Runs with scissors discussion

While reading the morning comics, I was inspired by the idea in "Frazz". Frazz and Cauffield are talking and Cauffield poses a good question. "If it is censorship to tell you what you CAN'T read, what is it when you are told what you MUST read?". The punch line has to do with summer reading lists, but it did make me think.

I went to school at a Lutheran run parochial school long before book lists, summer reading lists, or even proficiency tests were the norm. Yes, we had book reports and some were themed (try finding Christian fiction back then....NOT easy, or age appropriate....)and by the time I got to high school, I had read all the books on the suggested lists all on my own and years before.

So, my question, is it a form of censorship to tell you what you have to read, or is it just furthering education by handing out the lists? Our lists were suggestions, not required, as there were no tests on these books when you got to school or anything...Does it make it o.k. if there is a test? What about books you HAD to read for class, is that censorship or education? Is it the forcing of ideas or an opening for discussion?

I myself see it as a form of education. If you didn't make some books required, you'd have a lot people not reading. Others, like myself, would have probably found the book on my own, but sometimes I did resent being told what to read (Scarlet Letter, Great Gatsby) because I either failed to see why they were so great or just plain didn't like them. Yet, they did make me have to think and particpate in discussions.

What do you all think?

I'm inclined to think of it as education, as long as they're not telling you "read this instead of that." Of course, having recommended reading instead of mandatory reading (or at least an assortment of options to choose from) is even better.

I of course see it as education. From the standpoint of a teacher, it is better to have MANDATORY reading lists... but give a selection ON that list to choose from. Reading is fast becoming a lost art in this country as young people want to see it or play it. Books do not have the bells, whistles, and flashing lights they want, and the imagination grows more and more stagnant. By making the reading mandatory yet still providing choices, the chances of "hooking" kids on reading goes up. Not to mention if today's kids are left to their own devices to choose what they WILL read it will be confined to gossip mags and graphic novels.

O.K., so if it's a mandatory list, how do you know if anyone read the books if there are no tests? Yes, most lists are by choice, but what about the books assigned in class? There is no choice there. You are told you will read this book and will be tested on it. I am all for choice and yes, I wish more kids would read, and that can be helped by parents, grandparents, and other adults in a child's life, who read to that child often. When I am working, I read to the child(ren) everyday, for at least 15 minutes or more, several times a day. Most definately before naps and bedtimes, but throughout the day as well.

I know that not everyone loves the written word as I do, but I do try to instill a respect for books and try to take the "chore" out of it. Reading came easily to me and I know from your standpoint as an educator Paul and mine as a nanny, it is hard for some kids to master the idea of reading.

I try to make it fun and let the kids in on the library book selection process and try to get books on subjects they like and introduce them to subjects they are not sure of. I try to get books on different cultures and holidays so that, hopefully, they will respect others and their beliefs. I give books as gifts and hope that they are read.

As far as graphic novels, manga and the like, I may be starting a fire here, but I feel that if a kid is reading even those (and quite a few are very word heavy) at least they are reading. I have been able to get through to a choice few reluctant readers by using those methods and got them to read actual books.

I understand why there are book lists and books you have to read, but I just like to play the Devil's advocate sometimes....

Kim wrote: ".. I may be starting a fire here, but I feel that if a kid is reading even those (and quite a few are very word heavy) at least they are reading. ."

This reminds me of a couple of things: 1. My French teacher in high school said that the best way to teach teenagers to read a foreign language would be to give them porn to read. I think he was happy serious and half joking, but ... it might work. 2. My mother taught elementary school made a lot of home visits and commented that many homes had a bible and Playboy magazines. She said if kids don't have anything to read, you shouldn't be surprised if they don't. 3. I have 2 sons. They were both read to from day one. Both came to reading late; neither read for pleasure until 9th grade and both are readers now. However, neither read as much as I do (but few do) or as their father does. Go figure.

I have noticed that boys either are late readers or non-readers in general. My late father was a grand exception to that rule, as he was a vast and voracious reader from a young age. I am not saying that girls read more or what have you, but I have noticed over the years that boys seem to live in their own imaginations for quite sometime before they seem ready to let somebody else do the imagination set up for them.

I am very hyper about censorship. A lot of great ideas were destroyed by the Spanish Inquisition and other groups over the years. I do not like it when I am told to what to do, when I do not agree with it. I feel that every idea, whether I agree with it or not, is the person who thought of it's right to think what they wish to think. I only have a problem with ideas that are used to harm or are used to encourage others to do harm.

I feel that censorship, like other things in life, are about taking away choices that you alone can make for yourself. If you are a parent, then you have the right to filter what you wish your children to be exposed to, but I think if you are a good parent, you expose your child to all aspects of an idea and discuss them.

Ideas have been suppressed by various means and religious groups for thousands of years. (If you can think for yourself, you won't listen to them, and that means they won't get your money.) Fear is a common idea that keeps people from doing things for themselves. Urban legends, fairy tales, etc. have been used as control devices all along.

The question is, do you wish to be controlled,or are you doing the controlling?

Voltaire said,"Dare to think for yourself." I think that says it all.