CI 551 Inquiry Project Janette Cremeans Stem Questions Why are books banned and challenged What books have been banned and challenged Why is intellectual freedom important What prevents people from banning any book they think is objectionable ID: 571549
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Slide1
What is banned books week and why do we celebrate it?
CI 551
Inquiry Project
Janette CremeansSlide2
Stem Questions
Why are books banned and challenged?
What books have been banned and challenged?
Why is intellectual freedom important?
What prevents people from banning any book they think is objectionable?Slide3
Why are books banned and challenged?
To protect the children, of course!!!
But from what?Slide4
The Dangers of Reading
Most of the time the push to ban a book comes from concerned parents who do not what their child exposed the ideas or themes presented in a specific book.
Homosexuality
Sexuality
Witchcraft
The occult
Evolution
Eastern Religion
Vulgarity
Profanity
Portrayals of rebellious children
Racism
Sexism
Humanism
And the list goes on.
List compiled from various sources. See bibliography.Slide5
The Numbers
Between 1990 and 2000 there were:
6,364 challenges to books
1,607 due to “sexually explicit” material
1,427 due to “offensive language”
1,256 because of material deemed inappropriate for the age group
842 for material dealing with the occult
737 for violence
515 for containing homosexual themes
419 for “promoting a religious viewpoint”
317 for nudity
Retrieved from: Schools
and Censorship: Banned Books.
People For the American Way
. Slide6
The Numbers ContinuedSlide7
But, isn’t that a good thing?
Isn’t it a parent’s duty to protect their child from the harsh reality of the world? And aren’t these good reasons to keep these books out of the hands of innocent children? Slide8
It’s Complicated
On the surface it seems like a perfectly logical and moral step to keep children from being exposed to things you might not agree with. However, the issue is a lot more complicated than it seems on the surface. Just look at some of the books that have been banned and challenged throughout history.Slide9
What books have been banned or challenged?Slide10
What books have been banned or challenged?
Most of them!!!Slide11
And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
This is a children’s picture book about two actual male penguins in an actual zoo who came together to raise a baby penguin, and it’s one of the most challenged and banned books of recent times.
Taken from: “Children’s Book Challenges: An NYPL Panel on Censorship”Slide12
What books have been banned or challenged?
In 1995 Penny
Cullinton
was fired for assigning books with gay characters to her English class.
Cullinton
said she was only trying to teach her students inclusion. She said, “It’s important to give equal opportunity to all kids, so they see themselves reflected in the curriculum.” The school board did not agree.
From the article: The Case of the Disappearing Books, Olson.Slide13
What books have been banned or challenged?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman
Alexie
has been banned and challenged many times in many places since its publication because of its inclusion of poverty, alcoholism, violence, homosexuality, sexual references, profanity, and death.
The problem with this is that it is a true story, and one many young adults are living today. Slide14
A Word from the Author:
Sherman
Alexie
speaks out about this kind of censorship saying “I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons – in the form of words and ideas – that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.”
Taken from: “Sherman
Alexie
on Why the Best Kids Books
are Written in Blood.”Slide15
What books have been banned or challenged?
It might be easier to ask which books haven’t been.
So, we also must ask:
Why is intellectual freedom so important?
If we allowed people to ban every book they had an objection to our libraries would probably look like
this
:
“The removal of one book is the equivalent of stripping away the rights of thousands to choose books for themselves.” –ALA President Molly Raphael
-Taken from “Book Banning Reaching Fever Pitch”
USA Today MagazineSlide16
Why is intellectual freedom important?
In 1976 when there was a lot of attention on the Island Trees School District in New York for banning several books parents found objectionable one librarian there commented,
“The fact that a book is on the school shelves need not mean that all librarians or teachers join in agreement on its values. Under such a test, atheists might ban the Bible.”
Taken from: “Speaking Out on Book Banning”Slide17
Why is intellectual freedom important?
In that same article the librarian being interviewed talked about a different time when books were on trial. She said that some of the parents who opposed the banning of books in the Island Trees District remember, “living through
the horror of persecution and censorship of their books and newspapers during the times of Hitler and Stalin.
”
Taken from: “Speaking Out on Book Banning”Slide18
Why is intellectual freedom important?
Heine’s books were burned by the Nazis.
Guess what else they burned.Slide19
Why is intellectual freedom important?
In the article “Censorship in Three Metaphors” Boyd & Bailey (2009) say “
Censorship is about the restriction and control of intellectual development…
” This is exactly why the Nazi’s burned books, and if we aren’t careful it could easily be any other country or group of people. Reading is dangerous! Especially for those who would rule the ignorant masses. Boyd & Bailey say
reading is “so important – but so dangerous to those who would indoctrinate instead of educate
.”
Taken from the
Journal of Adolescent & Adult LiteracySlide20
Why is intellectual freedom important?Slide21
Why is intellectual freedom important?
It is true that the majority of challenges to books come from concerned (if misguided) parents, but we must be ever vigilant of bigger and darker threats. We celebrate banned books week as a reminder of a freedom we often take for granted.Slide22
What prevents people from banning any book they think is objectionable?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.Slide23
What prevents people from banning any book they think is objectionable?
Judy
Blume
Talks About Censorship!
Taken from YouTube and originally posted by Banned Books WeekSlide24
What prevents people from banning any book they think is objectionable?
Authors, Librarians, Teachers, Students, and anyone who understands what is truly at
stake!Slide25
Print Sources
ALBANESE, A. R. (2015). Check It Out.
Publishers Weekly
,
262
(5), 17-18.
Book Banning Reaching Fever Pitch. (2011).
USA Today Magazine
,
140
(2799), 13.
Boston, R. (2008). Fanning the Flames: The "Golden Age" of American Book Burning.
Humanist
,
68
(4), 36-37.
Boyd, F. B., & Bailey, N. M. (2009). Censorship in Three Metaphors.
Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
,
52
(8), 653-661.
Nocera
, J. (1982). THE BIG BOOK -- BANNING BRAWL.
New Republic, 187(11), 20-25.
Olson, T. (1995). The case of the disappearing books. Scholastic Update, 128(5), 8.SPEAKING OUT ON BOOK BANNING. (1976). School Library Journal
, 23(2), 82.Slide26
Online Sources
Alexie
, Sherman (2011). Sherman
Alexie
on Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood.
Huffington Post
. Retrieved from http://
www.huffingtonpost.com
/2011/06/10/sherman-alexie-kids-books_n_874737.html.
Blume
, Judy. Judy
Blume
Talks About Censorship. Judy
Blume
on the Web. Retrieved from http://
judyblume.com
/
censorship.php
.
Burnett,
Matia
(2014). Children’s Book Challenges: An NYPL Panel on Censorship.
Publishers Weekly
. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens
/childrens-industry-news/article/61022-children-s-book-challenges-an-nypl-panel-on-censorship.html.McDonald, Allison (2013). 13 Banned and Challenged Books for Kids. No Time for Flashcards. Retrieved from http://
www.notimeforflashcards.com/2013/09/banned-and-challenged-books-for-kids.html. Mullally, Claire (2002). Banned Books.
First Amendment Center
. Retrieved from http://
www.firstamendmentcenter.org
/banned-books.
NCTE Principles for Intellectual Freedom in Education. (2014)
NCTE National Council for Teachers of English
. Retrieved from http://
www.ncte.org
/positions/statements/principles-
intell
-freedom.
Schools and Censorship: Banned Books.
People For the American Way
. Retrieved from http://
www.pfaw.org
/issues/freedom-of-speech/schools-and-censorship-banned-books.