28 Apr 2007 malcolm   » (Master)

Banning Books Is Stupid, Okay?

Go and read this post over at author Maureen Johnson's blog. Ignore the fact that the blog is very pink and the post titles are in all-capitals and the pictures of headless women in the left column. Read the content. Now pick your jaw up off the floor.

I am astounded that the type of logic that led to the banning of one of Maureen's (or anybody's) books is considered acceptable anywhere. Okay, we're only hearing one side of the issue, but the other side would have to be pretty overwhelming to outweigh the side we read about there.

It's not unexpected that some adults hold extremely conservative views about what is appropriate for their child. Or that they think these values should be projected onto everybody else. Or even that they think kissing between two girls risks pregnancy (although one wonder how they became parents in the first place if this is their understanding of the mechanics). What boggles the mind is that a "committee" of reasonable high school teachers and librarians couldn't or wouldn't see through the obvious problems in the argument.

Syndicated 2007-04-28 15:35:45 from Malcolm Tredinnick

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