Racist
Banned Books, Our Educational System, and the results
Last night, my wife and I sat down in front of the T.V. and noticed we had a new episode of South Park saved on our DVR, so we decided to watch it. The first thing mentioned in the episode was Catcher in the Rye and the fact it has been banned from schools and is controversial. All of the students (including Cartmen, Kenny, Kyle and Stan) were required to read it. With the book being hyped up to the students, they couldn’t wait to get home and read the book. After all of the students had read the book, they were furious because they couldn’t believe it’s on the banned book list. I couldn’t agree more.
This South Park episode struck a cord with me, so I thought I should do some research on some of the banned books in the United States. There are a few books that are, in my opinion, that should be read by everyone at some point in their life. The first two are listed above, then some of the others include: The Grapes of Wrath, Huckleberry Finn, Lord of the Flies and etc. All of these books have been or still are banned in the U.S.
My issue is that all of the books I have listed are or have been banned in high schools in the past for a variety of reasons. Catcher in the Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower have both been banned because of their language and their sexual content. Parents that think these books should be banned bug the heck out of me. First, yes, there is dirty language and sex, but it’s not rampant in either book. Second, these books have valuable lessons and deeper meanings. These books could be helpful to a lot of today’s youth. Third, of all of the places that books should be banned, a school is not one of them. Schools are there for learning, even if we don’t agree with it. If you don’t like it, don’t hide it from your children, teach them from it instead. Plus, all of the themes in these books can easily be found on any television. Sex, violence, and language are no longer considered risque on T.V. Plus, if kids had a proper sex education, then the sex in these books should be nothing strange to them. And even if they didn’t see it on T.V., they are going to get it from their friends since there is a 50/50 chance that they know someone who is sexually active.
Here is my thought. I want my children to be exposed to this kind of material. These books are not smut, but they controversial and are something they should encounter so they are not uncomfortable or creeped out by similar situations in the future. I want my children to be exposed to difficult situations so they know how to handle them. This boils down to the fact I have issues with parents who shelter their children from the real world.
So, to those parents, who coddle their children, how do you expect them to deal with difficult situations in the real world? You can not! You have done nothing but raise a bunch of children that can not and will not be able to handle difficult and complex situations. Your children will someday be running this country, and they won’t be able to handle the stresses of the job. I see this country slowly going down the drain because today’s youth is so sheltered.
Instead of taking these books and hiding them in closets or burning them, lets use them to learn some valuable life lessons. These books can teach us that we all are not the same and we all have differences. It can teach us to look at things form the other side of the table. It can teach us not to be so judgmental and to be more tolerant of other people. I guess I should also be more tolerant of those sheltering parents, but creating weak minded children is dangerous for this country. Then again, this just my opinion.
I am glad my parents raised me the way they did and I am fortunate to have gone to a school where these books were not banned.
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Itawamba County School District Sued by ACLU
13/03/2010 ArchivesRants
I am a firm believer that people should mine their own business when it comes to gay and lesbian couples. I have had gay and lesbian friends since I was in high school. Where I was raised, how I was raised, and my education taught me that they are just as normal as you or I, but they have a different sexual preference.
I know living in the south people have extremely closed minds. I blame it on the fact that most people in this state are ignorant, uneducated, too brain washed by the church, or all of the above (I say all of the above). Gay and lesbian people can not help the way they are. They are born that way. Anyone who actually has an open mind can find this information in these wonderful things called books. This new internet thingy-ma-jig also has a plethora of information on the topic. Having taken a few psychology classes, I can tell you that being gay or lesbian isn't something someone can chose to be or not to be. They are born with it! Their is no choice. They can not help it or do anything about it except hide it or lie about it.
This blog is primarily about the fact that the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the Itawamba Country School District (ICSD) here in Mississippi. This lawsuit began because ICSD would not allow gay and lesbian couples to attend prom together as couples, or let student cross dress if they chose to. Their excuse was that gays, lesbians, and cross-dressers would be a distraction. The ACLU sent a letter to the school district telling them that they we violating the students rights and they couldn't enforce such rules. Instead of lightening up on the situation, they decided to cancel prom for the whole school. After they canceled prom, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the school district. The ACLU demanded that the school reinstate the prom and let the gay and lesbian couples go with their partners.
First, I hope the ACLU sues the crap out of the school. Maybe this will be a wake up call to the south that you can not be prejudice and you can not get away with it! Welcome the 21st century. Second, I hope they fire every single person who supported the cancellation of prom. If you are that closed minded and you are educating todays youth, you shouldn't be any where near a student. You should be at home, bashing you self in the face with a shovel. Third, this boils down to religion. I have no problem with students who pray in school and such, but when someone is clearly making a decision based on their religious that effects everyone in a public school, that person shouldn't be allowed to be within 1,000 feet of a school. Their is a reason there is a separation of church and state. I guess people in the south haven't heard of the first amendment.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
If you work in a school district, do your self a favor, keep your bible at home and at church. Do not let your personal views be reflected in the decisions you make; it will only cause you grief.
I feel bad for the teenagers who are in the center of this. It's very hard to be who you are in this closed minded state. The state of Mississippi is 30 years behind the times intellectually, and maybe even 50 years behind in very rural cities and counties like Itawamba. These girls are going to be chastised for the rest of their time in high school. I give them mad props for stick up for who they are!
The school didn't want the gay and lesbian couples to be a distraction.... I would say being headline news on CNN and Fox News aren't distractions at all. Canceling prom isn't a distraction either(I wish I could type in sarcasm). This is a great example of “think before you speak”. If the high school would have spent as much time on proper sex education as they did on not letting gay and lesbians into the prom, their would be less teen pregnancy and STDs floating around Itawamba country.
A student at the high school told one of the girls involved, "Thanks for ruining my senior year." First of all, high school isn't about the damn prom. It's about receiving an education (I am willing to bet she doesn't care). Second, are you really that selfish, self-centred, and bitchy? Sorry, but prom just isn't about you, it's about everyone involved. Instead of chastising the girls, learn from something from these events. With a comment like that, you clearly can't think before you speak.
Pastors in the region are complaining that people not from the south see this place as "backwards". Your right, they do see this place as backwards, because it is backasswards here. Mind your own damn business and keep religion out of the schools. Plain and simple. You can keep whoever you want out of your church, but you can't apply the same rules to public schools. If you don't like the idea of homosexuals going to prom or being in public schools, then you should open a private school where you can enforce silly rules.
It's clear that people the south haven't read the book of Matthew.
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” - Matthew 7:1
Trying to keep people from who they are is no different than judging them. If you have a biased opinion of them, then you had to of judged them to come to that biased opinion. Stop being hypocrites! If you are a true Christian, you will love them for who they are. I believe Jesus would love them for who they are. I couldn't see Jesus banning lepers from prom.
"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." - John 4:7
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. - Matthew 7:12
Anyways, ICSD needs to have the prom and let the gay and lesbian couples go with who they want to go with. I hope the ACLU sues the school well enough that everyone involved is fired.
(This is an old blog, so links may no longer work or exist.)
I know living in the south people have extremely closed minds. I blame it on the fact that most people in this state are ignorant, uneducated, too brain washed by the church, or all of the above (I say all of the above). Gay and lesbian people can not help the way they are. They are born that way. Anyone who actually has an open mind can find this information in these wonderful things called books. This new internet thingy-ma-jig also has a plethora of information on the topic. Having taken a few psychology classes, I can tell you that being gay or lesbian isn't something someone can chose to be or not to be. They are born with it! Their is no choice. They can not help it or do anything about it except hide it or lie about it.
This blog is primarily about the fact that the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the Itawamba Country School District (ICSD) here in Mississippi. This lawsuit began because ICSD would not allow gay and lesbian couples to attend prom together as couples, or let student cross dress if they chose to. Their excuse was that gays, lesbians, and cross-dressers would be a distraction. The ACLU sent a letter to the school district telling them that they we violating the students rights and they couldn't enforce such rules. Instead of lightening up on the situation, they decided to cancel prom for the whole school. After they canceled prom, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the school district. The ACLU demanded that the school reinstate the prom and let the gay and lesbian couples go with their partners.
First, I hope the ACLU sues the crap out of the school. Maybe this will be a wake up call to the south that you can not be prejudice and you can not get away with it! Welcome the 21st century. Second, I hope they fire every single person who supported the cancellation of prom. If you are that closed minded and you are educating todays youth, you shouldn't be any where near a student. You should be at home, bashing you self in the face with a shovel. Third, this boils down to religion. I have no problem with students who pray in school and such, but when someone is clearly making a decision based on their religious that effects everyone in a public school, that person shouldn't be allowed to be within 1,000 feet of a school. Their is a reason there is a separation of church and state. I guess people in the south haven't heard of the first amendment.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
If you work in a school district, do your self a favor, keep your bible at home and at church. Do not let your personal views be reflected in the decisions you make; it will only cause you grief.
I feel bad for the teenagers who are in the center of this. It's very hard to be who you are in this closed minded state. The state of Mississippi is 30 years behind the times intellectually, and maybe even 50 years behind in very rural cities and counties like Itawamba. These girls are going to be chastised for the rest of their time in high school. I give them mad props for stick up for who they are!
The school didn't want the gay and lesbian couples to be a distraction.... I would say being headline news on CNN and Fox News aren't distractions at all. Canceling prom isn't a distraction either(I wish I could type in sarcasm). This is a great example of “think before you speak”. If the high school would have spent as much time on proper sex education as they did on not letting gay and lesbians into the prom, their would be less teen pregnancy and STDs floating around Itawamba country.
A student at the high school told one of the girls involved, "Thanks for ruining my senior year." First of all, high school isn't about the damn prom. It's about receiving an education (I am willing to bet she doesn't care). Second, are you really that selfish, self-centred, and bitchy? Sorry, but prom just isn't about you, it's about everyone involved. Instead of chastising the girls, learn from something from these events. With a comment like that, you clearly can't think before you speak.
Pastors in the region are complaining that people not from the south see this place as "backwards". Your right, they do see this place as backwards, because it is backasswards here. Mind your own damn business and keep religion out of the schools. Plain and simple. You can keep whoever you want out of your church, but you can't apply the same rules to public schools. If you don't like the idea of homosexuals going to prom or being in public schools, then you should open a private school where you can enforce silly rules.
It's clear that people the south haven't read the book of Matthew.
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” - Matthew 7:1
Trying to keep people from who they are is no different than judging them. If you have a biased opinion of them, then you had to of judged them to come to that biased opinion. Stop being hypocrites! If you are a true Christian, you will love them for who they are. I believe Jesus would love them for who they are. I couldn't see Jesus banning lepers from prom.
"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." - John 4:7
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. - Matthew 7:12
Anyways, ICSD needs to have the prom and let the gay and lesbian couples go with who they want to go with. I hope the ACLU sues the school well enough that everyone involved is fired.
(This is an old blog, so links may no longer work or exist.)