Reverse Psychology and Banned Books Week

All librarians, and educators as well, want to see children read with as much enthusiasm as they have when playing video games, watching sports and spending time with their friends.   Reading is good for them.   That is not an opinion, it's a fact.  However, ever teens will comment that they don't have time to read or that it's boring.  Yes, it is sometimes tedious when turning to the page and reading from left to right  Isn't it just as  tedious as pushing a bottom continuously trying to make Mario and Luigi get out of Level 4, only to "miss the jump"  again and have to go through the same receptive scenes until there is success.  Success that is to  Level 5 and it is a bit harder trying to save the Princess.  Poor Princess, she keeps waiting to be saved.   What if educators told kids they couldn't  read. They were not allowed  to read.  What would be the impact?

Let's take a look at Banned Books Week as a way to entice children to read. After all it is meant to grab the attention of readers and lure them into reading one of the "banned" books.   The American Library Association have taken the idea a bit too dramatic.  With statements and posts suggesting that children were not allowed to read Where The Wild Things Are or Wizard of Oz because of dark content or other such nonsense. It's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't?    These titles were never banned nationwide.  Only in  a few isolated areas.  This country has never had censorship written into law.   Publishers have set their own standards when it comes to what they will or will not publish.  For example,   vulgar language will not appear in picture books for children.    That is a consensus that the publishers have generally adopted.  There are no American laws which state specifically what an or can not be published.    That is why freedom of speech is protected under the Bill of Rights.   There has been banning of books in other countries and culture, and that is a topic that is worth discussing at another time.   It is difficult  to see how teens, and adults of that matter, are buying into the concept of Banned Books Weeks.  There  needs to be another angle to approach this topic to make it effective.

Back to the question posed previously, what would be the impact if a teen or adult were told they could not read?  Would they demand the book?  Would they demand to read?  This was an experiment that was done on a small scale to teen boys in a private high school many years ago.  Granted it was on a very small scale with only four boys participating, but it proved an important point.  The boys were told that all books were off limit to them.  One title in particular they could not "handle" was , One Who Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.  That title was deemed inappropriate by the library staff and therefore would not be available.  One of the boys, said nothing accepted the ruling.  The other three boys demanded answers.  Why couldn't they read the book?  What was in it that was so  bad?  Couldn't they determine for themselves what was good or bad?  None of the answers from the Library Staff appeased them.   This went on for a day or two until one of the boys walked into the library and proudly sat himself in one of the comfortable chairs and opened, in plain sight for everyone to see, One Who Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.    His friends joined him.  They thought they had pulled off the biggest stunt ever.  Well, what was the library staff to do?  Applaud them for sticking to their guns and going against authority. Applaud them for finding other ways to gain the knowledge that was denied them.   Obviously this is the silliest ban in the history of the school and perhaps, the universe, but it proved a point.  Tell a teen  they can't do something and watch them bend the rules to do exactly what they were told they could not do.

Banned Books Week should take this approach with teens.  Don't bore teens (and adults) with minor little incidents where books were challenged.  Turn it into a reverse psychology game and tell them they can't read this book because  (insert a unique excuse here.)   Perhaps this will generate a positive reaction from readers young and old.  It may even get a few nonreaders to read one book this year.    It just might drive home the point of banned books in a different light.

Banned Book Week 2011: Part Two Intellectual Snobs vs. Parental Rights

It’s the middle of Banned Books Week, the world has not crumbled, at least for the moment. The Freedom to Read is still alive and well in this great country of ours. From the looks of it will be for a long time to come. Why should another blog be written on censorship and freedom? Simply put, the debate will not end because of two ideological forces are colliding like two ships that have missed the lighthouse signal.

First let’s examine intellectual snobbery for a moment. Let’s face it everyone who holds a degree in any field of study has a touch of the “snob” syndrome. When it comes to earning a higher degree than the traditional four-year Bachelors, the “snob” syndrome become almost incurable. A college degree does not guarantee common sense, but it can cause someone to look down at others as unable to understand the complexity of literature and thus can not form any valid debate against a piece of work. This type of thought should be changed and quickly for the sake of saving literature of all genres.

On the other hand, there is a knee jerk reaction from the other side that believes all books that have bad language, sex and drugs are bad. There has always been a school of thought that has insisted that books for children can only be valuable if its clear, clean and comfortable. In other words, it doesn’t rock the boat that will lead teens to ask uncomfortable questions. Those who hold onto this school of thought are often thought of as living in the past, not civilized or just don’t get it when it comes to the world, especially as it relates to teens. Like it or not, there is validity to this point of view. Just as there is validity to the point of view that teens should be exposed to different types of genre and writers. Both sides lay claim to wanting what is best for children, and neither side is willing to concede that the other might have a good idea. Why is that?

Recent titles that have been published in the Young Adult section have caused alarm and scrutiny by many groups. Authors who want to push the envelope are doing so with topics such as drugs, suicide, sex and gay life styles. It seems these topics are becoming more prevalent in the plots, causing some to wonder if every book has to have a gay person, a suicide, drugs or all of the above to make a good story? For every intellectual freedom snob who stands up for these books, the question has to be if the plots make the books more enticing to them personally? If the answer is yes, perhaps their bias is guiding them to censor anyone who is against these titles. If the answer is no, and all books with great plots enthrall them perhaps there is room to communicate that to the other side. The opposite question can be asked of parents who want to ban “bad” books in schools. Censorship from the government is never a good thing. Having said that, parents' rights are just as important if not more so than their minor chidlren. Every teen should have a good home, great education and the basic needs of life. Those needs do not include reading everything under the sun. There are just some topics that families should discuss together in their own time, in their own way,

Celebrating Banned Book Week should be the celebration of living in a free society that allows for all types of books to be published and read without fear of punishment. It shouldn’t turn into a political hijacking. In the whole scheme of things, teens are looking to adults to help them along the way in life. Once becoming a teen does not mean that they are free to explore the world without adult aid. It simply means they still need a hand once in awhile to guide them through the maze of information. Teens deserve nothing less than great books, good role model and a little advice to help them sort it all out. That should be what everyone should strive to achieve.

Banned Books: An Opporutnity for Famly Reading

Are teens really able to decide for themselves what books to read? Can they make the decision on their own that they are ready to handle heavy topics such as suicide, sex and drugs? The main purpose of Banned Book Week is to give a shout out about censorship and the rights of teens to read whatever they desire. Bold statement from YALSA, but is it really a prudent one? One factor that has always been left out of the debate is the parents of the reader. This is where a little ingenuity and flexibility has to come into play as Young Adult Librarians promote Banned Book Week.

The whole notion of banned book sounds exciting to teens. Reading something that is "forbidden" is akin to sneaking out to the garage to smoke. It's the thrill of finding out what "secrets" they shouldn't know or not getting caught. To be a teen, again. When the books were hidden under the beds, or tucked in lockers so no one would know. Wait! That never happened. As a matter of fact, in the 1970's although there were books that everyone talked about like Judy Blume's novels but not one book seemed off limits for young hands to reach out and grab. Come to think of it, from the way Banned Book Weeks is promoted, one would get the idea that American libraries are under siege and strict government regime is forbidding certain books to be read, thus they must be burned. Okay, so that's a little extreme, but since this is not the case, one has to wonder why it's so important for teens to have "rights" to read about topics that are in some sense controversial? It's all in the name of giving teens independence from their parents and finding out "who" they are. Well, this can lead to dangerous territory, and it's up to librarians to be flexible enough to find the middle ground.

Back in the 1980's when Madonna came out with her controversial coffee table book titled "Sex", libraries grappled with the dillema of how to circulate the book. Should they keep it in "closed" stacks and have patrons ask for the title. If a minor asked for the title, would there be a "permission slip" from a parent required? Does this not pose a threat to the First Amendments? Nope. Sorry, in the case of a child, and teens are still legally children up until the age of eighteen, the parents will and should have the right to determine what is good or bad for their family. This includes books.

What should a librarian do to help the teen who so desperately wants to read 13 Reasons Why? It is a s simple as inviting parents and teen to read the book together. When parents begin to worry that a topic might, such as suicide, might effect their child in a negative way, shouldn't they have the right to have the book held off until a time when the child can handle the subject matter? The only time to challenge an authority figure in a child's life is a school board, but never undermine the parents. Some of the best book discussions that have been held have been with parent and child participating. It is a excellent tool to help foster communications. That is the "Key" to unlocking the banned book debate. Let the conversations flow and include everyone in the conversation.

Banned Book Weeks allow for many good things to happen. One, it entices teens to read. Two, discussions on why the book was "banned" can bring up other ideas that can lead teen to continue their interest in the topic. Three, it provides a valuable opportunity for families to read together. That in itself is the best outcome of Banned Book Week. However your library chooses to celebrate, here's hoping that everyone enjoys the "Banned" week!