Journo

The Higher Power of Naughty Words

 "Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself."
-- Justice Potter Stewart

The New York Times recently published a small article about a big issue: censorship (you can find the article here). As a raging liberal, I belong to that camp of wackos who think children should be able to read, watch, and listen to anything they want. After all, if your five-year-old somehow makes it into an R rated film without parental supervision, you got bigger problems than explaining what new words your little tyke has picked up. This stance may be unpopular, but I give parents more credit than I do the MPAA.

Librarians, however, apparently don't feel that way. In The Higher Power of Lucky, a book aimed at 9 to 12-year-olds, a young girl learns the word "scrotum" on the first page. She doesn't know what the words means, but she likes the way it sounds (and, linguistically, she's got a point; it's a great word). The word happens to be the name of a body part which she, as a girl, does not have. I fail to understand how the technical naming of body parts violates a parent's right to discuss sex with their children, but apparently the librarians know better than I do, and the book is being banned left and right. (I'm in no way attempting to vilify librarians, usually the champions of readers and writers everywhere).

"No boy is ever going to do that to me..." 

Even if the word somehow did lead the conversation into dangerous waters, the books is for 9-year-olds; the notion that babies aren't delivered by stork should not be news. Young children are remarkably resilient; they learn the facts, usually proclaim them to be "icky," and suffer no ill effects. I knew about the mechanics of sex in kindergarten--I understood the implications, told my mom that "no boy is ever going to do that to me," and that was it. No harm, no foul.

But that's neither here nor there. The real issue, as I see, is the quality of education we are offering our kids. Life would be very grim indeed for advanced readers if they had to wait for their peers to grow up before having access to higher-level books in school. (Elementary school is normally ages 6 - 10; the book is advertised as being intended for 9 - 12 year olds. That's middle-schoolers, in the throws of puberty, and those younger kids who are probably verging on puberty themselves. And if a third-grader has the reading level of a fifth-grader, well then, give the kid something to read!)

Forgive the rant. I simply don't think the word "scrotum" violates a parent's rights; and more importantly, public schools have an obligation to cater to all students' needs and supply them with books that will feed their curiosity and broaden their horizons--in which case, "scrotums" should be the tip of the iceberg. At least, I should hope so.