The battle between the Kanawha County Board of Education and the novels of Pat Conroy continued last night at a contentious board meeting. I'm proud to say that students from my alma mater have joined the students at Nitro in protest at the books being removed:
Nitro senior Justin Fletcher organized a silent student protest after 'The Prince of Tides' was suspended from his Advanced Placement literature class.The complaining parents don't seem to have a firm grasp on the legal issues:
'We’re not here to challenge parents’ rights,' he said, saying parents like the Tyrees and Frazier deserve alternative books. Still, he added, 'We want to read this book. We want to stand up for these books.'
Rich Edwards, a Cross Lanes resident, argued against allowing the books in classrooms.Obscenity is a legal term of art with a precise meaning. Under the Supreme Court's Miller test, one element to be considered is whether the work as a whole "lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value." Say what you will about Pat Conroy (I'm sure he has his critics), I don't think any court is going to find that his books lack artistic or literary value. We're long past the days when works by mainstream authors with a few "dirty" parts will be considered obscene.
'Our students, as well-meaning as they are, are still subject to the norms of our society,' he said. 'It’s very indecent, it’s very obscene.' He said to the students that 'this is not an individual-rights question.'
Nevertheless, the dispute continues.
5 comments:
I'm just delighted to no end that students are actually protesting in favor of reading good literature!
I love these kids!
Hey, what are these kids doing wanting to read books? Why aren't they watching television like everyone else?! *sarcasm*
Have you folks actually read this 'book'?
Anal rape of an underaged boy in front of family, in extreme detail. Rape of the family members in front of the boy. Murder and the description of brains being rubbed on a body?
In high school?
Yet, people across the country are touting studies on how Rap music, violent television shows and movies are screwing up our kids?
Yes, in high school.
I read this one after the movie came out, actually. I remember I liked the movie better, but I've always been Nick Nolte fan. I wasn't in High School, but in college, but it was the early 90s, which were infinitely more innocent than where we are currently with porn and torture videos on demand thanks to the internet.
What strikes me as odd about this whole thing is the people who typically complain about this kind of thing usually don't read much or pay much attention to what they do read.
A top of my head list of authors who have maintained a presence on the best seller charts are loaded with people who write stories about murder, rape and torture: Stephen King, John Grisham and Anne Rice, just to name a few.
Presumably, reading about rape and murder on their own time might be okay -just not for class?
Conroy's book doesn't use the imagery to glorify violence or rape. Some of the others do. Conroy at least uses it to make a statement about resiliency and healing.
The reader doesn't identify with the rapists, but with the victims. The attackers don't say funny things worth repeating. They're not misunderstood antiheroes. They're not cool. They're the very worst.
The book deals with surviving possibly the worst trauma imaginable for a young adult and moving beyond your past. You figure that might be a good lesson to pass on to a group of people who often feel tormented by their peers, by their parents and by their own second-class status as minors.
I will grant it's not the kind of book the kids should read then the teacher throws a worksheet at so they can move on to the next one. It has to be taught.
Presumably, Nitro High School is capable of this.
I would just like to point out a few things.
1. There is no CHILD rape in the books. A MAN of 18 is raped, a WOMAN of 18 is raped and their mother is raped. There is no CHILD rape. So, the question I would like to ask is have YOU read this book? Please, make sure your information is correct before using an argument.
2. By banning these books we are essentially saying that it is not okay to talk about rape, male, female, whatever. It is naive to think that these men and women who, presumably, will be heading into college next year will not be faced with an issue as prevalent as rape. 1 in 4 women have been sexually assaulted. 1 in 7 MEN have been sexually assaulted. The whole point of the rape scene is that the act screws up their lives because they are NOT ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT IT.
So, good for us in compounding the crime of rape by banning 18 year olds from discussing and reading about it.
PS--They also want to ban Beach Music for violent scenes about the Holocaust. Yeah, sorry to force people to realize what a horrible affair THAT was. (sarcasm)
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