Banned Book Clubs for Students

 

by Pa Rock

Education Advocate

With local and state governments sticking their noses further and further into public school classrooms  - and school boards banning books faster than librarians can pull them off of the shelves - books by authors ranging from Maya Angelou to Kurt Vonnegut to Mark Twain - one can't help but feel alarmed for the general state of education in America.     As right-wing politicians rush to destabilize public education, the odds of today's students being able to graduate with critical thinking skills and the social and psychological development necessary to do anything in life beyond flipping burgers, washing cars, or cleaning cages in puppy mills seem to be steadily decreasing.

But just when things appear to be hopeless, a light flickers in the darkness.

Word has begun to spread across social media platforms about "banned book" clubs which are being established and run by students.  Like regular book clubs, students who join these groups select a book, read it, and then meet to discuss what they have read.  The only difference between these groups and ones that their grandparents might join is that the list of titles that the young people choose from are of books which have been banned by adults in their school districts, adults who want to place limits on the educational experiences offered to their children as well as to the children of others in their community - some of whom would like for their children to be educated beyond the bare minimum of being able to manufacture meth in a rusted-out mobile home.

Wow!   Talk about a fight to preserve freedom!

I have written previously about banned books several times in this space, and I have read and enjoyed many of those "forbidden" literary works myself.   (Multiple lists are widely available on the internet.)  This year I vow to give each of my grandchildren an appropriate age-level banned book on his or her birthday - and if they fail to be inspired by the taboo text, maybe they will at least develop an appreciation for their grandfather's rebellious nature and his personal war on ignorance!

Read on, young Americans, read on!  You make us old folks proud!