Is a single book supposed to be all things? Should children be allowed discussion and intellectual pursuit....or do they need to be protected from books?
School committees in Massachusetts are grappling with whether to ban an award-winning book from the curriculum after complaints from parents that the book is racist and sexually explicit.
"So Far from the Bamboo Grove" is a book by Yoko Kawashima Watkins. It is the story of an 11-year-old Japanese girl whose family has to flee Korea in the aftermath of World War II. The book is based on the real-life experiences of Watkins, whose father was a Japanese government official.
In one "contested" paragraph, the sister of the main character says: "We must get out of Seoul. I saw several Korean men dragging girls to the thicket and I saw one man raping a young girl. . .The girls were screaming for help in Japanese." The book has won multiple awards and is used extensively in middle schools across the country.
2006-11-12 19:06:48 · 9 answers · asked by big-brother 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
Thats why its amazing"taylor001..."
Massachusetts is usually very liberal in these matters. Thats why to see this extremely is frightening.
2006-11-12 19:28:48 · update #1
That`s the trouble with the education system, You are only taught what the so called mainstream academics think you ought to know, which is their accepted view of the world and no other alternate theories will be allowed to surface. Children and college students will be drowning in censorship sooner rather than later. The system is fundamentally flawed, and that`s exactly what American academia is looking for. I dread to think how the next generation will turn out, it`s an obscenity.
2006-11-12 19:35:39 · answer #1 · answered by dingdong 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
As a native Bostonian I don't find it altogether shocking that Massachusetts would ban a book. The liberalism in this state is extreme in some areas and lacking in others. Mass has some of the strictest blue laws short of Utah, and on the other hand is the only state to allow gay marriage. Personally I believe books need to be age specific, giving that book to a second grader is probably not a very good idea; however, if that passage is all that is to be found offensive I believe that it should be allowed in late grade school, at latest definitely in junior high. I don't feel that that subject matter would be too extreme or damaging for someone at that age. Fifth grade is usually when sexual education classes are taught in this area.
2006-11-12 21:08:53 · answer #2 · answered by utke8482 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's really hard to have a steadfast response to this issue. Whenever I hear an anecdote such as yours, I am in favor of a ban on book banning. Then, I hear about some fringe group trying to have Hustler magazine stocked in elementary schools. In the end, I think judgment is the answer. Leave it to local schoolboards and if their constituents disagree, then vote the bums out.
2006-11-12 19:49:35 · answer #3 · answered by Jesus Jones 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree that books (their content) should be monitored, for age/grade specifications. However, some groups have taken it so far to the extreme (such as your example) that it is sadly laughable. It's like the fourth grade teacher who was fired recently for taking her class to an art museum and being fired because a parent got crazed that her child saw some paintings that contained nudes...
2006-11-12 19:19:54 · answer #4 · answered by Pie's_Guy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I guess the ACLU only harasses schools in the Conservative regions of the US.
If you want a real rant, you might look at how many 8th graders can do math. Or read above the 4th grade level.
Or why so many drop out of high school.
2006-11-13 00:18:07 · answer #5 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure... ban books... That is the surest way to get the kids to read them. Whenever a parent tells a kid they cannot do something, what is the first thing the kid does??? RIGHT! they do whatever it is they are not supposed to do. Plus, if parents are causing a huge stink, the kids are going to read it just to see WHY the book is causing such a rukus.
Besides... If banning books was good enough for Hitler and Mousolini, then it should be good enough for us, right?
2006-11-12 19:12:44 · answer #6 · answered by Bradly S 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
This is stupid. Their going to take a book off the shelf for the word "raping"?! Trust me, kids in that school have probably heard words that are a lot worse than "rape"! Probably a bunch of religious nuts who think that darn should be a curse word. It's all in the context that you use the term.
2006-11-12 19:24:43 · answer #7 · answered by Cardinals = Greatness 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I wonder who the complaint came from - Koreans, Japanese or folks upset with the (mild) sexual nature of the passage. Who were these parents, anyway?
2006-11-12 21:25:48 · answer #8 · answered by iwasnotanazipolka 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
there going to ban a book over a little pararaph..?? thats crazy.I know the content is a little touchy but still...
2006-11-12 19:12:04 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋