Friday, October 5, 2012

My Kids Celebrate Banned Books Week

So it's Banned Books week! Hooray. I live in kind of a hipster neighborhood where the libraries and the book stores all do lots of cool things around the event. And, of course, I have my favorite T-shirt...

But the cool thing is that this year, my kids' class did a thing for it too. They had to pick a book they'd read from a list of banned books and write a small essay on why it was banned and why it shouldn't be. My 8yo chose Harry Potter and my 10yo chose The Hunger Games.




Conversation from my house last night:

Me: So how did your essays go?
10yo: Well, I was the only one in the class who didn't have to redo mine.
Me: How come people had to redo them?
10yo: Bc at first, they just wrote that books shouldn't be banned because they liked them.
Me: What did you write?
10yo: I said The Hunger Games was banned bc it has kids killing kids in it, but if you actually read it there's a really big anti-violence message in it.
Me: Wow.
10yo: Yeah, it was a good thing that we read that book together, right, Mom?
Me: Yeah.
8yo: I had to redo mine, but I got it right the second time.
Me: What did you say?
8yo: I said that Harry Potter is banned bc it's against some people's religion, but I said it shouldn't be bc it's not supposed to be a religious book, it's just a fun book that's not real.
Me: Good answer.
10yo: Yeah, and then one of the kids asked our teacher if we had freedom of speech, how come people can ban books?
Me: What did she say?
10yo: She said that sometimes people want to protect their children more than they want to protect free speech.
Me: Yeah, that's right, I guess.
10yo: Yeah, but I think even bad books should be out there for people to read. We shouldn't have to read them, but we should get the choice to read them.
Me: I think that too.

I love my kids. I love these teachers for bringing such thoughtful dialogue into the classroom. And in case you're wondering, this is my favorite banned book:


19 comments:

Suzi said...

I haven't read the Perks yet, but it's on my list.

I don't hear much about books being banned lately. I'm sure it happens mostly in schools, with kids, but do you hear about it happening much with adult books in public libraries. Fifty Shades might be a recent one, but can you think of any others?

Just curious.

M.J. Fifield said...

That is very cool. And I love your tee shirt.

Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my all time faves.

Morgan said...

Holy crap, your kids are brilliant! Serious. I'm shocked with their ability to "see" what most kids their age don't. Wow.

And the shirt pic is TOO COOL. We need a top ten fascinating blogger list or something, Christa, because you would be right at the top! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow - great that teachers encouraged this. Brought about some fantastic thinking from your kids!

Brinda said...

Out of the mouths of babes...

Your children are VERY smart.

KatOwens: Insect Collector said...

I've missed you and I'm so glad you're back!!
What a fantastic assignment. Not to mention your kids' brilliant responses. My fave is from the 8 yo: it's just a fun book that's not real.
Yeah, people. Duh. It's not real. And it's supposed to be fun. Lighten up!
For our book club tonight we're discussion PERKS! Can't wait! Hoorah!

Jessica Love said...

Your kids are awesome!

roxanne s. sukhan said...

Bravo to your kids!

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Your kids are so wise! Great answers. <3

Elodie said...

Love your shirt and wow your kids got it right! Adorable and very wise answers <3

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love that shirt. I'm glad your kids participated. :)

I have Perks but haven't read it yet.

Alexis Bass said...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: those kids of yours are brilliant. :)


Peggy Eddleman said...

Your kids are awesome. And I love that the school made so many kids think deeper!

Ghenet Myrthil said...

Your kids are great! Perks is my favorite banned book too. I just re-read it last week and it was wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Your kids are wonderful. I still need to read Perks of Being a Wallflower!

Ashley Prince

Jolene Perry said...

I get teary at the TRAILER for Perks of Being a Wallflower.
I still hope I manage to see it in theaters, but it's already out of our little Wasilla theater :(

Jolene Perry said...

Also - don't you LOVE it when you realize that you actually rubbing off on your kids in such a positive way??
AWESOME.

Sophia Chang said...

Your kids are awesome because you're their mom.

LTM said...

omg--LOVE conversations like this w/the kids. It's because we read to them. Although we haven't read THG, we have read HP. (I didn't realize both of them are banned...!) Good stuff~ <3