Controversial Issues Project Finished

Our group finally finished our controversial issues project just in time for the online class meeting. I'll have to say, I really enjoyed working with my group members. They were all very responsible in getting their part of the project done. We all worked together nicely and I look forward to working with those girls again in the future. As you know, our project was on banned books due to sexual content. Noel did the historical research, I believe Leigh researched middle grades banned books, Veronica did elementary level, and I took high school. It was interesting to see how views and opinions had changed over the years. What was considered to be risque and obscene in the 1960s is only PG at worst today. It's kind of sad in a way, that the innocence of the country is lost. I learned though my research that people who fought for the freedom to read these banned books really went through a lot of shame and discrimination. Some teachers lost jobs, etc. I think there's a fine line that we need to walk when it comes to censoring and banning books. I'm middle of the road on most issues and this is no exceptions. We need to keep in mind what is age appropriate for our youth, especially when it comes to controversial issues like drugs, sex, gangs, violence, etc. However, we also need to give them the freedoms that we all share in this country. We cannot shelter our children forever, but we can protect them from reading things that are going to lead them down the wrong paths. I also believe that public libraries should have less censoring, of course, but enough so that I'm not afraid to bring my son inside. If they are going to have materials that are not suitable for children, they should have restrictions on who is allowed to check those materials out. Some may say that's the parents job, but I'm here to tell you that many parents today don't do their jobs. I just had a sixth grader tell me to day (11 years old) that he just recently saw the lastest horror movie, Saw 5. It's all blood and gore and murder and if you ask me it is not for children's eyes. He told me that his parents don't care and take him to all the new horror flicks. This proves my point: If their parents aren't going to look out for them, we have to. I can't have that on my conscience. I know that we have freedoms in this country and that's what makes this country great, but we need to protect our children at the same time. (Not to mention, it's not doing us any good to look at things that are obscene or violent or sexual in nature either. My preacher always says: "If you don't want your kids to see it, what business do you have watching it?")