Barring controversial works from high school reading lists would be a mistake

Editorial by Wimington Star-News, November 1, 2013.

It would be unfortunate if the Brunswick County school board agreed to pull a book that has been showered with accolades and literary awards from class reading lists.

Board member Catherine Cooke doesn't believe Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" is age appropriate for high school juniors. Apparently teachers who use the book in class, including college-level AP English, believe the book has educational value and that their students are mature enough to handle the language, sexual images and difficult subject matter.

However, some parents in Brunswick County have complained about the book, and now the board is poised to decide that no Brunswick high school classes should read the Pulitzer Prize winner. Its main character, Celie, describes her abuse-filled life through letters to God. It is not a comfortable read. The abuses Celie and other female characters suffer are unspeakable. However, passages from the book have appeared in questions on standardized tests such as the Advanced Placement English exam.

To her credit, Cooke is not proposing that the book be removed from school libraries, which would have invited a replay of the national ridicule to which the Randolph County Board of Education's subjected itself after pulling Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" from library shelves. But it is still troubling that a school board would consider overruling experienced teachers who see a chance to bring a book that may resonate with their students in a way that a century-old work may not.

Of greater concern than the fate of a single book on the reading list, however, is the notion that school board members may challenge any literary work if a few parents complain. Many of the world's most acclaimed novels explore troubling subject matter. Teachers tend to know what their students can and cannot handle, and their judgment should be respected.

Parents are naturally protective of their children, and school districts recognize that not every book on a reading list will meet with the approval of every parent. Brunswick County school officials have taken great pains – greater than necessary, we might argue – to allow parents to request an alternative reading selection for their children.

On one point, however, Cooke makes sense. The policy that allows students to opt out also excludes those students from classroom discussions; it is preferable if everyone is reading the same book. We would also argue that it is not good policy to limit students' exposure to ideas and writings that may challenge preconceived notions and teach them how to think for themselves.

In allowing students to opt out, parents may be underestimating the intellect and maturity of their own offspring. Could minds be expanded with less objectionable material? Perhaps. But the American Library Association's list of most-challenged books includes a number of literary classics, so what happens if the next book is challenged? And the next? And the next?

When they discuss whether to strike "The Color Purple" from the reading list, the board should take into consideration not only those parents who objected, but also those who did not.