finn" for decades.
Amazon.com
William Golding may have won a Nobel Prize for Literature, but that didn't stop the Toronto School Board from banning "Lord of the Flies" in all of it's schools. Their specific complaint: The novel's racist language.
Amazon.com
Vulgarity aside, is "Part-Time Indian" appropriate reading for high school students? The District 117 school board thinks so. After two members read the book, the board made a compromise: The book will stay, but a committee -- with some parent members -- will be formed to help approve books for future lists. "I appreciate the parents who came and had concerns," says school board president Wayne Sobczak. "But the tone and flavor of the book is positive for children this age, and shows someone trying to do the right thing." The district's book list has always contained alternative books that parents can choose instead.
Sandi Dezelah, program manager of a Title IX Indian Education program, says she's read the book and is comfortable having it on the shelves of her classroom library. "Would I check it out to a fourth grader? Absolutely not," Dezelah tells ParentDish. "But to a teenager, sure. It's a very real story, real in the sense of what life is like on a reservation, but also what life is like for a struggling 14-year-old boy."
When I was 13, my mom wasn't looking over my shoulder pre-reading all of my books for me. And thank goodness, because she never would have let me keep my V.C. Andrews collection. But I also might have never learned to experiment, to try new authors and new genres, to take her books off her bookshelf and learn the difference between a trashy novel and a really good book.
I think that we need to learn to trust teens with things like vulgar language and sexual content, to remember that sometimes the story is more important than the details. They're already dealing with that stuff among their peers on a daily basis, anyway. A book like Sherman Alexie's -- or like "The Catcher in the Rye," which also often lands on both summer reading lists and banned book lists -- gives teens a safe place to experiment and try adult situations on for size.
And besides, Junior might just be a good role model, too. Says English chair John Whitehurst, "While there is graphic language, keep in mind that Arnold uses this language to express his own feelings to himself or to exchange taunts with his best friend. He never uses this language in front of girls, to his family or to other adults, and he doesn't act on such thoughts. He is consistently polite." The book also contains a strong anti-alcohol message.
Have you read Sherman Alexie's book? What do you think? And are there any books that are "banned" off your teen's summer reading list, or do you think parents should have an open mind when letting teens choose books?
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Importance of Reading to Your Child
Children learn to read by listening to stories, that's why it's important to start reading to your kids at an early age. In this episode of Parents TV you will see some of the best children books you can read to your kids.
-
Reading to Ages 3 To 6
Juli Auclair and Francine Alexander of Scholastic Books share recommendations on books to read with your children and how to approach reading with your child.
-
How to Prepare Your Child for Reading
Learn how to prepare your child for the elements of reading and writing. Babies love books and should be exposed to books at a very young age. Watch the Go-To Mom tips on when and how to read to your child.
-
How to Raise a Reading Child
Better.TV's Juli Auclair went to talk to literacy expert Francie Alexander about ways and books to raise a child who reads.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 5 of 8)
6-23-2009 @ 10:29PM
Laura said...These books should not be banned. I am a Junior now in high school and we read Huckleberry Finn this past year. There is nothing in that book that should cause such a stir up. Banning the books only creates more problems, stating that they are some how bad, that students take them wrong, and society will go back to thinking the ways of the book are correct. That is not true. Students now a days know that anything in the books is in the past, is wrong, and we are reading them so that we can learn from them. Its not as if the vulgarity and word choice is seen by the younger kids who may take it a different way. As a junior i can say that by the time you hit high school you should most definitely know right from wrong, that certain words are no longer used and not to be used, and that society has changed for means of bettering it. We had a class discussion about the book and the fact that it had been banned in most schools. We read an article on Mark Twain and his past, why he may have chosen certain scenes in the book to relate to his real life. That book taught us about satire and biographical lenses. We even wrote an essay on it and related it to Mark Twains life and how the satire in the book changed views from society now. I think these kind of books are good to learn from not just some non sense vulger crap some people think it is. If people keep making a big deal over the past and ban things like this how can anyone learn from it and move on? Its just dumb and pointless.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:47PM
Charity said...I understand parents guiding children in what they see,and hear, but not totally censoring everything. I consider myself a conservative Christian, and there are certain things that I don't want my small children to witness. However, I can't hide them in a cave. If we are watching something that My oldest doesn't understand he knows that he can ask me if I don't volunteer the information myself. Literature was my favorite subject in high school, and I wouldn't want to take that away from my kids. I won't go out of my way to put something offensive in my sons' hands, but I can't ban everything from them forever either. Sometimes those slightly "offensive" books or media give my husband and I an opportunity to teach our kids valuable life lessons. Quite frankly, there's polygamy, adultery, fornication, and murder in the Bible, but I'm not going to ban that from my house. I remember going to a small "Chirstian" (they weren't very patient or loving) grade school at 11 years old, and hiding my Bible from the teacher's view because I was reading "Song of Songs" writen by a very loose living king. It's full of sexual language. I also know that as long as it doesn't hurt anyone or themselves, I have to let my sons make their own choices in life.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:32PM
Elizabeth said...Most of your little darlings already know all they need to know (in their minds) about sex. Consider the number of 10 - 11 - 12 year olds who get pregnant. I don't think a book will have any influence on them. Further more look at the way the mommies of these little girls allow them to dress!
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:36PM
Michael said...I am not a believer in censorship, but I do think that involved parents know their children best and should decide what they can handle. As for the people who are commenting. I think it is funny that the people who are against banning the book ( as am I) claiming that it closes minds, are the ones who are most insulting, and snide towards those that disagree. You claim to be open and free, but come across as arrogant and close minded as any right wing person you despise.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:38PM
Mindy said...I'm the mom of 14- and 11-yr.-old girls, and can't imagine keeping them from reading books like this. I wonder if this mom has ever overheard boys in middle school talk to each other when they don't know an adult is listening?! They are beyond vulgar - because they are trying on a new identity, testing the waters, etc. Stories that are REAL give them perspectives to consider that they might otherwise not. Stories written in the voices of peers matter to kids this age and should not be censored. My girls are voracious readers, fortunately, and my youngest is still into fantasy fiction - dragons, magic and the like - most, but my oldest loves realistic fiction. Sex is part of it - and it isn't always the negative consequences that become part of the story. I don't want either of them having sex before they are mature enough to handle the emotional side of it and in a stable relationship, but I don't want them to be afraid of it and think it is evil, either. And I'm not naive enough to believe that it definitely won't happen, no matter what I teach them. Realism is a good way to parent. I highly recommend it over hovering.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:42PM
Max Spencer said...My daughter is 27 and I refuse to let her have a library card. Awful stuff there. Adult plots. They even have books about 14 year old boys there.
Reply
6-27-2009 @ 6:14PM
Katie said...I got my first Library card in Kindergarten. They took my entire class to go get them.
6-23-2009 @ 11:05PM
Paige said...I can't imagine my mom having ever censored a book for me, much less refused to let me read it.. at any age. I do remember the school board trying, and the city library. That was fun. The city librarian was a doll, and new my mom, so she'd let me slip books in without my grandmother seeing them, as she would have had a fit. My school librarian slipped me the books, one at a time, on the accelerated reader list starting in first grade. The list began at 4th. Once I'd bring it back, we'd discuss it. I always got 3 books at a time, one randomly chosen off the shelf (appropriate for my age) which I actually checked out, one from the accelerated reader list, and one that Mrs. Tippens chose for me that she thought I'd enjoy. We did this from first grade up until the end of 3rd when I moved. I loved reading because of the discussion after every book.
Later, I started reading twisted books. I was obsessed with true crime books, actually I still am. They normally have terrible writing, but the stories fascinate me. When I was 14, my mom got a book from a friend, written by one of the FBI's criminal profilers. It was grotesque, and disturbing on every level you can imagine, but when I asked to read it after her she let me. She warned me that it made her physically ill to her stomach, and she had nightmares after reading some of it. I still wanted to, and did. I got the ill feeling while reading it, but couldn't put it down. We talked about it later and still, to this day, we discuss the cases in that book.
Okay, so my point, I guess, is that if you talk to your children about what they're reading, watching, seeing, or hearing, then the content isn't nearly as mature as it seems at first. Teenagers, and young children for that matter, grasp situations pretty well. I really think conversations need to start up more than they do. I was always pretty well adjusted, despite every attempt by the school boards to prevent me from doing or reading things that were "too advanced" for me.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:43PM
LenR said...The fact of the matter is that kids today won't read books with questionable content because they don't read books. Graphic novels are the closest they come to books.
In other words, if Fahrenheit 451 (the burning of the books) happened today, would anyone notice? Not anyone under 30.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:46PM
nouseforaname said...i read this book this year in my 8th grade class and its not a bad book. most kids know bout all this stuff since elementary school so i don't see the big deal. in no way has it influenced me to do those things and its the same for my classmates who read it. Kids aren't as ignorant as you think. Kids can relate to the book in a way because kids our age go through alot of the issues in the book.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:49PM
firebirdseeking said...My parents never censored my reading material, and I learned on my own what was good literature and what was not. I have not read the book (but I will!) and I doubt that the book contains any thing that a teen has not heard. Maybe parents should grow up a little and stop trying to ban reading material - and spend more time with their kids.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:50PM
person said...I wonder if the uptight parents cited in the article let their kids read Fahrenheit 451...Or maybe they should read it themselves, if they could understand it.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 10:56PM
Kate said...My parents never check the books I read. I'm in high school and going into 10th grade. You don't have to be a genius to realize a book is too obscene and put it down. I started reading books like that in 6th grade and have never had an issue with it. Most kids hear about that stuff in the hallway at school or with their friends. It's nothing new to most kids. Just the ones who's parents shield them from the rest of the world. In my Freshman Honors English class we were required to read college level books. I was recommended to read Memoirs of a Geisha by both the librarian and my teacher. It's basically about Japanese prostitution. It was actually a really good book. You just have to look past the more obscene parts to get the message.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 11:00PM
Dd said...I find it amusing (and very disappointing) that the radical liberals automatically jump to the rhetoric of "banning books", when in reality (can we deal with reality?) all the parents are talking about is CATEGORIZING books by looking at what is appropriate for various age groups.
Just like "Cat In the Hat" is intended for the very young, there are simply books that are not appropriate for 5th graders, but would be fine for 8th graders, either because of language, sexual content, or situational ethics.
Those who have not studied the development of children (both emotionally and intellectually), or don't have children, should reserve their comments. In case you don't know, the brain is not fully developed until age 25. That's why we often see posts that are illogical (kids under 25 posting).
This parent is NOT "micro-managing" her child. She's involved in his/her life, and would be the type to know where they are and with whom they associate. Just as there are some idiotic parents who think nothing about their 14 year-old smoking and/or drinking, there are many more who would object.
There are books that are and are not appropriate for every age category, and age does not guarantee a maturity level. It is just used as an average. If many parents find a book objectionable for an age group, and it has great "literary import", then raise the age level. Put it on the list the following year. It's absurd that so many are claiming "censorship" and "book banning". Those who are, lack the maturity to discuss these issues.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 11:30PM
MaryS said...Dd said: "There are books that are and are not appropriate for every age category, and age does not guarantee a maturity level. It is just used as an average. If many parents find a book objectionable for an age group, and it has great "literary import", then raise the age level. Put it on the list the following year. It's absurd that so many are claiming "censorship" and "book banning". Those who are, lack the maturity to discuss these issues."
Who is to decide what is appropriate and at what age level? Another poster in this discussion stated that she did not believe her 4th grader was mature enough to read To Kill A Mockingbird. That is certainly her call as a parent. However when my oldest child was in 1st grade she wanted to read this book. Knowing there were some sensitive issues in the book, I read it to her and we discussed those issues. To this day TKAM is one of my 23 year old daughter's favorite books. If a group of parents decided that TKAM was not appropriate until middle school or junior high, then in effect they ARE banning some children from reading that book. Not every child has the funds for a bookstore or the transportation to a public library. My children were admittedly not average. All three were in gifted programs from 1st grade on, but are their needs not important in the grand scheme of education? The problem with setting age appropriateness for the "average" student is that some children will be way beyond that book having read it years before and some children will not be quite ready for the "average" book.
Personally, I am not in favor of a lot of group reading in elementary school. The gaps between children's reading levels and interests are much greater in those grades. Reading should be individualized as much as possible. The goal is to get them to LIKE reading at that point so they can practice to become even better readers.
As they get more into content education (history, English, etc.) it makes more sense to have the entire class read certain texts that are tied to the lesson. Group discussions are much more important at this stage. I believe the best way to handle this situation is the way that schools typically handle it. Let the teachers have some autonomy in the classroom and if parents object to the content of a certain book, then provide them with alternatives. If every book that caused objections by parents were taken out of our libraries, the shelves would be pretty thin indeed. Just think, the next book they decide is inappropriate may be one you really want your child to read.
6-24-2009 @ 4:06AM
alexandra said...Get over yourself. As a republican, I am getting really sick of the finger-pointing and stereotyping. This is clearly a case where the parent wanted the book banned from the school. Period.
Standing up against censorship is an American right, not something just one party does. You have the right to filter what comes into your home, which is why the school offers alternative books on the required reading list. You can not demand that everyone in this country have the same morals as you. Legislating morals would lead us into same predicament as places like Iran. You'd jump right to the "rhetoric of book banning" if someone tried to ban a book that held to your values, let's not kid ourselves here.
I for one am glad that schools and teachers exposed me to how the real world really is. Books that deal with real life subjects helped me to understand and cope, even though my parents sheltered me. I've watched friends rebel and do terrible things to their lives when they left home, because their parents wouldn't let them read, do, see, anything other than their church. Sheltering kids is NOT the answer. If you are going to live in society, you need the tools to do so. Kids need books. Kids need to experience life through things like books, instead of acting it out themselves later. They need guidance, and they need a home where a good example is set, not censorship and hiding them away from the real world.
6-24-2009 @ 4:50AM
MICHAEL O'Steen said...Who would you choose to decide what books are appropriate for certain age groups? You? When a part of our government, ie school Board makes that choice and bans the book from it's library it is censorship in the Constitutional sense.
6-23-2009 @ 11:02PM
Kerry said...The book talks about self gratification. Does she think her 9th grader hasn't tried that yet? Get out from under your rock lady.
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 11:09PM
darkangel8436 said...If the kids don't see it in books, they'll find it in movies, tv, video games, off the internet, from their friends, and other sources. Kids no more than you may think...
Reply
6-23-2009 @ 11:15PM
LDR said...Vulgarity is a handful of parents who work themselves into a book-banning frenzy. Children are going to be exposed to some ugly realities of life, and will have to make decisions as young adults regarding those moments, whether parents like it or not. Would it not be wise to allow a young adult's first encounter with life's darker moments (and language) to occur within the safe confines of a paperback? Parents do their children no favors by "protecting" them from literature. Already we are seeing the first generation of over-protected young adults now struggling to cope with societies realities and the demands of dealing with a world that does not cater to their frail sensibilities. People die. People curse. People do ugly things to each other. And no, not everyone gets a trophy just for trying.
Reply