I don't believe in censorship on any level ~ and that's what this is, no matter the mom's disclaimer ~ Beloved is a very grim book that I found difficult to read ~ but its stark and brutal honesty is a key to defining personal morality and to NOT allowing history to repeat ~ Sooz

Hey Fairfax County, High School Seniors Can Handle ‘Beloved,’ And Learn About Racism and Sexism
By Alyssa Rosenberg on Feb 8, 2013 at 2:04 pm

Laura Murphy, whose son is a senior in high school in Fairfax County, Virginia, doesn’t think he—or anyone else—should be reading Beloved in their English classes, and she’s on a quest to get it bumped from the curriculum. Per Raw Story:


The thing about sending your children to public school is that you’re consenting to give up a certain amount of control over what they’re exposed to, because one of the major points of public schools is to make sure students have a pre-established set of skills and cultural references in common. And that often means teaching children things that their parents don’t know, or giving them access to literature and history that their parents might not have at home or, frankly, might not want them to read or learn about. It also, on an emotional level, means letting your children come into contact with ideas and art that will expand their sense of the world.

An associated risk of that is that they might be upset by some of the things they learn about the world. Racism is frightening. So is sexual assault. But both of those things have happened in the United States and, for many people, continue to be major factors that affect their day-to-day life. And I think high school seniors, especially those who will be going off to colleges where they have much more sexual autonomy, and will be dealing with larger and more diverse peer groups, not only are old enough to understand the reality of those facts and to be confronted with the emotional impacts they have, but really ought to be confronted by them. I’m not a parent yet, but my understanding is that parenting is a balance between protecting children from things they genuinely don’t have the capacity to process—Wu-Tang may be for the children, but I’m not sure Toni Morrison is—and helping them process the difficult things they have the moral and emotional ability to confront, even if that involves hard work on your, and their parts.

If Murphy’s son is having nightmares about slavery and gang rape, that actually seems to suggest that he’s pretty attuned to the emotional horror of racial and sexual violence. Maybe, instead of trying to protect him from those feelings, she could find some way for him to channel them into productive anti-racist or anti-sexist work. That would be much better college prep (and resume-building) for him than trying to save him, and other seniors, from being upset. I doubt Murphy is going to have much luck with the Virginia Board of Education. And she’ll have much less with whatever institution of higher learning he heads off to.

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/02/08/1563801/fairfax-county-beloved/

Many many years ago my mother and a few other mothers took exception to the 20th century literature books that we Seniors had to read--actually, we had a choice: we had to pick two from a list and report on the books. The list included, but was not limited to Catcher in the Rye, Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, a couple by Faulkner, (don't remember the titles) For Whom the Bell Tolls, etc.

Because we were offered a choice of what to read, the mothers lost their grievance....For my part and that of most of my friends, we were just grateful not to have to read Silas Marner again!

My parents never censored what I could read. They let me explore the world of literature from the time I learned to read. Consequently, I developed a love for the written word that translated to a love for learning.

If Murphy’s son is having nightmares about slavery and gang rape, that actually seems to suggest that he’s pretty attuned to the emotional horror of racial and sexual violence.

I agree somewhat. I think that reading the book drop-kicked this young man out of his insular world and into the real world. When I was taught about slavery, whether it was in the prescribed curriculum or not, I had a great teacher who told us of the horrors, the violence and struggles of the slaves. She didn't touch on the sexual aspect, but I can understand that back then. She did, however, imply it. Things like "babies being born from a slave and owner union" type thing. Unfortunately, rape wasn't mentioned.

QUIT babying our youth. They can handle a lot more than anyone gives them credit for. That young man will work through his horror in his own way, maybe coming to realize what an important chapter in the country's history that slavery and the Civil War encompassed. Suppressing the truth in any corner is a grave injustice to education that makes me want to puke.

Here are examples of how my reading and curiosity were fostered. By my parents, by my first grade teacher and by my local librarian. At that time, knowledge was considered important and encouraged, not stifled by some misguided moral outrage.

My parents bought me books from the time I was a toddler. My first grade teacher sent home a note at the end of the year "Please take her to the library! She is a great reader and loves it". I was taken to the library for my first card. They had a summer "library club" and you would get a certificate on which you earned a star for every 10 books read. By the end of the first summer, I had exceeded 200 books and by then end of the second summer, I practically exhausted the children's section at age 8.

Of course, I couldn't check out books from the adult section until I had an adult card....age 12. I had heard about a book called "Angel Unawares" by Dale Evans (of Roy Rogers fame) about their little baby that died. I SO wanted to read it and cajoled the librarian into letting me check it out of the adult section.

We had formed a really close bond, that librarian and I. So close that she understood my thirst for books and let me continue to check out books from the adult section. By age 12 I had already read Leon Uris, Irving Stone, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Lewis Carrol among many others.

At age 12, I got hooked on the Nurse/Doctor romances that were popular then. lol
What can I say? My hormones were raging. They weren't "sexy" per se, just full of *sigh* sweet romance. The librarian teased me, but never, ever discouraged me. I moved on to Sci-fi and other genre as I got older. Always devouring one book or another.

THAT is the kind of people we need to mentor us. I am forever grateful to my parents, my teacher (Mrs. Gilbert) and that lovely librarian.

Your parents weren't afraid.

About the only thing the were afraid of during that part of my life was the Cuban missile crisis, yet they even explained that to us. They were never afraid of truth and knowledge because they knew that they empowered us.

What is it with people today?

What is it with people today?

Every little thing gets turned into some sort of life-threatening crisis by media, politicians or some self-interest group so they can reap benefits at the expense of the easily frightened.