TSS - Censorship

The Life

So I’ve been thinking quite a bit about censorship, primarily censorship in my role of Teacher.  I went to Barnes & Noble two weeks ago to listen to Ellen Hopkins speak and sign books.  Love her.  She’s heartfelt, passionate, and REAL.  Her books are too.  But they’re also controversial.  The topics range from drug abuse, emotional turmoil, prostitution…you get my point.  Rough topics.  Ellen, whom I call “Ellen” because she is THAT kind of down-to-earth person, opened the floor for a Q&A session.  I raised my hand nervously.  I’m curious by nature, but if I feel “all eyes are on me” I tend to clam up.  But I had a question that I REALLY wanted an answer to.  So, my nervousness took second reign.

ME: (paraphrased, cuz, y’know it HAS been two weeks) Your books are constantly being banned or considered controversial.  Do YOU feel that there is an age that is too young for them?

ELLEN: (once again, paraphrased people!!) –something about high school- but for the most part, children will self censor.

And that’s when I vehemently nodded my head, feeling reassured.  Later, I went up to her to get a book signed and rambled (and yes, I’m embarrassed by my ramble) that I was a middle school teacher but I do have her books because I also believe that students will pick up the books only if they’re interested.  And if they’re interested there’s got to be a reason why. So, let them experience the Experience safely through books.  And whether that experience is vicariously or merely because they need reassurance that they’re not alone, let them decide.

Before I get any backlash, let me do some explaining here.  Justifying? Opening your eyes to my world?

Many of my kids didn’t have the life that I had growing up.  We might have struggled, but my mom felt it was important that *I* not be privy to that.  I was a CHILD, after all.  I should be allowed to be a child for as long as possible.  My students don’t always have that option.

The ages of my students are also a factor.  Even though I teach in middle school we do have students who are fifteen (and even older).  

Let me first and foremost say I LOVE MY KIDS.  I treat them as though they were my own.  They know my classroom is a safe environment and that I can be that go-to adult if necessary.  My kids are good even if they have made poor choices.  They are tough.  Because they’ve HAD to be tough.  They get told that they are different and they are treated differently.  I am as candid as possible with them.  I couldn’t imagine being in a different environment or a different school.  My passion is in that classroom.

And sometimes the advice they need or the catharsis they deserve can’t come from me, but rather from a book.  There are many authors that meet their needs.  The Bluford series; Walter Dean Meyers, Ellen Hopkins, Julie Anne Peters.

These books are not for everyone, I agree. But I also believe that a struggling reader is not going to pick up books for a quick thrill. They’ve got the internet for that.

In today’s world, let’s cut some slack.  Let’s trust what the kids are curious about.  Let’s listen to them. Let’s meet their needs.

The Blog

I reviewed:

• Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen - it quickly moved up to 2nd place for Austen love
• The Magnolia League by Kate Crouch - coming out May 3
• The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins - also coming out May 3 GO GET IT 

The Books

This week, I finished

• On Mystic Lake by Hannah  (okay, this was a read specifically to talk to my PIL, partner-in-laws)
• Wings by Aprilynne Pike (a partner read with Jenn, check her out)

This up and coming week, I plan on reading

• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (continued)
• Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult (continued)

TSS - Rewriting History

If you type in your friendly search engine (mine, in this case is google) the words: huckleberry finn rewrite, chances are you'll come up with a plethora of articles and opinions, click here for example.

And if you don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain briefly.  NewSouth Books anticipates releasing another edition of Huck Fin, sans the "n-word".  Instead, its replacement is "slave".  Much more PC, yes?  Doesn't make us cringe as much as the word n*gger does it?  Evidently the racial slur is said in Huck Finn over 200 times.

Here's their reasoning:

"After a number of talks, I was sought out by local teachers, and to a person they said we would love to teach this novel, and Huckleberry Finn, but we feel we can't do it anymore. In the new classroom, it's really not acceptable." Gribben became determined to offer an alternative for grade school classrooms and "general readers" that would allow them to appreciate and enjoy all the book has to offer. "For a single word to form a barrier, it seems such an unnecessary state of affairs," he said.  (From here). 

Immediately, I have a couple of reactions.  Also, for the record of this post, I should state that if you do not know me, I am a white middle school teacher in her early thirties.  I only feel that this is relevant because I would NEVER claim to understand what it would be like to sit in a classroom as a black student hearing the n-word.  (Although this quick op-ed from Washington Post helps).

Whatever derogatory term out there, of course my immediate reaction, when saying it in front of students, would be to cringe.  Primarily because I am aware of their insecurities and raw emotions PLUS their adolescent brains.  (Let's not forget that middle school students have not fully developed their frontal lobe.)  But because of my hesitancy, my discomfort, do I feel that it is not of some worth to use the language of the time period, or the language that the author utilized to make a point.

(ETA - asterisks will be used so I don't get spammed folks).

N*gger is uncomfortable.  It is GOOD that it is uncomfortable.  And let's face it, even though slavery was awful and one of our despicable moments in history, I can say slave all day and it does not give the same visceral reaction that n*gger does.  Huck Finn is a window into history.  If we clean it up, we erase part of our history.

I teach a excerpt of a biography of Malcolm X and Jackie Robinson to my 7th grade students.  In it, they both use the "n-word" twice.  Even though I do this yearly I still mentally psyche myself up before reading it out loud.  But more importantly, I DISCUSS with the students what that word meant in relevance to what was going on and what it means to them hearing it now.

It just frustrates me to no end.  Teaching is not always warm fuzzies.  Our job is suppose to be difficult at times because knowledge is difficult.  It changes us.  It makes us better individuals.  Real people had to live under these circumstances (some still do).  Don't we owe it to them to continue sharing their story?  Unedited? Uncensored? Isn't that why the slaves fought to learn to read and write?  To prove that they existed?  To prove that they were people and not lesser than or property of their masters.

*sigh*  I'm on my first cup of coffee folks.  Many apologies if this rant is incoherent or rant-y.


Reading Record


Books, Finished
Rebecca by Daphne DuMauier

Books, Continuing 
Reading Woman by Stephanie Staal

Books, Beginning this Week
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins