Censorship in Children's Literature
I am currently enrolled in a Children's Literature class (don't let the name fool you, it's not easy), and we have recently been discussing the issue of censorship in children's literature. We've discussed everything from violence, language, abuse, divorce, homosexuality and probably any other controversial topic you can think of.
I am curious as to your views on this topic. Especially in the category of realistic fiction, how real is too real???
Just for fun: One of the articles I read on this issue discussed how Beatrix Potter's classic Tale of Peter Rabbit was banned in England due to its portrayal of only middle class rabbits..... where is the line to be drawn?
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3 comments:
There is so much to say about this. I think at one time I thought some things should be censored,(subjects I didn't want to hear about or have my kids exposed to) but when you see what some people want censored, that are excellent pieces of literature, I've rethought my position. The best censorship is not to buy the book you object to.
As a family we have loved reading.We have read such excellent stuff but there is so much out there that is just junk.
Exposing kids to good literature, stuff of a higher caliber, should be encouraged. But as far as "how realistic" depends on what the subject is and the maturity of your audience.
This is a question for a good "round-table" discussion:-)
Great question! I almost took Children's Lit this semester.
It's interesting. Books like Huckleberry Finn are banned although it depicts a way of life but it seems OK to expose kids to subjects like sex, violence, language and general depressing ideas younger and younger.
I was just talking with one of my friends who is a math major and she hates to read (or thinks she does) but she agrees that it is because of the books that she was made to read in school. She said that they had to read all these books that pointed her, as the white person, out as the enemy.
A book with negative messages sinks into you and the impression lasts for a long time just as with a wonderful book. Words are very powerful. It's hard to say where to draw the line except at "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things." (phil. 4:8-9)
How can anyone over analyze such a book to such lengths and think that the est of us would as well?! "Bunny-class" never entered my mind when reading that story a billion times over the years...And really how did they come up with "middle-class"? As a middle class person, if my kid lost their coat, I could get them another, maybe just not so special. So that coat must have belonged to a lower-class bunny. After all, he lived under dirt! Wouldn't that be the equivalent of decorating a refrigerator box? If I were Beatrix Potter's estate I'd sue to have it re-instated under those two lines of logic....
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