POLL: When should a book containing the "N" word be banned?

Parents aren't objective when it comes to their children, and does something become age inappropriate for everyone if a small set of parents objects?

 

I wish one day this word wouldn’t have the power it wields. It’s interesting that really no other word has this much power. You’d think the word love would.

 

I didnt say which books were a danger, but you would not consider any subject matter dangerous?

What if someone wrote a book glorifying shooting up a school?

Its silly to say there are no dangers in books and its sillier to take away the rights of parents to have some say.

 

Parents have a much better gauge of their own kids than the person who only gets them for minutes a day.

I dont think a minority should rule per se, but I think there should always be some alternative reading available when dealing with subject matter that some can be offended by or deem harmful.

 

Should you have a say in what someone else's child reads? I think that this is the crux of this argument. You are responsible for your own child, period. Parents have always had the option to request an alternative assignment in a classroom setting.

Libraries are different. High school level books are not in an elementary library and vice versa. If you don't want your child to have access to certain books, that can be dealt with on an individual basis.

 

Ok, so those parents should police their children, not the school library for everyone. Libraries have plenty of alternative reading.

 

Well for one, I said Middle School and up is appropriate. I didn't say "everybody".

I mean there have to be some limits right?

 

But it also points out the hypocrisy of banning it in the books kids read while turning a deaf ear to its near ubiquity in the music they listen to.

Unless a rap label is under the Motown or Atlantic umbrella, some very, very, very rich white folks are lining their pockets from all those "N" bombs.

 

Well sure. If a parent doesnt care about the content digested at home, they lose any ground at school. Imo.

 

I think the answer to that lies in a matrix of Context. Context involving the writer and the reader. Is the word used by an author promoting ideas of white supremacy or by Twain illustrating the inhumanity of such a view? Is the reader able to understand the intent of the usage? For me, a 9th grader in Georgia in the late '60s when I read and examined what Twain wrote and was sufficiently mature to understand the intent of the passage in Huck Finn when Aunt Sally asks if anyone was hurt in a reported riverboat explosion, and Huck answers "No'm. killed a N though," she replies, "Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt. - the utter casualness in which Huck and his Aunt distinguished between a black man and a person moved me and I understood how evil what I heard on a regular basis really was.

So maybe context of the reader, the writer, and the times. I pity the people tasked with making the decision as there is no simple answer but, if it were, me, I would teach it in upper middle school to high school.

 

I voted "never" although I believe that at the elementary school level the books should best be taught as part of the English/language arts curriculum. I might add that I read the original unabridged unedited version of Huckleberry Finn when I was in the 5th or 6th grade and even at the age of 10 or 11 I had the common sense to realize that the story as written by Mark Twain reflected the culture of Missouri in the 1850s (it was actually published in 1884) and that it humanized the character of Jim.

 

Books are boring and full of fluff? You were kidding, right?

 

Call me a dinosaur, a throwback or someone who is stuck in the past but I completely disagree. I revel in the reading of books, of thought provoking literature, of the accurate rendition of non-fiction. They are important to me and my pile of books to read outpaces my reading of them. I have learned so much from the reading of books.
If movies are your thing then think of your favorite movie - (A River Runs Through it for me) chances are it began as an idea in an author or playwright's mind. I have read everything Cormac McCarthy has ever written several times -his prose reads like poetry. Personally, I can't do without books.

 

What I do know is we segregate schools based on the maturity of children. Every school I attended had a library oritented to age appropriate material. Elementary, Middle School, Hign School and of course College libraries.

A public library serves the general public where as school libraries serve the students. The problem stems from acknowledging the facts and clouding the issue with a one size fits all solution.

I would also note authors and the books they write are more than aware of knowledge levels and write books oriented toward specific age groups in the choice of words they put to the page. A book written for elementary school children that deals with nuclear material is not the same as a book written for physic majors. One is dumbed down for a reason the other is not.

If your school library is a public library nothing is off limits as you must satisfy the general public. Even so a public library takes pains to segregate sections of the library based on age appropriate material.

The background text to the Guidelines for Children's Libraries Services

No-one should doubt the importance of children's libraries to children and their families all over the world. They are often the first encounter with life long learning, introducing the readers and learners of the future to an exciting, rich and varied resource. Every child should be familiar and comfortable with their local library, and despite international
variations, there are basic ideas and good practice that all children's library professionals can follow. The 21st century has brought many challenges and many opportunities, it is up to the managers and practitioners of public library services to make sure that children have the best start in their reading and learning lives.
The children’s librarian must plan, market, implement and evaluate activities and services to children of all ages, based on their development and interests, and the objectives of the library.

 

Yeah I didn't want my post to come off as if books are bad, just saying with the internet and social media, books are not as popular with younger generations and that trend will continue. People born before the 1990s might disagree with that, but Gen Z and younger Millennials don't read much from books. Podcasts, Instagram, Tik tok etc are where their attention has turned to.

 

Maybe it's just me but I actually think it's a rather sad commentary that the younger generations prefer TikTok videos or Instagram posts to books. I have absolutely no problem with substituting eBooks for print books although I personally still prefer the latter; my concern is the increasing propensity to avoid reading any books.

 

My basic point is that if your child checks out a book you deem inappropriate that is a 'you' problem for the parent to deal with (by taking it and returning it for example or haiving a conversation), dont try to make the library a substitute parent by doing your job for you. Not every is going to agree on what is appropriate for children. Its not like the library is subscribed to Playboy and stocks porn DVDs or something.

 

‘tis a pity then. Books have the power to enlighten and elevate. Not sure social media and Tik-Tok do that.

When my kids (born mid-80s) were coming along it didn’t concern me too much what they read as long as they read. One read Karl Marx in HS, the other only read Calvin and Hobbes. They both became husbands, fathers, taxpayers, and contributing members of society.

 

Even Barnes and Noble have different sections and within the children's section it's further broken down by reading level.

 

As nasty as the word is... we can NEVER start down that slippery slope of banning free speech, even if it's absolutely hateful and wrong.