I think when it comes to censorship in schools, it depends on the grade level. Obviously younger children are not developmentally ready to be exposed to certain issues or themes. I think it should be up to the local school boards because communities are a lot smaller group to generalize by than by state or country. They should have an idea of the communities thoughts and feelings on certain issues and more able to decide what is appropriate. But again, that is for young children. I think it's different for older kids.




When you are talking high school age, I think that there are very few books that should be completely unavailable to students. For example, I saw the Joy of Sex on a banned book list, and while we all know high school students know plenty about sex, an instructional book on it probably isn't appropriate. But I think most books, even with controversial themes should be available. They are old enough to start thinking for themselves and they can't be sheltered forever.





That's so hard to say. It really depends on what they are studying at different age levels. I can't think of particular books that are "must reads" in school.



I think schools are under A LOT of pressure from parents to choose "appropriate books". I think teachers should be fairly careful when it comes to books assigned to the whole class or give choices so that a parent can veto a particular book and the student has another choice for the assignment. But I think it's wrong to keep books out of the school library. Mark Twain, Harry Potter, Bridge to Terabithia, Judy Blume...those are just a few censored authors that I think are wrong to keep out.



Yes, I love to read, but I hate reading Shakespeare, and we had to read his stuff all the time in school, I think it's overrated. Also, teachers choose a lot of boring, dry books because of their themes. We want kids to enjoy reading, you encourage this by giving them books to read that they can relate to and get excited about. There are millions of books out there, there's no need to choose a book that kids won't like just because it's a "classic" and supports a certain theme.




I'd cut back on the Shakespeare a bit. I think I had to read his stuff in every grade once I hit junior high.





By the way, I'm finishing my teaching degree, so if you didn't notice I feel pretty strongly about getting kids excited about reading! I want them all to love it like I do! I saw a great quote in a teacher's classroom the other day, I don't know if she made it up or where it came from but it said, "Readers are never bored or lonely." I just really like that!