Lights off. Scene on. A father, raping his daughter. The daughter...impregnated by her father.
How would you, as a parent, feel if that was a movie scene your student watched in class? Horrified? I would hope so. What if you didn't know the movie was being watched? What if you knew? What if you signed the form? Would that make it ok for a school to show? Should schools even get permission from parents to show Rated R movies? Would you feel the same if this scene was in a book that your child read in school? (see below for book excerpts)
No. This isn't a movie shown in class. This is a book...a very popular book. A book by a well-respected literary giant. A book that has been at the center of controversy for many years - some high school classes requiring the read while some school libraries "banning" it - "banning" in quotation marks because NO ONE is BANNING you from reading it. They are just removing it from the shelves ("censorship"). If you want to read it, buy it. Read it. Go behind your parents back and read it. Isn't that how many high school teachers justify the books they require or put on reading lists? Kids have seen worse stuff...kids watch worse stuff...if I (meaning teacher) don't expose them to this theme regardless of what is in the book, who will?
My thought: who is responsible for rearing the child? The teacher/the school or the parent? Yes, that is a loaded question but my point is I, as the parent, am responsible for my child. Yes, I know there are some parents who are absent and the teachers are more of a parent than the parents themselves. THAT is not what i am talking about. I am talking about the responsibility of protecting the minds of children that we, the education system, are responsible for during the day. If as a parent I do not want my child to read sexually graphic material, I should have that right - not the teacher or the school. Do some parents not care? Absolutely. However, even if parents don't care, shouldn't educators care about the social and emotional well-being of students? Shouldn't all educators care that there may be a child in your class that was sexually assaulted by a family member at a young age and this book (or any book with rape) now triggers a horrifying memory? Oh...you didn't know about that student? Well, sorry that you didn't know. What happened, happened. In your "all knowing self," you have now exposed a child to a horrifying memory or placed graphic images in another child's head which now can't be undone. Images that one parent wanted to protect their child from.
The book: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Yes, I read the book. Yes, it is a well-written book, except for all the sexually explicit scenes. This post isn't about The Bluest Eye or why Toni Morrison wrote it. It has nothing to do with the message that the book conveys. It has everything to do with the responsibility that educators have in what they choose for students to read. Call it "censorship" or "banning" but who the h*** cares.
I love to read. If I see you reading a book (a teacher, a stranger, a student), I will ask you what you are reading and ask you about the book. If I see a stranger reading a book I have read, I will come up to you and talk to you about the book. It is what I do. I also like seeing what schools require students to read. Now that I have a 9th grader, call me an "invested parent-educator." It matters to me. Call me a "freaky Christian that is overreactive." I really don't care. Themes can be taught through literature that don't have sexually graphic material. I don't care if it is one paragraph or throughout the book - no! If schools will not allow teachers to show sexually graphic movie scenes, then why are schools ok with allowing books with graphic sex scenes to be read? That is the point of this blog post. That is the point I wish more educators considered. Our job as educators is not to force a reading on students because WE think it will enlighten their minds. Books should be chosen that will engage students in the hard, sensitive topics while at the same time respecting the emotional and social well-being of students (and respecting the parents). An adult can read something and not think much about it; not the same for an adolescent whose brain is still developing.
Eight years ago, a Mississippi teacher was fired for showing a Rated R movie without parental or school permission. The movie contained violence and profanity. In 2012, a South Carolina teacher was fired for showing scenes from "Jackass 2" to a class (a class he was covering for another teacher). Just a few months ago, a superintendent in Florida investigated a teacher who showed a Rated R movie in class (Alexander). Parents were upset because there were scenes of rape and a scene of a boy being gang-raped. The news goes on and on. However, no where did I see a teacher being fired for requiring a reading that had rape scenes...or graphic sex. I am not saying teachers should be fired, but why are schools allowing the books to be read? You prohibit the visual scene from being shown in class but not being read. Why the hypocrisy?
What is read and not read will always be controversial, but should it be? Isn't it common sense that if there are parts of a book that is clearly giving details of a sexual act then maybe it is inappropriate to use for classroom use? Why do teachers have to cry "censorship" or "book banning" for what is just downright inappropriate? I know many will disagree with this post and my thoughts. Therefore, I will leave you with the following verses:
1 Peter 3:14-17
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
book excerpts:
