The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Here in New England this is one of the books on a reading list for students at a high school. Now according to the teens who read it's a very good book (I don't know having never read it myself). Now a parent wants to ban it due to it containing explicit sex scenes and the like. By the way, this book is for the senior I believe. So under these circumstances do you thinkit should be kept on the reading list? (My answer is yes, because I oppossed to censorship more than most people -maybe too much...nah)

[galadriel]

I haven't read it, but I've heard it's very good, and it's on our school reading list as well. I'm very against censorship; high school kids are exposed to sex/language/whatever a lot in the first place. That being said, it's probably beneficial that they read about such things in good literature, where it's handled realistically and meaningfully. Especially when you're talking about seniors! They're about to go off to college, for God's sake!

Basically, books open up new ways of looking at the world to kids who, otherwise, would only get a narrow perspective on life, mostly derived from their parents. Once they're mature enough to understand what they're reading, to deny them such literature is only promoting ignorance.

[Varda]

banning good books based on swearing/sex/violence in the context of a story is like throwing the baby out witht he bathwater. however, i still don't like the argument that kids will see the stuff anyway... we don't have to contribute to that, but if it is there anyway and the book is still meaningful, i feel that these less desireable elements don't detract from the meaning nad should not be a basis for censorship.

[Bacchus]

The key in my opinion is parental supervision . It is incumbent upon the parent to decide what is appropriate for his or her children. The parent should be aware of what the child is doing, reading, etc. Looking at the lists of most often banned books, one finds such entries as Harry Potter, Huckleberry Finn, and The Grapes of Wrath. I personally don't have issues with any of these works, but other parents might have legitimate concerns. Banning of books, however, is not the answer. Let's take an example from the list, Harry Potter. This book should not be assigned as required reading to all students, because some parents have concerns that its depictions of magic somehow encourage Satanism. I personally think that this is a ludicrous assertion, but the wishes of the parents should be honored. However, Harry Potter should be available to teachers to assign on an optional basis. Those with objections to HP could simply select another work, while those who desired to read it would be free to do so.

Preventing students (not your own children) from reading something because you consider it offensive is no better than having your children forced to read something to which you object.