 Challenges to school materials
are a common occurrence. How should such challenges be handled? How can
they be avoided?
What books should be taught in schools? It sounds like a simple question
but the answer can be complex.
Challenges to curriculum content have torn apart communities. On the
one hand, advocates of banning certain books maintain that children in
grades K-12 will be harmed if we don't protect them from inappropriate
materials. Opponents are equally heated in insisting that censorship of
books and other curriculum materials violates the academic freedom and
diversity of thought protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Among the classic works of literature banned from schools over the years
have been Shakespeare's Hamlet, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet
Letter, and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
An American Civil Liberties Union report lists among the most frequently
banned or challenged books of 1997 R. L. Stine's Goosebumps series,
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and Catcher
in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.
A report by the National School Boards Association (NSBA) found that
challenges of school materials are common throughout the United States.
Those challenges frequently work; nearly one-third result in materials
being withdrawn from schools or their use curtailed.
During Banned Books Week, people are exhorted to fight against banning
and censorship. Yet do opponents of banning books believe that any
book is appropriate for teaching in school? And where should the line
be drawn between books that are appropriate and inappropriate? A number
of experts have explored these and related questions of censorship.
Censorship is "the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation
of literary, artistic or educational materials ... on the grounds that
these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of the standards
applied by the censor," writes Henry Reichman in Censorship and Selection,
Issues and Answers for Schools. According to definitions like this,
observers point out, many decisions made by school boards about what can
be taught in schools might be seen as acts of censorship.
Challenges to materials in school curricula, according to Censorship
of Curriculum Materials, by JeanMarie Aurnague-DeSpain and Alan Bass,
generally arise in the following areas:
- sex and drug education
- literature showing children challenging parents and authorities
- teaching evolution without reference to creationism
- showing women behaving in nontraditional ways
- "invasions of privacy" -- projects requiring students to share personal
information.
Supreme Court cases that deal with censorship issues show a broad trend
toward supporting the schools, but they also caution educators to remain
aware of values, including minority values, in the communities they serve.
Experts have cited the First Amendment of the Constitution as protecting
both students' rights to know and teachers' rights to academic freedom.
At the same time, legal experts argue, parents have the right to protest
books or materials that they consider damaging to their children.
In a landmark censorship case, Island Trees Union Free High School
v. Pico (1982), the Court asserted that the "Constitution does not
permit the official suppression of ideas," and the banned books were returned
to school shelves. In this and other cases, the Court seems to allow school
boards a rather free hand with curriculum materials.
In the Pico case, Justice Brennan's plurality opinion stated that a
basis for resolving censorship conflicts over school materials could rest
upon the use of "established…unbiased procedures for the review of controversial
materials" at the local level.
To avoid controversy, school boards need clearly stated policies delineating
how materials are selected. Selection policies should weigh the viewpoints
of various groups in the community and be implemented by professionals.
Those developing selection policies must consider community and parental
concerns and demonstrate acceptance of our national diversity, asserts
Reichman. If selection policy ignores minority rights, censorship issues
may arise. And school materials should not be selected for partisan political
reasons.
To develop a community consensus and prevent cries for censorship, Larry
Mikulecky (see Resources) recommends several strategies:
- Ask parents to contribute to developing school reading programs.
- Give recommended, rather than required, reading lists.
- Have files of professional reviews that support materials.
- In collective bargaining agreements, negotiate clauses that protect
academic freedom and call for agreed-on selection processes.
- Discourage the concept that only one text can be used to teach a specific
theme.
When controversy flares up despite efforts to avoid it, there are ways
of handling it to minimize damage. In "Censorship of Curriculum Materials,"
JeanMarie Aurnague-DeSpain and Alan Baas say, "good internal communications
and public relations offer the best way to avoid unnecessary controversy."
Several experts recommend the following process, says "Censorship of
Curriculum Materials":
- Meet with the complainant and attempt to resolve the issue.
- If that fails, request a written complaint detailing the questionable
material, the bad effect it is thought to have on students, and what
replacement materials are suggested.
- Give the complainant a copy of published district policies for controversial
materials and explain the procedure to be followed.
- Have a review committee provide the school board with a final report.
- Inform the complainant of the review process and when committee meetings
are slated.
- Provide an appeals process.
- While the complaint is being explored, keep the controversial material
available, except possibly to the student whose family has filed a challenge.
School boards are legally responsible for what is taught in a district,
according to U.S. courts in general. The board delegates power to school
officials and so is held responsible for school policies.
In summary, the NSBA report states that "the challenge is not to avoid
censorship, but to meet it head on with adequate policies and procedures
that provide an open forum for deciding what should -- or should not --
take place in public schools."
Article by Sharon Cromwell
Education World®
Copyright © 2005 Education World
- Censorship: Managing the Controversy by Linda Chion-Kenney;
National School Boards Association, Alexandria, Va. (1989). 88 pages.
- The International Reading Association's Role in the Politics of
Censorship by Larry Mikulecky; paper presented at the annual meeting
of the International Reading Association, New Orleans, La., April 27-May
1, 1981.
- Censorship and Selection, Issues and Answers for Schools by
Henry Reichman; American Association of School Administrators, Alexandria,
Va., and American Library Association, Chicago (1988). 141 pages.
- Censorship Post-Pico by John David Terry II; in School Law
Update by Thomas N. Jones and Darel P. Semler, eds., National Organization
on Legal Problems, Topeka, Kan. (1986).
Updated 09/23/2005
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