It occurs to me that many of my drawings are on slippery slopes, however, the slippery slope I want to discuss right now, is censorship. Let me just say here, I am against censorship, however, as a mother, I am also against leaving my child's developing character to the mercy of advertising, and marketing forces at work in our world. That has at times put me in the position of censor in our home. We have a TV but it is mostly used to view rentals and rarely are my kids watching it alone. I don't want to separate them from the commonalities of our society but I also don't want them to be a passive sponge of all the garbage that is out there. It is not like we discuss everything, but if I watch with them, I know what they are taking in and I can comment--usually to question or make fun of something. I am not just talking about violence and sex that are portrayed in massive quantities but the objectification of women in the media has (in my opinion) returned with a vengeance.Of course, this has resulted in my children being avid readers. After all, we all need to escape and if the TV and computer (yes, that too) are limited, you find other entertainment. Unlimited books (my general policy) and my interest in children's literature has luckily steered them in this direction. That being said, I find myself with a similar feeling about things that are being published. Despite my reading only children's literature, my daughter and son have long out read me, but we do read a fair amount together and share what we have read. I have also made it a point to sample some of the most popular offerings--the Clique, Gossip Girls, etc series. Quite frankly, I have been shocked by a lot of the things I've read. Not just the above series but really well written books that deal with violence, sex and drugs explicitly. I have sometimes asked my kids to wait to read something because I think they would find it disturbing. Some of these books, I really want them to read but when they are ready. Having not been inured to violence by television and movies, I once had to stop reading out loud because the scene described was so shocking. This was a book by a wonderful writer, with a very funny juvenile cover--in other words we had no warning. By the way, we did finish the book but I described what happened rather than read it. That's how powerful this author's words were. Amazing.
Here is my point, we as parents shouldn't censor but we should be active participants in our children's reading life. We should create an open forum for discussion. Part of that is showing that we are interested in what they have to say and the subjects that concern them. I see so many adults around me who seem to find it beneath them to read a children's novel. I was once asked to recommend some children's books for an adult book club. This was a parent group so they were looking for some "good reads" for their children. My recommendations were put on their list, and I prepared to lead a discussion on the books on the given day. I was really shocked that only two people out of six had bothered to read either of the selections and each had only read one.
We cannot rely on publishers and bookstores to discuss the contents of their wares with young people, nor to speak to the appropriateness of a given book for a given child. So, it is up to parents, as I have said above, but libraries play their part too. Here is what I have found that disturbs me, my librarians rightly defend the library against censorship but they do not then give support where it is needed. Several times I have picked up a book that is recommended not only by our own librarians but has the ALA stamp, and been shocked by the content and then even more shocked by the fact that the librarian has not read it. Here is what I have suggested to no avail, couldn't we have a discussion of this book? It is wonderful to have discussions of the Newbery selections etc. but I think it is almost more important to have discussions of The Clique. Kids walk into their middle school English class and announce that these books are their favorites and nothing happens. I would love to see a teacher say, "Really? What do you love about it?... Who else has read it?... Do you agree?" Yes, I know I am dreaming. But that is why the library might be a good place to start these discussions.
To be clear, I am not suggesting that the discussion be an adult handing down value judgements. I conduct art discussions in the elementary using the Socratic method--we (the adult) only ask questions. Probing questions to be sure but the kids have to make the connections.
Okay, I will get off my soap box. I know that I am a lone parental voice and that those wonderful teachers and librarians out there who might see the value in this approach also see the avalanche of criticism they would get from outraged parents. Here is a thought, kids take investment--of time, emotion, patience, compassion, but mostly time. I try to spend that time reading out loud, laughing together, talking and listening instead of trying to keep books out of their hands.
