Once Again, Censorship Rears Its Ugly Head

Last week I had the pleasure of reading to Brian Stern’s Grade Six class at Thorsby Elementary School. The school invited various people in the community to read to the students as part of the school’s Literacy Day. I had the opportunity not only to read an excerpt from a novel about pirates but also to talk to the students about how a love of literacy has shaped my life choices and career path. I hoped to instil in the students a sense of passion for literature. I told the students how reading has enriched my life and how words are the basis of my career. If I had had more time with the kids, I would have told them reading is an important way to learn about the outside world and that they should all be grateful for the opportunity to access information in a country where literature, both fiction and non-fiction, is largely uncensored. I should have told them some students don’t have such luxuries. In fact, some students don’t even have access to complete dictionaries anymore.

Students in grades four and five at Oak Meadows Elementary School in California recently lost their right to look up words in the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition). According to a press release from the Menifee Union School District, the dictionaries were relocated to “a central location on campus,” because some parents complained to the principal of Oak Meadows Elementary School that the dictionary contained words unsuitable for children of that age. According to the press release, the children now have elementary-level dictionaries in their classrooms, as well as the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Children can access the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate dictionary only if their parents give them permission to see it. A committee will decide if the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionaries should be returned to the students permanently.

True, the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is technically meant for college-bound students. However, the Webster’s Collegiate dictionaries were in the classrooms to help students “learn root languages and prepare for spelling bees,” said Betti Cadmus, spokeswoman for the Menifee Union School District. The dictionary definitions that upset the parents of the children at Oak Meadows were of a “sexual nature,” Cadmus said.

Sure, it doesn’t sound like much of a big deal that the dictionaries are being kept from young students. The students still have access to some dictionaries, just not the more adult versions of the dictionary. However, censorship is a slippery slope and Oak Meadows Elementary seems like they could slide right into book-burning territory if enough parents complain about Huckleberry Finn or Slaughterhouse Five. People of all ages need to have access to literature not only because it is their right but because it will expand their minds considerably. Getting rid of advanced dictionaries in classrooms sets a disturbing precedent. Today, the parents at Oak Meadows Elementary School are upset that their children can look up the term, “oral sex” in the dictionary. Tomorrow, the parents might be worried that the literary masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird, which discusses both rape and race, is too much for their kids to handle.

It is the right of parents to screen what their children read at home, if that is the way they wish to raise their children. School, however, is a place of learning and the reading curriculum cannot be subject to the whims of parents; there would be disastrous results and clashing opinions. Subjects and words that might bother some parents wouldn’t be remotely offensive to others.

Banning dictionaries or books is not the way to keep children “innocent;” instead, it only keeps them ignorant of the facts of life and the world around them, which they must eventually learn. Barring children from looking up “dirty” words in the dictionary is also ineffective in today’s society. Children learn how to use computers at an extremely young age today, meaning they are capable of looking up just about anything online. The Internet is home to many dictionaries, including actual dictionaries and dictionary spin-offs such as Wikipedia and UrbanDictionary.com. Children who don’t have full access to the Internet can go to the library to borrow a dictionary or swipe one from their parents’ collection at home. Censorship is not the answer. Telling kids of any age that they can’t look at something or know about a certain subject is the easiest way to ensure that they will do whatever it takes to find out exactly what is being hidden from them.