Recently, in my community, the Board of Education has banned the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini from school curriculums and disapprove of it being in any student's hands. At the risk of displaying to the world the name of my hometown, here's the link to the original article in the newspaper. Link Since then, it has been removed from all the shelves and sparked the equivalent of a flame war in the paper's Opinions and Letter's section. Also, the local bookstore sold fifty copies in two weeks. It may have started months ago, but make no mistake everyone is still in an uproar. So, have any of you read the book? I'm reading it now, desptite the fact that it "isn't fit for my hands." Also, how do you feel about the banning of books in general?
how stupid can you get?... does that woman actually think any of that will shock or be at all 'new' to kids in the tenth grade, who probably use even worse language on a daily basis?... as for the sodomy aspect, she must also not have a clue what those same kids are seeing in the movies, in their comics and video games, and on the nightly news!... rape and bondage and all kinds of other disgusting stuff abounds in all... that lady needs to wake up and see what's going on in the rest of the world outside that classroom... and the board of education should be given a stupidity award for going along with her... as for banning books in general, the only ones who should do that are parents...
Books are dangerous things. They can expand minds, beyond what is comfortable for those who prefer to keep all minds as narrow as their own. By all means, ban books. Ignorance should be shared.
I agree with mammamaia. Its not the School Boards job to decide these things. Kite Runner isn't that bad either. I've seen and read worse. Vulgarity? That's a joke. High Schoolers curse more in a day than four consecutive episodes of South Park's most vulgar episode (Containing 150+ uses of a certain word btw). Violence and sodomy? I've seen worse in a hour of Law and Order SVU. My mom read it too and she's the most brutal critic I know about "protecting the children." If she didn't have a problem with me reading the book, there is no problem. I really hate this thought: The school board can't possibly have the power to censor a book and remove it from the entire town, especially if there is a procedure to be followed and this woman decided to ignore it. They shouldn't have any power past campus and even then, they can't ban a book from private ownership! That's five steps from facism. Although, I do wonder why Kite Runner is being read in a high school course. I liked the book but it does seem like an odd choice.
Many of those high schoolers are on the verge of venturing forth into the wide world. To me, that sounds like a good time for them to learn to handle a broad range of ideas without someone keeping blinders on them.
Banning? No. Placing it on a resitricted shelf...requring parental permission to check it out, if one feels it is necessary, is as far as I think reasonable. As usual, banning accomplishes the opposite of what the intended restriction strove for. The book will be purchased, read, shared and discussed, I suspect, far more than it would have been otherwise. And placing it on a 'restricted' shelf would probably accomplish the same...but to a lesser extent. Terry
I never could understand the banning of books in modern times. In America we have the freedom to publish our opinions and as long as no one is being slandered it shouldn't be a problem. I have noticed that the church (broad term) seems to be behind a lot of book bannings. If not, please correct me. To be blunt, some of the things that Yahweh told his chosen people to do to people who practiced other religions is worth banning. Whenever I hear the word "utterly" I am reminded of religious tolerance.
