Don't Judge a Book By it's Cover (or By the Misgivings of Conservative, Privileged Parents) - Cal Thompson, 1st Period

This article, published on October 1st, 2016, explains the controversy of banning children's books. The long-standing issue of what books children should read, and wether or not this should utterly cater to parents' concerns, is gaining more and more attention. A large cause of this is the practice of banning books because they show diversity, contrasting conservative view and expectations. This practice perpetuates a sheltered version of America, serving to sate conservative parents and blot out the experiences of minority children and families. However, books portraying things such as slavery in a positive light are allowed. Instead of exposing children to a range of experiences, from those of children with mental disorders, or disabilities, transgender children, or racial minorities, children are strategically exposed to lighthearted grievances of privileged characters. This teaches minority children that their experiences are abnormal and not valid.

This is not okay. The point of children's books is to educate children in an entertaining manner, and to ready them for future experiences (particularly in the moral department). I learned almost all of my social skills and knowledge of people from books as a child (which may not be particularly good, but it's better than not having books, and hey, it wasn't like I had friends to use as a case study for social interaction anyway). Had my childhood reading been limited only to children's books, and within that category only to the children's books that were unbanned, I would not be who I am today. Additionally, had the children's books I had access to included books about transgender youth or other LGBTQ+ people, I would not have gone through years of feeling broken, wrong, and alone. Allowing access to children's books about minority children and experiences not only helps minority children, it helps familiarize other children with the existence of people who are not just like them. I believe that this would greatly reduce bullying, from ableism, to racism, to transphobia, to homophobia, to islamophobia. Many children are not entirely sheltered, but the sheltered reading materials that they are allowed to consume cause them to view minorities as anomalies rather than individuals with thoughts and feelings. This restriction to what children may read ties back to the literature available to children in previous centuries, which blatantly catered to the wishes of conservative parents (as it still often does, although modern writers attempt to challenge this). It also ties to book burnings during the Great Awakening. Let's not burn books, restrict them, or prevent learning. In an apocalyptic scenario where we are stripped of modern technologies, books would become our knowledge. Books would become the sides of society that we left behind. Let's try to keep that from being limited to the whims of conservative parents. Now, in the spirit of reading and learning, I leave you with a few quotes:

“Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed.” ― Bertrand Russell

“There is no scent so pleasant to my nostrils as that faint, subtle reek which comes from an ancient book.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle

Article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/10/how-banned-books-marginalize-children/502424/