A
common topic on this blog is the act of censorship in classrooms, books, and
the theater. I would like to use this blog to point out that censored books are
added to the “banned” list for absolutely hilarious reasons. Books such as Dav
Pilkey’s Captain Underpants, first
written in 1997, as an illustrated child’s novel for young boys. The book is
wildly popular for the controversy it has faced since 2012, when it became #1 on
the chart of restricted books in America. An article I read surrounding the book
and its reasons states that “offensive language,” partial nudity, violence, misbehavior,
and blackmail (Engel). Now while the article goes into the details about why
each excuse is given, I will not.
I
actually found all of this out thanks to a current movement at DoSomething. The
movement was originally created to bring attention to the issue of boys having
all around lower scores than girls in reading. However, this movement is also
bringing to light the fact that Captain
Underpants is a banned child’s book in America. As stated on the website:
The
Problem: Boys lag behind girls in reading proficiency in all 50 states -- in
some states by as many as 10 percentage points.
The
Solution: "Captain Underpants," proven to get boys hooked on reading,
is the book most often banned in schools. Performing a dramatic reading of
"Captain Underpants" in class will bring attention to the issue of
book censorship.
As a teacher, my goal is to ensure that all of my
students are capable of the same level of skill, levels that are decided
through state and capital offices. Reading and writing skills are measured
throughout the schooling children in order to calculate what schools are
better, what leads to better preferences, and it even decides teacher’s pay. If
this book series is rated as the most popular way to encourage boys to read,
then shouldn’t it be important to preserve this? Aren’t there other important
books that schools are missing out on that could be used? I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when
I was in middle school, a private Catholic middle school. And yet, other public
schools don’t allow this book on the shelves? What?
Did you ever read Captain Underpants? Or any other book listed as "banned" from schools now? What is you opinion on the idea of banning books from schools that were once okay to be used?
I have read at least one Captain Underpants book, but cannot claim to have been a huge fan. I just preferred other books as a kid, but I agree with what you're saying. If boys enjoy reading Captain Underpants, then they should be able to read the books. I strongly disagree with banning books in schools and agree that many books that are banned for having "questionable" content is what some kids are interested in and should be allowed to read. Sure, sometimes there are things we,as adults, want to shield kids from, but if we really try to remember being a kid at any age, we would remember that marking a book as "dangerous" or banning them, makes the kid want to read them. I think that sometimes it is just really difficult to remember what it was like as a kid when it comes to being an adult and having power over what the children take in. Perhaps, adults far too often try to build barriers for children that they had, as a kid, broke down or ignored. Adults also seem to forget just how much children can take on and understand. I know I have myself sometimes found myself forgetting how much kids can understand and feel foolish for it. The more we remind ourselves that as kids we understood and were interested in things our parents didn't want us reading, the more understanding we will be of kids today and quit trying to ban books.
ReplyDeleteI remember growing up and seeing this book around often, and though I didn't read it myself, I know it was definitely a part of many people's childhoods. A question I would like to ask whoever is in charge of deciding banned books is how they decide which books are to be banned and for what reason. It seems that if they were to have the students' best interests at heart, they would take what you mentioned into consideration, about how banning these books that cater to boys who are newer to reading can impact their futures in readings. Especially considering that today, it seems that more books are being banned, but with the internet being so prominent, kids have more access to content that could be more appropriate than a main character wearing only underpants.
ReplyDeleteI remember one of my elementary school friends was addicted to those books, personally I didn't read the books but I had a general understanding for the books. I really like the fact that you have a great sense of awareness. As a teacher you have a major amount of power that you will be giving to the younger generations. It's very exciting to me to see people who have a passion about opening up peoples ideas compared to the normal story we hear about people only showing the side they believe in. I hope you can maintain that for many years, major props to you.
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