Click here to read the article I'm talking about...
First of all, props to Melissa Repko, who wrote this article -- she did a great job of including quotes from both sides of the argument, and I even found myself questioning my own opinion at some points. As a journalist, nothing makes me happier than reading a good, objective article. Second of all, this article gets me really angry.
In case you're too lazy to click up on that link I posted up there (shame on you), let me give you a basic rundown of what's happening. Basically, a Texan school district has banned 7 books after parents complained that they were too mature for their children to read. And I have one thing to say to those parents: Get over it.
Now, before you get mad at me for being so harsh, let me just say that I get it. If I were a parent with a five-year-old, I would probably want to protect them from the big bad world and all the scary things that come with it. But we're not talking about toddlers here; we're talking about teenagers.
I mean, seriously? No offense, but your teenage kids probably know a lot more about sex and drugs and rape than you do if they even watch the news. These things surround us every single day of our lives, and by banning books, the parents aren't preventing the kids from being exposed to these things. Kids need to be prepared for real life, where sex, cussing, and homosexuality are all quite real things. One of my favorite quotes from this article is this:
First of all, props to Melissa Repko, who wrote this article -- she did a great job of including quotes from both sides of the argument, and I even found myself questioning my own opinion at some points. As a journalist, nothing makes me happier than reading a good, objective article. Second of all, this article gets me really angry.
In case you're too lazy to click up on that link I posted up there (shame on you), let me give you a basic rundown of what's happening. Basically, a Texan school district has banned 7 books after parents complained that they were too mature for their children to read. And I have one thing to say to those parents: Get over it.
Now, before you get mad at me for being so harsh, let me just say that I get it. If I were a parent with a five-year-old, I would probably want to protect them from the big bad world and all the scary things that come with it. But we're not talking about toddlers here; we're talking about teenagers.
I mean, seriously? No offense, but your teenage kids probably know a lot more about sex and drugs and rape than you do if they even watch the news. These things surround us every single day of our lives, and by banning books, the parents aren't preventing the kids from being exposed to these things. Kids need to be prepared for real life, where sex, cussing, and homosexuality are all quite real things. One of my favorite quotes from this article is this:
"Our motto is to prepare the child for the path, not prepare the path for the child."
I think this sums up the entire article in one happy little sentence. High school isn't meant to baby your kids (if it were, then maybe I would actually have good grades...). High school is meant to prepare kids for real life. And banning books won't be helping. Instead of removing literature from their child's life, maybe parents should actually talk to their kids about these topics. As awkward as it may be, they'll have the peace of mind in knowing that they have already discussed these things with their teens. But banning books? That's just stupid.