Part Time Indian Censorship Essay

Many censorship occurs in schools today. As many are for the censoring of material, many are also against it. Behind each stand, are different opinions and reasons? The reasons to be against

The book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, should not be banned from schools. Alexie’s novel is well written because it covers stereotypes, hope, and reality. Because of censorship schools want to ban this novel because people think it contains inappropriate content. Censorship has been increased from middle school to high school because high school students are more mature and understanding. Our current society is more accepting and more willing to see other perspectives on people’s creativity and positions in life. People today are more open-minded rather than close-minded. In some occasions, books can seem to be inappropriate for the parents, and the teachers do not want to receive complaints from the parents. There are various ways a teacher can get approval to lecture about a book that can cause conflict with the parent(s). Parents will be aware of what their children are learning in class. Censorship in high school is more of a fear of teachers getting into trouble for teaching the students conflicting ideas. There are many more reasons why Sherman’s book should be allowed to be taught in school, but these are only a few.

Censorship can take different shapes depending on the public school system: Schools can give teachers a list of acceptable books to teach, just provide guidelines, or leave it up to the teachers to judge which books are appropriate (Agee, 1999). Teachers are often very nervous about including texts that are not traditional or specifically approved by the school, especially because of the highly publicized cases of teachers whose careers have been ruined because of censorship debates in courts and school systems (Agee, 1999).

Censorship has happened everywhere and happens everyday especially inside schools. In city schools there have been conflicts over what students should or should not learn. Censors decide that they should protect students from materials and activities that are upsetting and issue the wrong ideas. These ideas are said to "weaken parental authority, challenge students political moral, or religious views, or brainwash them into other ways of thinking (Sherrow10)." By protecting them they mean targeting academics. Courses that deal with drug prevention, sex education, development of character, or clarification of

Censorship has happened everywhere and happens everyday especially inside schools. In city schools there have been conflicts over what students should or should not learn. Censors decide that they should protect students from materials and activities that are upsetting and issue the wrong ideas. These ideas are said to "weaken parental authority; challenge students political moral, or religious views; or brainwash them into other ways of thinking (Sherrow10)." By protecting them they mean targeting academics. Courses that deal with drug prevention, sex education, development of character, or

The American Library Association defines censorship as the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary or educational materials. Censorship can be subtle, almost unseen, as well as blatant and overt, but nonetheless, harmful. The abilities to read, speak, and express ourselves freely are core values. Throughout history many different governments and people have tried to ban books for many different reasons. People attempt to ban books because the material conflicts with their own beliefs. Some people believe that a child’s parent should be the only one able to censor what a child reads. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents and only parents have the right and responsibility to restrict things from their children. According to the challenges by initiator, institution, type, and year, parents challenge books more often than any other group. The subject is very controversial causing many disagreements. Some people may believe that a book is wonderful, while others believe that it’s corrupting the youth. Books are banned to protect people, mainly children, from difficult ideas and information. Nudity, drugs, religious viewpoint,

The parents of our communities tend to fall on either side of the issue, divided into pro and anti-censorship groups. The big question that everyone is asking is if a student were to open a book and read about drugs, sex, or violence will this make a child more susceptible to this kind of behavior? Our United States board of education believes so, and has installed censorship safety precautions in the literature that is available in public schools and libraries. According to the American Library Association between 1990 and 2000 6,364 challenges against books were brought to Office of Intellectual Freedom by parents, teachers, and different pro-censorship organizations. The grounds for these challenges were that the books contained sexually explicit material, offensive language, satanic references, violence, homosexuality, or promotion of a religious belief. Some books that were on this list include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (for incessant use of the n word), The Catcher and the Rye (Depicts teenage depression, prostitution and use of the f word) and Go Ask Alice (Instances of Drug Use, sex, and suicide. People that are pro censorship argue that no books are being banned. That, in fact, you can buy those same books in many bookstores or other places. They argue that is their right, as taxpayers to decide what their children should have

Censorship in the classroom is about control. Gardner (1997) came to understand this concept when he used "book burning" to make a point to his class while they were studying Fahrenheit 451. He and his students burned some books, which were previously intended for disposal, to bring to life the focus that Bradbury makes on the subject in the novel. His afternoon classes came in, having heard about the activity in the hallways, excited and full of adrenaline at the thought of participating.

Book banning is based off of what one person thinks is right for everyone. While some children may not be able to handle tough books, these books should still be accessible to people that would benefit from reading them. Books often tell stories of realistic challenges and struggles people face in real life. Sheltering children by letting them only read books about a sugar-coated reality will not benefit them in the long run. Sometimes books are the only way people can learn about the struggles that people face in the world.

There are many books around the world that are being banned and have been for hundreds years. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is one of those books, it's actually one of the, if not the most challenged book in the United States. Sherman Alexie's 2007 novel The Absolutely True Diary of the Part-Time Indian is considered a controversial novel because of it's demeaning references to alcohol, poverty, bullying, violence, and sexual innuendos, as well as for the tragic deaths of characters and the use of profanity or slurs related to homosexuality and mental disabilities throughout the novel but students should be allowed to read it because of the life lessons it teaches.

There are many books around the world that are being banned and have been for hundreds years. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is one of those books, it's actually one of the, if not the most challenged book in the United States. Sherman Alexie's 2007 novel The Absolutely True Diary of the Part-Time Indian is considered a controversial novel because of it's demeaning references to alcohol, poverty, bullying, violence, and sexual innuendos, as well as for the tragic deaths of characters and the use of profanity or slurs related to homosexuality and mental disabilities throughout the novel but students should be allowed to read it because of the life lessons it teaches.

Consequently children can just as easily find inappropriate image and content on the internet it's still just as bad but no matter what parents do or how hard they try they can't control what their child can view and read. A Legal guardian shouldn't limit their child to certain books. Pornography is also a major issue in explicit and or banned books it's a topic that no one really wants to say or discuss. This topic isn't a common one but it brings up an important issue of why should it even be included but really it's a matter or maturity if a child can't handle what he read then he shouldn't read it at all. I believe that the discrimination in banned books is unacceptable. Banned books shouldn't be derogatory to any certain ethnic group, or sex. These books aren't considered novels because they're so inappropriate or graphic they are considered novels because of their realism. The books we read in class and in libraries are novels because they represent real life situations. Growing up isn't an

Censorship is "the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic or educational materials ... on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of the standards applied by the censor. Challenges to school materials have started to become a more prevalent and common occurrence in society especially in public schools. Public schools usually address censorship issues by taking one or more routes: imposing a list of acceptable literary works on all teachers, providing guidelines for the school district, or giving full authority to teachers to choose appropriate reading material and relying on their discretion. Advocates for censorship in school often target material that discusses race, sexuality, religion, and ethnicity

“Censorship is harmful because it results in the opposite of true education and learning.” (American Library Association). If students are only learning certain topics, then they might start to discriminate against the situations they don’t understand because no one has taught them before about the subject. They might also learn “to make decisions irrationally in light of the evidence.” This is why the American Library Association is against censorship.

The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable.