Censorship (librarians, teachers)

[nomadic myth]

Do you think librarians, school librarians, or teachers should practice censorship?

I honestly don't think so, but I'm sure city hall might like to influence the decisions of municipal libraries if there were something really controversial happening, and school boards certainly influence school librarians and teachers.

I think librarians need to manage info not ban it, and teachers need to teach thinking rather than exclusion, but that's just my libertarian outlook.

 

[sparkchaser]

It's a slippery slope (that I will probably end up back peddling on but we'll see) to be sure but I would say yes but only under certain circumstances.

For example, "The Anarchist's Cookbook" and "Poor Man's James Bond" aren't necessarily tomes I want sitting in a school library. That's more for concerns about public safety than anything else. Sure you can find that information online but there's no need to make it even easier to locate.

Banning Harry Potter because it "promotes witchcraft" is ludicrous and shows how little those calling for the banning of the book actually know. Ditto for all those folks screaming for Salman Rushdie's head.

 

[SFG75]

Do you think librarians, school librarians, or teachers should practice censorship?

I honestly don't think so, but I'm sure city hall might like to influence the decisions of municipal libraries if there were something really controversial happening, and school boards certainly influence school librarians and teachers.

I think librarians need to manage info not ban it, and teachers need to teach thinking rather than exclusion, but that's just my libertarian outlook.

Clearly, school boards through decisions and directives to administrators can trump teachers. Ditto administrators if they decide to take a given book out of the curriculum. As a teacher, the most that you can do is object and give your piece of mind as to why you are teaching what you are and how it fits into your district's curriculum. If a teacher acts contrary to board or administrator wishes, they can be deemed insubordinate and lose their job or at worse, their teaching license. I worked with an english teacher four years ago who had a girl object over reading The Odyssey by Homer. The constant mentioning of: "according to the Gods..." and other lines like that was insulting to her. She was given another book to read in the library with worksheets and the rest of the class carried on.

Where I currently teach at, we have a high number of minority students and one of the sophomore english books that we utilize is Huckleberry Finn. It is a powerful book and in no way is meant to be racist or demeaning to African-Americans. I explained the context for fifteen minutes, they insisted on a substitute word and I provided the word "slave" and a compromise was agreed upon. Perhaps I should've told them to deal with it, but for many of the girls that I teach, getting them to open the book in the first place is a hard enough challenge, let alone opening it and having the *n* word thrown in their face, context not withstanding.

In short, the decision to practice censorship is not the teacher's-it's a matter above the teacher's head. All the more reason for 18 year olds to run for the school board!.

 

[nick_m100]

Censorship is the downfall of all

I personally believe that any form of censorship is a problem with humans. If we lack certain perspectives we will not be able to understand other points which are displayed to us. If you censor anything at all you are causing the downfall of humanity, which I don't particularly have a problem with because I exclude myself from the human race. But censorship is a ridiculous concept because it makes people stupider than anybody should be. When you remove or change something in a book it is no longer the same book and can no longer be considered as such. The "N" word as previously stated is offensive because it was a title that refers to african slaves so "African Americans" are offended by it even though they aren't of the era in which it was a title referring to such a thing. Which is another reason I have contemplated developing my own country.

 

[ScottHughes]

Public schools need to censor, so that the vast majority of people are willing to send their kids to the school. Most parents wouldn't send their children to a school with porn and excessive violence in the reading material. Private schools often censor for the same reason, because that's what their "customers" want.

I think the less censorship the better. However, I think it makes sense to ensure that children don't see anything that their parents don't want them to see.

 

[nomadic myth]

It seems that the major opinion developing is that there should be censorship for practical reasons, mainly due to who has the power - school boards and government. I think I agree.

However, I'm also thinking about things in terms of doctors and the Hippocratic Oath. Do teachers and librarians have some sort of higher purpose they should be committed to, or are they merely tools of a curriculum? I think that if a teacher was promoting a religion, or racism, or terrorism, there may be a problem, but I think that exposing students to the ideas, and teaching critical analysis of the ideas, is good.

I think the Odyssey rejector is quite funny. Maybe she is a crack baby. Reminds me of the students who refused to dissect pig fetuses or worms in high school and could still pass biology.

 

[ScottHughes]

I think it is a great comparison to compare teachers' sense of duty to that of medical doctors in regards to the Hippocratic Oath.

However, I think by even teaching at a school the teacher has forfeited some of that responsibility in exchange for the values and dogma of the institution at which she teachers.

Personally, I would contend that schools are counterproductive to learning, and that the most productive teacher-student relationship happens without school.

I think children (and all people for that matter) are better off being able to read whatever they wish and access whatever information they wish. Variety helps give one more thoughts as to open-mindedly compare and contrast the merits of various ideas. For example, I don't think religious parents are harming their child's ability to think when they do not allow the child to read anything but religious material.