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10 Things We Should Ban Instead Of Books
October 12, 2009 Posted in Reality
Having just “celebrated” banned books week in America, I started thinking about the importance of reading, the beauty of stories and how much books enrich all of our lives. And most of my thoughts came back to one single theme:
W.T.Eff?
Banning books? Seriously? First Obama gets attacked from those crazy moms who think he’s out to brainwash children by giving them talks on the importance of education and now reading is bad for children, too?
The whole thing is just absurd. Have people even read the books they’re trying to ban? How can a story about a pooh named Winnie who likes to eat honey and play in the woods with his other anthropomorphic friends possibly be bad? It seems like a book that is deemed “good” and “appropriate” these days is a book that will not inform your child of the existence of sex, racism, violence, homosexuality, the devil, bad language, and any other concept that will cause children to ask you awkward questions. The whole banned books thing will probably cause my AP Literature class to be renamed AP Literature That Will Morally Damage Your Soul.
Does this mean we should ban Pokemon as well, since the little animals “evolve,” which therefore enforces the idea of evolution and is therefore anti-Christian and therefore is Satanic? Winnie the Pooh may be the poster child for the obesity epidemic, his friend Eeyore for depression, and Kanga for single moms everywhere, but that doesn’t mean our younger siblings can’t read about them. I happen to like Tigger, even if he does have ADHD. And although Harry Potter may have “witchcraft and wizardry” and whatnot, it’s still one of the most significant contributions to literature in our lives, and as such, should be available to anyone who wants to read it.
So let’s take the attention and money away from banning books and focus on some more important things that should be eradicated from this planet. Because in 2009 there are so many things worse than kids in capes flying around on broomsticks or finding a lion in your closet.
1) Twilight movies
We can send a man into space but Hollywood can’t make a decent vampire movie. The actors all have a deer-in-the-headlights look on screen and attempt to fly around like people in improperly rigged harnesses. There’s something oddly wrong with that. The only thing that could have made it worse was if they cast Megan Fox, and that’s only because she makes every movie ten times worse than it could’ve been, due to her acting skills, or lack thereof.
2) Crocs
Plastic rubber clogs with holes in them, with the loudest, most obnoxious colors imaginable. Need we say more?
3) Bad Alliteration
Amusing to a certain extent, but gets repetitive after every English major tries to sound like James Ellroy and just ends up sounding like an awful author addicted to annoying alliterations. Again.
4) Livestrong bracelet knockoffs
One yellow cancer bracelet is enough. Do we really need people sprouting an armful of colored rubber with every imagined cause stamped across them? Be a little more original, please. Oh, and true story from a friend:
“Weight Watchers sent me a bracelet after I signed up for a meeting. It was white, with some rainbow stripes on the side. But why would I wear a Weight Watchers bracelet? Is it not obvious enough that I need to lose weight? Do I also need to tag myself with a FAT GUY BRACELET?”
5) Gaming language
Otherwise known as nerdspeak. Common terms include noob, newb, noobsicle, ftw, gg, gg no re, 1337, QQ, lawlz, nub, pwned, pwnage, or even harpwnage (the act of being pwned really hard) should not, under any circumstance, be said in ordinary life.
6) Creepy Facebook ads
Someone please tell me how Facebook has managed to eerily know everything about us and assume what we want. “Discount airfare to China!” What? Just because I’m Asian?
7) A few select man trends
Including: rattails, ponytails, monster trucks, hairy backs, man-purses, chains, a gazillion tattoos, mandals, mandiators, and transparent shirts.
8) Starving Hollywood celebrities
Rachel Zoe, Renee Zellweger, Tori Spelling, Victoria Beckham, Amy Winehouse, and Ashlee Simpson all need to eat a few burgers before they’re fit for the public. Young people these days have enough to worry about besides trying to look like a skeleton. Save that look for Halloween, please.
9) Fat people falling Youtube videos
Guilty pleasure number one, but really should be banned to relieve my soul from residing too much in an immoral state of being. I really shouldn’t watch Scarlet taking a tumble a million times and laugh hysterically every time I see it; it’s bad for me as a conscientious human being, I’m pretty certain.
10) Special athletes that promote the stereotype
As a current student at Duke and avid sports player and fan, I know for fact that you can be incredibly smart and be amazing at your sport. So it worries me when people like this one fail at representing athletes in a more flattering light. Like, um, really.
Anything else you think we should ban?
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Brittney says:
Mon, 12th Oct 200911:14 am
"Have people even read the books they’re trying to ban?"
In many cases, no. My mom is a librarian, and she told me that once a woman came into the (school) library and filled out a bunch of requests to ban books. They were all books with themes of sex, homosexuality, atheism, etc. There apparently is a section of the form where you have to explain why you thought it should be banned, and this woman just left them all blank. Apparently she just searched the library catalogue for books that matched all the terms that this woman was against. People are ridiculous.
Also, to number 3 – I see what you did there. Lolz.
Casey says:
Mon, 12th Oct 200911:40 am
"It seems like a book that is deemed “good” and “appropriate” these days is a book that will not inform your child of the existence of sex, racism, violence, homosexuality, the devil, bad language, and any other concept that will cause children to ask you awkward questions."
What age children are we talking here? These are all concepts I wouldn't want my infant-10 year old reading about. People want to take the innocence out of childhood by introducing young kids to these things early on and that's not fair. Can't we just let the children enjoy being children while they have the chance. I mean, when I was a kid I certainly wasn't thinking about sex, racism, homosexuality, etc. These are things children can really do without. And all of those concepts (aside from sex and homosexuality) are bad. They are all things that we should be wanting to do away with. Violence isn't good, racism isn't good, elementary school children shouldn't be using bad language and engaging in sex. If we don't introduce violence and racism to children maybe eventually we can phase those problems out.
When my family first left our small town and moved to a big city my brother was 5 and he met a 6 year old boy who he became friends with. One day I was home alone watching my brother and his friends and we decided to play hide and seek. I hid in the garage and this 6 year old boy came out and stuck his hand up my shirt. Another time about a year later, he groped me. A SIX YEAR OLD! Turns out he was from a single mom home with a 20 year old brother, his mom was never there and when she was she was fucking her many boyfriends on the couch, his brother was always fucking his girlfriend around him, watching inappropriate TV shows and movies and listening to inappropriate songs around him. The kid ended up losing his virginity at 8 years old, behind my neighbors house. Perhaps these types of situations are what is trying to be avoided by banning those books, but in all honesty, those types of kids probably aren't reading books anyway.
Jenna says:
Mon, 12th Oct 200912:26 pm
I think the point was more that sometimes books are banned for silly reasons, like the Harry Potter books being banned for containing Wizardry. And while some books shouldn't be read by young children because of overly sexual or violent content, banning older children from reading them is over-sheltering them. Chances are, though, most authors writing books for younger children aren't going to write in a gangbang. And I certainly wouldn't expect a 4-year-old to be interested in Lolita in the first place, nor would she be able to read it.
The number one most challenged book currently (according to the American Library Association's "Most Challenged List") is a children's book relating the recent true story of two male penguins raising an egg together. Obviously, parents had trouble with the homosexuality presented here. To me, this is parents' attempt to imbue their children with their own homophobia, and it's sad so many people still discriminate against LGBTs.
Erich says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20091:05 pm
Jenna– I have 2 young children ages 7 and 10 and to be honest with you, I would not want them reading that book either. I am not homphobic (my roomate while in the Navy swung the other way). If thats for you then so be it, I am not here to tell you how to live your life. You are an adult and can do as you please.
However, I am a protective father and in my opinion (and thier mothers) which is really the only one that matters our children should not be reading those books at thier age.
Dont get me wrong, if someone else has a diff view then I am OK with it. But shouldn't the parents be the ones whom decide what is or isnt appropriate folr thier children to read and not the rest of the world.
Meg says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20091:25 pm
Why you gotta be hating on nerds?
Casey says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20091:29 pm
Erich, I totally agree. When the country was up in arms about the Obama school talk I talked with a lot of people who thought parents censoring what their kids read, watch, hear, learn, was absurd and ignorant, and closed minded, and basically "brainwashing". Well parents have a right to raise their kids however they see fit, if a parent doesn't want their children learning about a certain thing then it's their decision. I don't tell anyone else that the way they raise their children is right or wrong and if I were to have children of my own I wouldn't want anyone else telling me how I should/ shouldn't raise my own kids.
Many people I talked to even went as far as to say that the parents who didn't want their children learning about all the things this author mentions should have their children taken away by the government due to "brainwashing". Uh, because they don't want their children learning about things that go against their beliefs? Every family has a right to practice their own cultures and beliefs, just because you think something is ok, doesn't mean everyone does. If we all taught our children the same things, and everyone believed the same things were appropriate/ inappropriate, right/ wrong the world would not be a diverse place, we would all be the same mindless drones.
D. says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20092:41 pm
Sorry, but not talking about violence, racism, homosexuality etc. doesn't make it all go away. What do you tell your kids when they see a gay couple out in the street? "Nevermind them, they don't exist until you are older"? And I don't know about you, Casey, I certainly had a few thoughts on racism at younger than 10 years old. Children are more resilient and understanding than you give them credit for.
Casey says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20095:41 pm
No, I didn't really know what racism was until I was 11 and started middle school. I grew up in a pretty small town, we had maybe 3 black kids in my entire grade and no Asians or Hispanics, etc. We all excepted the few black kids and didn't think any different of them. And I don't see the point of telling my children "Some people believe that other races are inferior". I plan on just teaching them to love and accept everyone, no matter their differences. If I don't tell them that "some people don't like people of other skin colors" then they wont have to grow up knowing that that is an issue and possibly find themselves agreeing with those people who perpetuate the issue.
And if everyone stopped talking about racism, and violence maybe it would go away.
But I'm pretty sure I said something to the effect of "aside from sex and homosexuality" I'm not going to directly introduce my children to homosexuality, but if they saw it in the street I would answer their questions about it.
Madison says:
Mon, 12th Oct 20097:42 pm
VIOLENCE! It makes me sick. It should be banned.
Jenna says:
Mon, 12th Oct 200910:20 pm
I agree that people have the right to raise their children how they see fit as long as they have their children's well-being in mind. That doesn't mean I can't have opinions about what it is they're teaching, though, while still respecting a parent's rights over his or her children. Also, I'm not suggesting that all children should read these books, only that the outward statement of banning them is separate from choosing not to expose your own children to them. It's like a campaign against them.
Just to clear things up, I haven't read the penguin book, but it's my perception from the title and description that it's not at all about homosexual sex, just about two penguins (that happen to be male) and an egg. To denounce it publicly is, to me, homophobic. Just because someone doesn't want their children to have an example of a gay couple presented to them doesn't mean I'm suddenly not allowed to have an opinion about homophobia, and my having an opinion is not the same as me telling anyone that they can't teach their children homophobia. Not that I'm going to rush out to buy the book and make sure my children soak up whatever anti-homophobic views are present in the subtext.
Lastly, to say "parents have a right to raise their kids however they see fit" does not adhere with book banning, since banning is one group (possibly of parents) telling everyone else that not only are their children going to be sheltered from these books, but all children in general should be, too, regardless of other parents' wishes.
Zoe says:
Tue, 13th Oct 20091:14 am
It's easy for a white person to be able to teach their own children that we should love each other. Whilst I will never ever make the colour of my skin or my children's skin an issue, I learnt that skin colour will become an issue in your interactions with other people regardless.
I remember being a 10 year old brown kid overseas with some people simply walking away from us when my family asked for directions. There are some things my parents didn't have the heart to explain to me as child that I, even at that age, was able to work out for myself.
A says:
Tue, 13th Oct 20098:56 pm
I agree with a lot of this, but don't hate on nerds and skinny people (I'm both.) I don't know about the other celebs you named, but Victoria Beckham isn't unhealthily skinny. She looks perfectly healthy.
Gloria says:
Wed, 14th Oct 200912:52 am
And if everyone stopped talking about racism, and violence maybe it would go away.
-
And there have been studies that show that parents who attempt to raise little non-racists who are ignorant of race or w/e tend to have kids that formulate their own attitudes and ideas
Casey says:
Wed, 14th Oct 200912:36 pm
“And there have been studies that show that parents who attempt to raise little non-racists who are ignorant of race or w/e tend to have kids that formulate their own attitudes and ideas”
Hmmm, I wonder what does that say about the issue…
Jenna, sorry, I wasn’t clear, I didn’t mean we should ban books, I’m not for banning books for exactly the reason you stated.
Izzie says:
Fri, 23rd Oct 20096:55 pm
patchouli oil and the stinky people who wear it.
Shane says:
Tue, 27th Oct 20097:55 am
Society wants to ban topics they don't understand or don't want to confront, so ingnoring the problem and hoping it will go away is a passive way to say it's ok to hate and discriminate a race, gay bash, persecute a religon, label sex and acts of sex as taboo or inmoral. When and how the youth of today are introduce to the previous is the pennical of importance and making our future generations aware of human physical differences and lifestyle prefrences be it sexual, religous, politcal, and economical all comes back to the education. So if you ban books do you do the same to the internet? Every thing society wants to ban is only a click away. Part of being a parent is policing your offsprings activity.
Best resolution is to face our fears and don't deflect what we don't understand, educate ourselves them have open communication to our childeren and educate them, share your beliefs, instill rights and wrongs, teach them to love themselves and to love others.
Remember "we didn't start the fire" but that doesn't mean we need to add fuel to it. The best we can hope for is not get burnt by it.
sexiest librarian says:
Tue, 27th Oct 20099:23 pm
Lobbying for book banning is both lazy parenting and reeks of what these self-same folks would call a 'red scare.' If parents want their children to be in a certain environment, that's what private schools are for, namely religious schools or homeschool. If their views are so different that they don't want their children around it, they have every right to remove their children from it.
Everyone has the right to choose what to learn. I don't force my straight-orientation onto anyone, and I can choose not to read a book with homosexual overtones if I don't want to. But I'm not going to deprive anyone else of the opportunity to broaden their horizons in whatever way they deem fit for themselves, or their children.
No book should be banned. There are no bad books, only badly written ones.
Eric Frost-Barnes says:
Sat, 31st Oct 200911:54 am
Great effing article!!! Can we add Roland Emmerich movies to this list?!
http://jdrourke.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/dear-201…
n says:
Sat, 21st Nov 200911:10 am
sould totaly be ban..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u8bSdfIcIg
n says:
Sat, 21st Nov 200911:12 am
should totaly be banned
www(.)youtube(.)com(/)watch?v=2u8bSdfIcIg
Amber says:
Sun, 22nd Nov 200912:18 am
About this whole penguin thing, what about families that don't consist of a man and a woman that aren't gay? Why are we even talking about sex or sexuality with young children? Couldn't these penguins just as easily be brothers raising children together, or grandparents and a child, or a single mother, or an aunt and a grandparent? Why aren't we just teaching children that families are those that love, protect, and support you, just like these two penguins do for this egg. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that. Sexuality and composition of a family should have nothing to do with anything as long as those key components are there. I think that would make the lives of children much more universal.
No book should ever be banned. Everyone has a right to speak/have/write about any opinion or belief that they have. We as individuals have the right to close the book and walk away. It really is that simple. If anything perhaps "Old man and the sea" purely for the pain it causes to read the whole thing! (Yes this was most definitely in jest!)
Signore says:
Tue, 7th Sep 20105:33 am
Nice try at alliteration ("an awful author addicted to annoying alliterations. Again.") but this is not alliteration. Rather, it is assonance.