This book is a collection of articles in which authors debate whether children should be protected from controversial books, whether reading about obscene or frightening reality is harmful to young people, and whether discussions of evolution should be blacked out from science textbooks.
Content Note
Should children be protected from controversial books? - School libraries and curricula should not focus on books that include violence and pornography / Steve Baldwin - Schools are the ideal place for controversial topics to be addressed / National Coalition Against Censorship - Parents should work to restrict what schools and libraries present to children / Erin Manning - Parents should restrict only what their own children read / Dan Gutman - Should certain kinds of reading material be restricted? - Books condoning homosexuality should not be offered to children / Peter LaBarbera - Sexual orientation is an important part of the elementary school curriculum / GroundSpark - Parents should challenge books containing inappropriate language / Laurie Higgins - Anatomical names for body parts are not offensive / Susan Patron - Reading about obscene or frightening reality is harmful to young people / Alba English and Paula Silvey - Authors of young adult books have good reasons for depicting gritty but realistic events / Rebecca Hill - What are some alternatives to banning controversial books? - Editing the n-word out of Huckleberry Finn makes the book accessible to more readers / Alan Gribben - Editing Huckleberry Finn does a disservice to students / Charles E. May - Discussions of evolution should be flagged or blacked out from science textbooks / Kent Hovind - Flagging evolution materials inappropriately promotes one religion over others / Austin Cline - Parents should help kids find alternatives to inappropriate readings / Betty Holcomb.