Freedom to Read Week takes place in Canada during the last week of February. This yearly observance is meant to highlight the problem of censorship in Canada and to promote the belief that the freedom to read whatever you want is a fundamental right in Canadian society.
While many people believe that censorship is a thing of the past, books are still being banned yearly. The latest example of book banning in Canada was in October of 2009. One parent of a child, who was going to have to read the book in Grade 10, complained about the use of a racial epithet in To Kill a Mockingbird (one of the most frequently banned books) and the Brampton, Ontario school board removed it from their reading list. Anyone who has read this classic novel knows that the language used in the book must be viewed within the context of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel that strives to teach racial acceptance and points out how wrong racism and inequality are. It is particularly upsetting that this book was removed due to one complaint.
Recently in the United States (where Banned Book Week is observed yearly by the ALA in September), a dictionary was banned from a middle school because it had a sexual definition of oral sex. If we start to ban dictionaries because of the words contained in them we are assaulting the very basis of the language and the written word. Again, one parent complained.
It is a shirking of parental responsibility that some parents would rather their child remain ignorant of the world around them. If a parent feels their child will come across something they do not understand or that they the parent feel is morally wrong, it is up to them to discuss it with their children. Oral sex or racially charged language will not go away just because any reference to them is eliminated in the school environment. Why should one person decide for hundreds what is and is not acceptable?
Adults should be able to decide for themselves what they and their children can or cannot read. If a parent is against their child being exposed to a book, they should arrange alternatives with their child’s teacher; most schools will go along with that. It is not right that another's child be denied the right to read a book.
The freedom to read should be preached constantly and loudly. Whether it is a school board or a government agency trying to stop the distribution of the written word, it must be fought against vigorously.
Susan Keeping - Susan has been writing online for over 10 years and is currently developing a website for women.
Join the Conversation