Sunday, June 5, 2011

My personal rant on censorship

I usually review books on this site.  Occasionally I have something that is bugging me and I use this site as my platform.  This is one of those times.  I was reading a post at WORD for Teens about an article she had read, (read it here).  The article talks about a mother going into a bookstore to purchase a book for her child and in her opinion finding nothing  worthy of her child.  In her opinion every thing is so dark and depressing that it will only lead children/teens down that path.  We've all read about books being censored.  Each person has a right to read what they want.  If you don't like something because you feel it is too dark, evil, or whatever, then move on.  By the same token if you feel it is too religious, then move on.  Each parent has the right to choose for their own child and to guide their own child.  However, don't go out here and try to tell the rest of the reading world what they should be reading.  My mother and I recently had a conversation about stories that have as their characters witches, wizards, warlocks, etc.   She was of the mindset that all of them should be banned and that she never let us read and watch such things.  She did monitor what we read.  Then I reminded her that we watched "The Wizard of Oz" every year.  We watched Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.  She said, "Yes but those were all imaginary."  That is where she stopped.  It is our job as parents to teach our children our values but also to teach them to use their imaginations and to understand the difference between imaginary and realistic.  It is not my right to tell another parent what their child should or should not read based on my relgion or my values.  We need to teach our teens to use the brains that we give them credit for having.  So next time you are in a book store and you can't find anything that YOU like or would read. Don't trash the person who picks up something you wouldn't and decide that our youth are going to hell in a handbasket for reading such things.

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