This week, parents of high school students at Monroe Township Schools in Williamstown, N.J., have asked that the book "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami and "Tweak" by Nic Sheff be pulled from the sophomore students reading list, claiming there's a graphic lesbian sex passage, drug usage and a homosexual orgy.
I wonder if there's no TV or Internet in Williamstown N.J. I imagine these kids probably don't go to the movies either? Is this the town from the movie Footloose, is dancing also banned? Or are these people living in another decade?
Is banning two really good books–perhaps a bit controversial–really going to keep sophomores safe? Do we actually believe that these kids don't know that there are people around them with diverse sexual preferences and/or people dealing with drug abuse? And if that is the case, have fun in la-la land — let's see how long that lasts.
But even more outrageous than a bunch of ridiculous parents, is the fact that, Chuck Earling, the Superintendent of Monroe Township Schools, gave in to them instead of pushing for those kids to read good literature that could ignite insightful discussions and generate actual reflection about what's right and wrong.
God forbid we allow our youth to start thinking about these important issues with the guidance of their teachers… What's next for them?
Fox News (of course!) interviewed Peter Spriggs, from the Family Research Council, a Christian organization that promotes the traditional family unit. Spriggs said that he was not surprised by the controversy and that it proved the "hyper-sexualization of our youth and the homosexual agenda being pushed". He also declared, "This just illustrates why a lot of American parents are not willing to entrust their children to the public schools anymore".
Pushing the homosexual agenda? Not entrusting our kids to the public school system? You need to be put away Mr. Spriggs. Really.
That's why I love Banned Books Week, which happens each September. And when hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country, draw attention to the problem of censorship by promoting challenged books and hosting a variety of events.
Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read, it was launched in 1982 and more than 11,000 books have been banned since then.
In any case, our job as parents–as is the job of our teachers–is to make sure our kids have the best education possible, in order to face a world filled with moral questions. And as a society we have far more heavy issues to focus on, rather than taking away good literature from our kids' hands.
In fact the only thing that should be banned, is the parenting skills from these crazy bunch of parents at Williamstown.
Along with My Driggs.
Do you agree? Should these books be banned?
Image via Amazon
