How to Deal with Censorship Issues
Linda Harvey
Schools are already censoring materials. How do we make this point widely understood?
In the late 1990’s, a censorship issue became the focus of considerable media attention at Upper Arlington High School in Columbus, Ohio. The daughter of one of my friends brought home a suggested reading list from an 11th grade “multiculturalism” unit, and homosexuality was one of the “minority” groups the class was studying. The recommended books in this category were all pro-homosexual, offering no opposing viewpoint, and one in particular jumped out at my friend: a book called Entries from a Hot Pink Notebook by Todd Brown.
The short version of this saga is that my friend, after politely going through channels like the teacher and the administration, and being told it was a matter of “academic freedom” for teachers, and that this book really described what life is like for teenaged “gay” boys, my friend finally became quite creative. She xeroxed several pages from the book--which was highly objectionable throughout -- and began passing them out at grocery stores, sports practices and games. The school was inundated with calls from irate parents, demanding to know why the school was teaching such trash. To our knowledge, the book was not used again for several years, but eventually found its way to a shelf in the library.
The book in question is filled with profanity, much of it derogatory slang used by teen boys to insult teen girls. The story line is anything but uplifting, dwelling on parental adultery, teen rebellion against adult authority, and teens obsessed with sex. The Bible is also depicted as unreliable, and one character delivers the message that real Christians accept homosexuality. But in and around a plot line that is discriminatory and depressing are numerous graphic sex passages, one involving homosexual sex between two fourteen year old boys.
And I am talking--graphic. He put this there, and then the other boy had X response, with bodily fluids and the whole thing. Parents who read this commented that this easily qualified as pornography.
Now -- the school defended this book (and all the other books on the list) as schools often defend graphic material by saying it’s “reality.” Well, so is wife-beating. So is bulimia. So are incest and cannibalism. When a school deliberately chooses some books out of all the material available, and excludes other material, what standards are used? A school should not randomly choose the dregs of pop culture to offer up to impressionable kids, who don’t know there may be more hopeful messages out there. Schools aren’t simply worldly smorgasbords. They should stand for something.
The Real Meaning of Censorship
This isn’t censorship. It’s community input, and the use of good judgment. Historically, censorship occurs when all available copies of a particular book or other medium are destroyed by a national government, as happened in Nazi Germany. That is not happening in America. All of the books challenged in schools in recent years are available somewhere, usually quite easily. It’s just that they don’t all have to be used in local schools, which should offer only the finest and best to students.
If you bring inappropriate material to the attention of a school or organization, and you are told they can’t practice “censorship,” remind them that you are not introducing a new policy, but simply an alternative approach to what’s already in practice.
The reality is that they already practice censorship, and they know it. ALL schools and libraries practice censorship; it’s called “the curriculum,” or “the library/materials selection committee,” or something similar. Because not every library can be the Library of Congress, there must be limits. Someone is making those decisions to include some material, and exclude other material. Who, and on what basis? Likewise, schools do not have an infinite amount of time to teach, but choices must be made as to what is taught. This is the curriculum; who is deciding what will be taught and what won’t be, and on what basis?
The NCAC (National Coalition Against Censorship) recommends that schools and libraries “Establish, in writing, a materials selection policy. It should specify the local criteria and procedures for selecting curricular and library materials, and all personnel should strictly adhere to the policy.”1
Parents, grandparents and community standards should play a part in this. Many schools quietly ignore the values of communities when selecting materials, but instead embrace current fads in educational practices, guided by teacher or librarian bias. As the culture deteriorates and yesterday’s trash is today’s classic, this material is becoming more and more harmful to impressionable children. Alarm bells are sounding in the minds of many parents. How can you protect your children against the too-often jaded and corrupted decisions of librarians and school officials, or from the questionable standards of remote professional groups?
Regarding the issue of homosexuality, any school’s current policy of censorship should be based on health and morality, not on high-risk lifestyles or unsubstantiated claims of “civil rights.” In addition, nothing should be taught that provokes discrimination against long-standing moral beliefs and values, like much of the anti-Christian content in literature and textbooks today. Shared values are the ones that should be taught, and acceptance of homosexuality and materials that graphically describe it to students are not usually shared values in most communities. Civility, kindness and the ability to listen to alternate ideas (not sexual practices) are generally shared ideals that every community can agree upon.
Keep repeating, as often as you need to, that homosexuality, cross-dressing and gender change are not “viewpoints.” They are high-risk behaviors that schools have no place affirming, implicitly or explicitly. They are not genetic variations in humans; they are behaviors that carry dire physical, emotional and social consequences, and they can and should be avoided.
The reality is that, schools have a finite amount of time and resources. Why not spend it on academic subjects, and get out of the business of trying to re-mold values? The additional potential financial liability for the school district of exposing children to high-risk behaviors is another aspect we don’t have time to explore here, but certainly should be taken into account.
If your discussions about questionable material do not result in fair cooperation from the school, then purchase several well-written books not currently offered in the library or taught in the curriculum, that uphold traditional morality and reveal the risks of homosexuality. Ask that they be placed in the library, or offered as reading selections in an appropriate place in the curriculum. Make this request in a public forum, like the school board meeting, and put that request in writing. If they are not accepted, then request an explanation for the basis on which this material is being censored.
You may be confronted with reference to some school committee, or a professional group’s “standards,” like the National Council of Teachers of English, that your school system has adopted. Ask if such organizations favor censorship of viewpoints that object to homosexuality. (The NCTE has policies that essentially do this.) If so, then your school’s teachers and librarians should stop hiding behind the censorship policies of a remote group and face the music (or literature) in your community directly. Or perhaps the school should choose a better professional group with more realistic and workable standards.
Smoke, Mirrors and Professional Groups
The American Library Association believes every type of book or media should be available to everyone, regardless of age. At least, that’s what they say.
Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. 2
What about the fact that those in charge of the school or library have already made decisions? Ah, the ALA says this is an “inclusive” process, because it considers the viewpoints of lots of people in contrast to the “exclusive” process of removing something, which censors (parents, taxpayers, etc.) may want to do.3
This is just doublespeak, because the reality is that the curricular and library selection decisions are most definitely “exclusive” processes, just ones that are protected by the institution. In the Upper Arlington High School situation, someone had decided that all the books on the recommended list would affirm homosexuality. Any other viewpoint was excluded. This is institutional censorship.
What schools want is for you, the parent, to go away. They only want input from those who think like they do, which increasingly involves radically liberal ideas. Only if forced to do so will many schools include anyone in their “inclusive” selection process who is even mildly conservative. If you have a school that operates differently, consider your children and your community incredibly blessed.
In addition, there is an overwhelmingly pro-homosexual bias among librarians in the U.S., and many practicing homosexuals within their ranks. This is one reason why such deeply profane material has been inserted into public schools in this country.
So the deck is stacked in advance to discourage parental and community input.
Schools, according to the National Council of Teacher of English (NCTE), should:
“ Affirm, seek, and encourage all teachers to include a diversity of perspectives, cultures, aesthetic responses, and experiences in the teaching and learning of English language arts...”
At the same time, NCTE has pledged to
“ Take proactive measures to enable its members, the larger profession of English language arts teachers, and community and political leaders to resist racism, sexism, homophobia, Eurocentrism, the privileging of English, economic injustice, and other forms of domination...”4
(Italics added).
“Homophobia’ among today’s politically-correct educators usually means any type of objection to homosexuality. So if parents don’t want pro-homosexual families presented to grade school children, or free speech objections to homosexuality presented to middle schoolers as a “hate crime,” or for high school students to read erotic passages detailing homosexual sex, this may be considered “homophobic” and worthy of NCTE “resistance.”
In order to manage parental pressure to remove such material from school curricula and libraries, the NCTE provides this guidance to the local school:
“While some in the educational community look on this interest with alarm, a school system with professional standards for dealing with censorship can welcome the interest and support of every faction in its community.....”
In such situations in the past, NCTE notes that ... “the existence of definite written book-selection policies, on file with administrations, tended to lessen the likelihood of censorship becoming an issue in a community.”5
In other words, let a set of written standards do your censoring FOR you! Then you won’t have to deal with those pesky parents. All a school has to do is refer to the committee decision, or some remote NCTE standard, which supposedly welcomes a “diversity” of community perspectives yet conversely decries “homophobia.” When referencing a national professional group, the local teachers/administrators are off the hook, because, after all, every school wants to follow the “highest” standards of the applicable professional organization, no matter how discriminatory they may actually be to the majority of parents’ moral beliefs-- and no matter how much they allow for institutionalized censorship.
The National Council on Social Studies is similarly conflicted. Its Curriculum Guidelines for Multicultural Education state:
“A national culture or school curriculum that does not reflect the voices, struggles, hopes, and dreams of its many peoples is neither democratic nor cohesive. Divisiveness within a nation-state occurs when important segments within its society are structurally excluded and marginalized.”
There are many conservative parents who can identify with being “excluded and marginalized” currently in the public school system, so this is welcome news. Yet in the area of cultural diversity, the NCSS further states in its Goals for School Reform that
“ Schools should create total school environments that are consistent with democratic ideals and cultural diversity,”
and its Curriculum Guidelines for Multicultural Education states,
“The multicultural curriculum should help students understand and respect ethnic diversity and broaden their cultural options. Too many people in the United States learn only the values, behavioral patterns, and beliefs of either mainstream society or their own ethnic groups, cultural groups, or communities. Socialization is, in effect, encapsulating, providing few opportunities for most individuals to acquire more than stereotypes about ethnic and cultural groups other than their own. Therefore, many people tend to view other ethnic groups and life-styles as ‘abnormal’ or ‘deviant.’ The multicultural curriculum can help students correct these misconceptions by teaching them that other ways of living are as valid and viable as their own.”
As part of a “multicultural education checklist,” the NCSS asks,
“ Do school libraries and resource centers offer a variety of materials on the histories, experiences, and cultures of many racial, ethnic, and cultural groups?”6
Homosexuals are considered a “cultural group” by many social studies teachers, and tolerance and anti-bias lessons often include homosexuality as a behavior worthy of respect.
The “Discrimination” and “Safety” Rationale
School policies may specify non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. In a few areas of the country, there may even be city or state laws along this line. If so, the school may point to this as a rationale for training children to accept homosexuality and even describing homosexual sex. This is how some define “non-discrimination.” There may even be a “safe schools” program that has similar language, assuming that safety for students includes endorsement of homosexuality rather than discouraging it.
Such policies mock genuine safety standards for children. To counteract this, parents can refer to school health guidelines. Homosexual sex is not safe; it is high risk. Policies that uphold “sexual orientation” rights assume some students are inevitably homosexual, and that others cannot be prompted to experiment with it when they might not have done so without constant exposure to the subject.
There is only one way to counteract such convoluted and inaccurate thinking, and that’s with the facts:
1. There is no reliable evidence that homosexuality is genetic or inevitable. Where is the genetic test for this? The evidence is overwhelming that it is a high risk, harmful developmental desire, one that is changeable.
2. There is, conversely, tons of cultural evidence that youth are experimenting with homosexual sex. Bisexuality and much material upholding the “right” to be “fluid” in sexuality, is available throughout the culture and points squarely to the known reality of a non-biological basis for homosexuality. The fact that kids are being influenced to experiment can hardly be missed.
3. Homosexual sex is high risk. AIDS and many other sexually transmitted diseases are much more prevalent among practicing homosexuals, because of the kinds of sexual practices involved, particularly anal sex.
4. Because of #1, 2, and 3, schools that teach acceptance of homosexual behavior are not simply negligent, but reckless and irresponsible.
Steps to Keep Harmful Material out of Schools
If you weren’t convinced before, maybe you are now that the best course of action could be to remove your children from the public schools! Improving the curriculum can be a daunting task, and one that many parents give up on.
But perhaps you are unable to change your child’s school. Or, even if you can put your kids into a moral educational environment, you still realize that you are paying for this as a taxpayer. If you still want to tackle this job, you can do it! You’ll need courage, compatriots, and creativity.
Here are our recommendations:
1. Find allies. It’s generally best to not tackle this alone. You will need extra hands to do the job right, and a group has more impact than single people.
2. Research the curriculum and library. Find out what’s being taught in key classes (health, social studies, literature). Find out what’s in the library, and what’s not. Have informal discussions with key school staff, like librarians, department heads, and administrators.
3. Assume people have good motivations and are just misinformed. Try to be polite even if you are fuming inside. Maybe they have just never looked at things in the way you will try to show them. However, don’t let yourself be charmed into non-diligence.
4. Go through the channels. Write letters, follow up, write more letters. Ask for copies. Ask again. You are a taxpayer and/or a parent. You have a right to know.
5. If you have children in the schools, tell them what you are doing in an age-appropriate way. Don’t let their potential embarrassment slow you down, but try to be considerate of the situations they may find themselves in. You are setting an example, even if they don’t see it at present.
6. At an appropriate point if needed, speak before a school board meeting and make your requests known publicly. Have a printed statement ready for the press. Send it to reporters if need be.
7. If you are not good at speaking, choose a spokesperson who is your best representative.
8. Don’t make accusations you can’t back up. Keep your statements simple. Provide ample copies of material you find objectionable.
9. If they want to put you on a committee, consider this carefully. It may be a way to slow down the process and swallow up your concerns in the bureaucracy. You will be in unfamiliar territory, a place where it will be easy for your concerns to somehow never be taken seriously.
10. At an appropriate point, it may be advisable to go very public with what you have found out. Be committed and creative. The school fears exposure of some of what they are teaching, but people need to see exactly what we are talking about. Some ideas:
• Raise money if needed for mailings to parents, and for making copies to pass out at churches, sports practices, grocery stores.
• Consider making poster blow-ups and standing in front of the school if all else fails. Call the press if you do this. Don’t worry too much at this point about what the school’s children are exposed to, because you won’t have to do this for more than about a half hour before the school reacts and will do anything (temporarily) to make you stop. This is a last ditch, hard-ball tactic, but it will make for great public awareness. It will also in many minds label you as a nut, so that’s why you only choose this carefully. Get other parents/grandparents to go with you.
• Find allies on the school board and administration. If school board members won’t listen, and continue to support inappropriate teaching, start a recall campaign--or make sure they are not re-elected next time.
11.Repeat over and over to yourself, to the press, and all the officials you deal with, as you go through this, that there is censorship now. It’s called choice. Your only concern is the values used to make these decisions.
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Notes:
1. From National Coalition Against Censorship,
From http://www.ncac.org/projects/before.html
2. American Library Association, Library Bill of Rights, found at
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillrights.htm
3. From ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Q & A, found at
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/intellectual.htm#ifpoint13
4. From National Council of Teachers of English “Diversity Statement” on web site at
http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/div/107422.htm
5. From NCTE Censorship discussion,
(From http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/cens/107612.htm )
6. All quotes from NCSS web site at http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/multicultural/
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