Ok, i'ma going to try EXTREMELY hard not to go ranting like a manic in this post but....URGH. I never, ever thought i'd have to write this post. But things just come to a point where I wanna punch someone in the face. Since I can't, the next best option is too put it on here.
Banning books and Censorship have always been a problem when it comes to literature. Especially YA. Something that we all fight against, you know, especially being a teenager. They feel that not exposing us to things like books that include sex,rape,drugs,alcohol, underage ANYTHING, will stop us. But i'm sorry adults, it won't. Teens will drink, teens will try drugs, teens will do whatever the hell they feel like it WHEN they feel like it.
But READING about it is not gonna turn us into pot head sex crazed, alcoholic whores. I can promise you that.
But this article, this was just way too much. He called books like Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler (who is one of the FREAKING NICEST PEOPLE EVER.) filthy and inappropriate to be taught in schools. As a matter of fact, he thinks they should even be in your child's library. Why? Not because it's JUST his opinion, but because CHRISTIANS shouldn't let their children read this immoral stuff.
Soft Porn. That's what he called Speak. This makes me want to cry and kick and scream. IN NO WAY IS RAPE EVER PORN OF ANY SORT. For you to even SUGGEST that is just sick and wrong. Rape is something horrible and awful that HAPPENS in the world. And even though we never want it to happen, it DOES. It happens around us, it happens almost every day. And you can ban all the books you want and whine and complain and burn them, BUT IT ISNT GONNA STOP HAPPENING.
Rape is STILL going to happen to teens and young adults. Not letting us read about it isn't gonna to make it NOT EXIST. It's the brutal and horrible truth of the world and keeping it from us? It isnt going to mask the pain.
Because of people like this, rape survivors feel like they have to be ashamed. I had a friend who was a rape survivor once, and she was always so happy. She smiled and ate lunch with us but you could tell she never healed. You could see that the smile never reached her eyes. Having books like SPEAK let them know that they're NOT ALONE. That this isn't something that they have to face by themselves.
I applaud Laurie Halse Anderson for having the courage to write a book like SPEAK.
I'm tired of being censored and being told i'm too young to read about something. I'm tired of being shielded.
Its time to not just SPEAK UP, but its time to LISTEN.
Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.
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