It’s that time of year again kids… time to celebrate books
and read all those that parents DIDN’T read but still challenged them so their
kids didn’t read them. You know those books – the TERRIBLE ones that made your
kid have an imagination. Like Harry Potter. Or Where the Wild Things
Are. Or Captain Underpants for the love of all things holy. If you
haven’t noticed, I love reading and am very passionate about all things
literary related. And what really gets under my skin about the number books
challenged over the years, are the actual reasons that these books have been
challenged. Anything from discussion of homosexuality to political viewpoint to
religious viewpoint. Nudity, anti-family, gambling, violence, drugs and alcohol
– you know, anything and EVERYTHING that kids can see on the news or a TV show
or a movie. But reading it is just totally a terrible thing. (sarcasm.)
And the majority of these challenges come from parents. Of
course they do. I understand that parents want to protect their children and
shield them from everything bad that could happen to their kids. But if they
really want to protect them, LET THEM READ THESE BOOKS they’re challenging.
They could LEARN something from these books – rather than find out through a
late night HBO special, a magazine left out at a friends’ house, or even the 6
o’clock news. Reading a book can teach you so much – it can take you places you’ve
never been, increase your vocabulary, and make it so you don’t sound like an
idiot when you speak. I personally cannot IMAGINE a world without books. A
world without beautiful speech and words.
Did you know that 33% of US high school grads will never
read a book after high school?
Or that 42% of college students will never read another book
after they graduate?
Or that 50% of adults are unable to read an 8TH
GRADE LEVEL book?
These statistics are completely MIND BLOWING. Reading is
something you will have to do for the REST OF YOUR LIFE. Not something you don’t
have to worry about once you leave school. Adults NEED to be able to read –
they have contracts to sign, bills to pay, and forms to fill out. And just
think of all the places you can GO when you read a book – you can travel to any
time period, anywhere in the WORLD when you read a book. You can have super human
strength, the knowledge level of a doctor or philosopher, the imagination of a
child. Books are the windows into the imagination. Open your eyes and see what
else is out there.
I was extremely fortunate to have parents who read to me
daily, and who consistently work with me to read on my own. I’ve heard this
story many times from when I was younger – I’d grab a book from the shelf, tell
my parents to come sit with me and read, and then I would sit and read out loud
to them. Reading has ALWAYS been a huge part of my life. And it always will be.
I love everything about books and literature. Taking trips to the library or
the book store make me SO HAPPY. I love old books, new books, electronic books.
I don’t love all GENRES of books, but I try. I love books that make me think. I
love books that make me cry. I love books that make me angry and want to change
the world. I love those that make me laugh, and those that were turned into a
movie (even though the book is ALWAYS better.) In my dream house, I want a
library. Where I could spend HOURS looking at the beautiful words written
throughout history. I love that I’ve found a group of girls who love reading as
much as I do, if not more.
Reading is good for the soul. It awakens your heart and
mind, and allows you to go somewhere else – even if only for a short moment.
And the fact that people try and take this away from children at such a young
age hurts MY soul. Reading grows your imagination – and a life without
imagination is... reality.
From 2000-2009, 5,099 book challenges were reported to the
Office for Intellectual Freedom. The reasons for those challenges? Sexually
explicit material, offensive language, materials deemed unsuited to age group,
violence, homosexuality, Satanic themes, religious viewpoint and anti-family.
The most challenged book of 2013: Captain Underpants. For reasons of offensive
language, unsuited for age group, and violence. I wish I were joking about
this. Sadly though – parents are ass holes. Sorry parents out there – let your
kid read a book. It is a CARTOON book. This isn’t a real child wearing underwear
and a cape. IT’S NOT REAL LIFE.
So during this week and the celebration of banned and
challenged books, I challenge YOU to hit up your local library, Barnes and
Noble, Half Price Books and pick something up from the list of challenged
books. You might learn something new.
S