I sure feel alot safer now knowing that there are people out there getting rid of "pornographic material". Maybe they should pull the plug on the internet next.
What is the book about?
I haven't seen the book, but Judy Blume's books always made me uncomfortable. I steered my children away from them-- just not appropriate to my way of thinking.
The book is not really banned or been burned, anyone who wants it can by a copy for themselves...but, as I say, if it is being presented in a public school paid for by tax dollars, then they have every right to object and try and get enough support to get it removed. Apparently they did and that is how our Republic works at that level.
Good for them.
If it's just an offensive passage or two, they can usually be covered up with a black felt pen. It works better than you might think. I go by the public library and do that whenever I have some extra time.
Do you think other peoples kids should be exposed to things their parents consider to be improper?
If you have kids, couldn't you still raise them on porn without having the schools help you?
There is a big difference between placing a book out of reach for the general public and removing a book from reading lists that are required of adolescents.
If you do not have adolescents of your own or work with them, you are probably unaware of how much our young people are being over-sexualized. You may be seeing prudery here, but I see an effort to pull education back from the precipice. For the sake of our entire society, we adults need to once again model and encourage behavior that shows respect for human sexuality rather than exploiting and cheapening it.
Judy Blume is the author who singlehandedly trashed children's books with her essays into pornography. Then we started getting all the other trashy childrens books that have been corrupting young minds since then, such as "Heather Has Two Mommies."
This School Superintendent is right. Judy Blume doesn't belong in school libraries.
They're not getting rid of it; they're removing it from a public school. If you want the book, go order it at Amazon.
So, tell us again why you are in favor of pornography being on the library shelves of public schools?
Sweet Judy Blume---She put the Her in Herpes.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"Going all the way" is still a taboo subject in young adult literature. Judy Blume was the first author to write candidly about a sexually active teen, and she's been defending teenagers' rights to read about such subjects ever since. Here, Blume tells a convincing tale of first love--a love that seems strong and true enough to last forever. Katherine loves Michael so much, in fact, that she's willing to lose her virginity to him, and, as the months go by, it gets harder and harder for her to imagine living without him. However, something happens when they are separated for the summer: Katherine begins to have feelings for another guy. What does this mean about her love for Michael? What does this mean about love in general? What does "forever" mean, anyway? As always, Blume writes as if she's never forgotten a moment of what it's like to be a teenager.
> Maybe they should pull the plug on the internet next.
The Blume book is entirely tame compared to what's on
ordinary cable & dish.
But the "ought wallowing" about having the book in
public school libraries simply goes away if we phase
out government schools entirely.
Then you can send your kids to a school that meets your
requirements (or homeschool, as you see fit).
The idea that 'open minds' should be filled with whatever publishers foist on the public is silly. When public educational dollars buy into that line, then parents that don't like the library fare have a right to complain. As long as a given title of dreck is published and available for sale from a local pornographer, then the 'free speech' choir can sit down and stow it. As far as I am concerned, school libraries should be under the direct control of the parents that send their children there.
When books are actually burned and prohibited from public or private ownership with the threatened force of government arms, then we can have this talk for real. Until then...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Do they still assign "Tea and Sympathy?"
I remember being assigned this play, I think it was, in high school back in the early 60's. A play about a teenage boy losing his virginity when an attractive female teacher gave him love. Come to think of it, it was adultery as well.
Anyhow, I don't remember any harm at all being done to the kids, it just made us all even more horny than we already were. Which was very.
The parents/guardians of students have every right to protect their children from inappropriate books. School libraries are not public libraries.
So if you don't think it's a problem exposing children to this, go ahead and post the part of the book the parents object to. If it's too explicit for FR, then it's too explicit for 13-year olds.
Don't worry - there's nothing they can ban from a school library that won't end up getting shown on the "ABC Family" channel someday...
Somehow, the approach of this author seems alot more realistic than some of the made-for-tv and general teen movies, soap operas, as well as the tell-all Oprah's and Jerry Springer shows that I know teen girls watch. Most importantly, it is a story with consequences, and warning that even if you don't get pregnant or get an STD, the price of intimacy is alot greater, with longer lasting aftershocks, than the wondrous passion of the moment.