9 Mar 2021 6:44 am
Experienced and respected educators on either side of the political fence agree that some books are not age-appropriate for youngsters, yet are important enough to be available to students once they've reached a certain maturity. A good example, I think, would be The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book is controversial and has been since it was published some 140 years ago, partly because it features the "n-word" 200 times. Students below a sixth-grade reading level probably won't get the underlying message of the book and might quote it, but students above a sixth-grade reading level would gain an important perspective on American life in the antebellum south.
Lord of the Flies is another book I would suggest is inappropriate for young children (it's pretty violent), but as a tool to teach symbolism in literature it is priceless to teachers in middle and high schools.
So, my belief (and I'm a liberal) is that restrictions may fairly be applied by school authorities and yes, parents, but I'd be opposed to outright bans.
However, I remember as a young man being very frustrated that I was only allowed to check out books far below my reading level. My parents strongly encouraged reading and I was reading before I went to school. By the time I was in fifth grade I was reading adult novels at home, mostly science fiction because that's what my father liked. But my local public library had a policy and I remember being quite frustrated. My personal experience leads me to think that schools and libraries should be flexible about which books to allow to which students; if a kid in fourth grade reads at a seventh grade level, let him borrow books at that level.
2 Nominations
Annoyed Liberall Mar 07, 2021, Coolguy10013 Mar 07, 2021
Go to original post on Mar 08, 2021 7:40am
Go to nomination on Mar 08, 2021 10:54am
Lord of the Flies is another book I would suggest is inappropriate for young children (it's pretty violent), but as a tool to teach symbolism in literature it is priceless to teachers in middle and high schools.
So, my belief (and I'm a liberal) is that restrictions may fairly be applied by school authorities and yes, parents, but I'd be opposed to outright bans.
However, I remember as a young man being very frustrated that I was only allowed to check out books far below my reading level. My parents strongly encouraged reading and I was reading before I went to school. By the time I was in fifth grade I was reading adult novels at home, mostly science fiction because that's what my father liked. But my local public library had a policy and I remember being quite frustrated. My personal experience leads me to think that schools and libraries should be flexible about which books to allow to which students; if a kid in fourth grade reads at a seventh grade level, let him borrow books at that level.
2 Nominations
Annoyed Liberall Mar 07, 2021, Coolguy10013 Mar 07, 2021
Go to original post on Mar 08, 2021 7:40am
Go to nomination on Mar 08, 2021 10:54am