Offensive and Dangerous Words

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Freedom to Read Poster 1988







The NY Times reports that a Newbery-award winning book is facing widespread banning from school libraries because of one word.

Speaking of Newberys, Bridge to Terabithia opened this weekend. Read an interview about censorship with author Katherine Paterson.

The Daily Press & Argus reports that the Howell Board of Education voted 5-2 to allow teachers to assign The Freedom Writers Diary, Black Boy, and The Bluest Eye to advanced English classes. School Board member Wendy Day who voted for the ban states she has filed a form to ask for an official review of the Morrison book.

Update: The Conservative Media Blog reports that banners are still "howelling" in Howell, MI. The Daily Press and Argus reports that some parents are taking the battle to the courts, claiming that books on the curriculum break pornography laws. Stay tuned. It isn't over yet.

Librarian Kathryn Greenhill, the Australian blogger of Librarians Matter mulls over the pros and cons of having a book in a university library that tells one how to kill oneself.

"Unbanned book is Unpulled from High School"

In a previous post, the plight of The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them was highlighted. Earlier this month, the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus reported that the "Unbanned book is Unpulled from High School."

It was challenged because of alleged profanity and references to drugs and sex acts.
Approval for the book came just one day before a movie based on it was released in theaters.

Parents who don’t approve of their children reading the book will be offered an alternative.

Newspeak - Book not "Banned" but "Pulled"

George Orwell's 1984, made use of the term Newspeak. Newspeak limited the vocabulary of the society and also removed any words that might lead to free thought, free speech, or any other rebellious ideas from the vocabulary of the people.

Newspeak was brought to mind when I read this story. According to the Daily Press & Argus, Howell Public Schools administrators are not 'banning' a book, but 'pulling' it. Well, that's a relief!

Deputy Superintendent Lynn Parrish, Deputy Superintendent stated that The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and The World Around Them is being reviewed by a committee. It contains controversial material which includes drug use, sex, and profanity.

However, one needs to hear the whole story of the Freedom Writers before making a call that their story should not be told.

In their own words,

The Freedom Writers Diary is the amazing true story of strength, courage, and achievement in the face of adversity. In the fall of 1994, in Room 203 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, an idealistic twenty-four-year-old teacher named Erin Gruwell faced her first group of students, dubbed by the administration as "unteachable, at-risk" teenagers. The class was a diverse mix of African-American, Latino, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Caucasian students, many of whom had grown up in rough neighborhoods in Long Beach. In the first few weeks of class, the students made it clear that they were not interested in what their teacher had to say, and made bets about how long she would last in their classroom.

Read more about the teacher hero who helped them see how they could turn their lives around.



This inspiring story has been made into a movie which is due to be released in January 2007.