Censorship is dangerous; an authority does not have the right to ban material based solely on its opinion. Reasons could be found to ban any media; it would be a form of control over people’s agency that denies freedom of conscience. Banning also brings greater attention to media that otherwise might have been ignored. Yet, there are instances when individuals, families, and communities will choose to regulate media based on it’s harmful consequences. Pornography, explicit violence, strong language, and other extremes are regulated, not strictly forbidden. Regulations help people make selections for themselves, their families, and the community. I have formed my own conclusions about how to proceed as a parent, a teacher, and an individual when I encounter books that may be disturbing in content and/or language.
I stand by Elder M. Russell Ballard when he says, “There is no such thing as unlawful censorship in the home” ("Like a Flame Unquenchable." Apr. 1999. Lds.org. Web. 24 Jan. 2011). Parents must protect themselves and their children from things they know or feel are harmful, as best they know how. It is also true that the degree of censorship changes as children grow older. Parents censor a great deal at first, but gradually they must teach and train children to make their own responsible choices, to self-censor. Virtue coerced is not virtue at all, as John Milton explained in “Aeropagitica” when he said, “If every action which is good, or evil in man at ripe years, were to be under pittance, and prescription, and compulsion, what were virtue but a name, what praise could be then due to well-doing, what grammercy to be sober, just, or continent?” (Vol. III, Part 3. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/3/3/. 1-24-2011). If we do not gradually transfer control to our children, then, as Milton says, what praise for right-doing is really their own? As children grow there are rules for the home, but many break the rules, especially as teens, and are frequently away from home. We need to expect these situations and be prepared to use them as opportunities to teach.
It is wise to foster agency while teaching values. One way to do this is through intervention (Ballard, op. cit.) - parents must teach truth and encourage righteous choices even while refraining from making choices for their children or trying to prevent them from making all mistakes. Intervening parents talk with their children about the media they are consuming, asking questions about how they think or feel about it, discussing choices, consequences, and values.
When I was about 12 years old my mother found I had been reading Judy Blume’s Forever. She intervened. She read some of it where I had recently been reading and then asked me questions about my feelings and understanding of the book. Sharing her values and her concern, she told me it was not good for me to read it because of the details of sexual intimacy it contained. But she left the book with me and let me choose. I quit reading it because her voice echoed the voice of caution I had heard from the Spirit and my own conscience, voices I had drowned out with curiosity. My mother’s intervention was a catalyst for my own decision; she helped me remember my values and taught me to choose for myself. Because she did not ban the book, overreact, nor shame me, I was truly free to choose. She handled it in the best way!
Another example comes from my own parenting. One of my boys, when he was about 14, wanted to watch a PG-13 horror film at a friend’s home, a movie which was not allowed in our home. We advised him against it, sharing our concern and gently persuading, but we allowed him to choose. He chose to see it, and we talked with him about it afterward: He had had a good time with his friends while watching the movie, but he had been frightened afterward and had slept poorly that night. We pointed out something we knew about his sensitivity to frightening things. He learned something about himself, choices, consequences, and about why we choose not to watch horror movies in our home. We intervened and were there to help him and love him through his learning process, but we did not choose for him. This process has been repeated many times, as consequences fade and different opportunities present themselves, with varying results. It is an extended learning process.
Censorship is necessary in the home but we have to prepare to for it to be tested repeatedly by our children who are trying to figure things out for themselves, and, over time, to hand over more responsibility to our children for censoring themselves. Intervention is the important work of fostering the healthy growth of children’s values. Intervening parents teach and help children to develop their abilities to choose responsibly.
What about at school? What are a teacher’s boundaries and opportunities? Teachers are not the parents of the children they teach, but a teacher can bring her desire for the welfare of children according to the truths she knows to the selection of books and act in partnership with parents. I love the idea in the Donelson text of documenting then making public the reasons for selecting a particular book, establishing procedures for parents and teachers to use when a book selection is questioned, procedures complete with complaint forms and polite, timely response to concerns. Alternatives should always be offered to students and parents who find the selection objectionable.
Several years ago, I questioned the required reading in my son’s sophomore Honors English class, after having read it myself. I talked with my son about the yin and yang - the book had a hopeful message about families, but the author also used sexual allusions frequently, addressed child sexual abuse frankly, seemed to tolerate adultery, and used scenes and characters that implied ridicule of traditional families. I wondered if he would be all right with discussing these things in class and perhaps having his own values challenged daily for a time. We decided to find out from the teacher if there was another book he could read instead. The teacher responded in a polite and timely manner, and I met with her and the principal to discuss my son’s options. Unfortunately, they would not allow a substitution and gave him the option of enrolling in a regular English class. I explained the options to my son and let him choose what he wanted to do - stay in Honors and read the material, or enroll in another class and avoid the material. It was a difficult decision for him, but in the end he chose to enroll in another class. We are still learning from that experience, though it was 7 years ago.
I am learning teachers can be prepared to explain their selections and offer substitutes, if requested. I am also understanding that a teacher ought not to censor a student’s choice to read books just because she finds issues with it for herself. Does a teacher censor at all? Yes. Because students are yet underage children, the community makes a parent-like decision to censor pornography (school policy prohibits pornography of any kind on school grounds), and teachers must censor it. If a teacher knows pornographic material is being consumed, she can intervene and parents can be made aware. Generally, however, when recommending books, she can respond with selections she has made based on her ideas of what constitutes a wholesome book, according to truths she understands and her desire to look after the welfare of her students. If a teen requests a book from me - romance, science fiction, fantasy, realistic, or adventure novel - I will select one of those written on a higher plane of “lovely” and “praiseworthy” because according to the truths I understand these are the things to seek after (Articles of Faith, 13) when people are trying to become or to remain spiritually healthy, happy people.
For me, books can discuss ugliness and still qualify for virtuous and praiseworthy, depending on how the author handles the material. For example, Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables expresses the nobility of human beings in contrast to ugliness and depravity. As Bruce B. Clark, a former Dean of the English Department of Brigham Young University, has put it:
"The world is filled with problems and frustrations that need to be met with frontal honesty, and there is no honest way to paint ugliness as prettiness or to pretend that it doesn’t exist. A writer must face problems squarely and describe them honestly, but in doing so there should be no question where the author’s values are"("Creative Writing in the Church: A Challenge to Young Writers",New Era, Aug. 1973, 43).
Writers whose values are clear, and who describe problems honestly, can help us manage our own problems. On the other hand, there are authors whose main purpose in describing problems is to shock and titillate readers in the same way ugly problems are sensationally portrayed on talk shows, reality TV shows, and tabloids, the way violence and horror are explored in bloody detail to stun our senses for a momentary thrill of feeling. Of this the former Dean says:
"I am criticizing . . . the flotsam and jetsam of literature which surfaces junkily in any and every age - the kind of writing which features crudeness, violence, sensationalism, and clever flippancy for their own sakes and which intentionally mocks, ridicules, and negates spiritual values and human dignity"(Clark, op. cit.).
Can we go too far describing problems honestly? How much detail do we need to “face problems squarely and describe them honestly”? As a teacher, I would explain my book selections based on my understanding of the answers to these questions and what I think differentiates “flotsam and jetsam” from “lovely” and “praiseworthy.” Parents and teens need to be free to disagree with my selections and I must provide suggestions of alternative literature for any classroom required reading. In addition, teen students may choose to read “flotsam and jetsam” as they struggle to learn the sweet from the bitter. Strictly forbidding “flotsam and jetsam” does not help a teen grow, moreover, he will likely become secretive about his choices. On the other hand, turning a blind eye when teens are consuming “flotsam and jetsam” may be abandoning them to resolve difficult issues alone. Again, intervention is the work of teaching: parents and teachers can be interested in their choices and open discussions about what they are reading.
Personally, I have discovered the blessing of struggling to abide by the Spirit and the counsel of Latter-day prophets in choosing what to read:
Whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Therefore, choose only entertainment and media that uplift you. Good entertainment will help you to have good thoughts and make righteous choices. It will allow you to enjoy yourself without losing the Spirit of the Lord (For the Strength of Youth, 17 [read more at lds.org - For the Strength of Youth).
I am a particularly sensitive reader and when I abide by wholesome guidelines, I feel better. Any entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, pornographic, or more loosely described as crude, low, vicious, or cheap is destructive to me, does weaken my self-control, and does offend the Spirit (For the Strength of Youth, 19). I do not want these consequences; I especially cannot afford to lose the companionship of the Spirit, upon whom I heavily depend to guide me as I serve my family, neighbors, and ward members. There are a million things I cannot discern without help from Heavenly Father through His Spirit. Therefore, I work to self-censor according to His guidelines and when I do, I have the companionship of the Spirit, I am filled with light, and I am free from oppressive feelings. What about reading about real problems, often ugly ones, as a means of understanding and learning? This is a puzzle for me. I have learned much about people, relationships, values, and truths through reading about the troubles of life. I ask myself a series of questions as I struggle to decide whether to read a book: “How is the ugliness described and for what purpose? How much of the problem do I need to see?” For me, the basic outlines of the ugliness are sufficient while the good is magnified. I have learned this through my experience; I have learned to seek out the sweet having tasted the bitter. I agree with the Former Dean, Bruce B. Clark, who explains there may be a large audience for the sweet:
"Writers who want to resist popular fashions of our times and write in harmony with convictions and ideals that may be out of fashion also need reassurance that this is their privilege and that there may be an audience larger than they realize who will rejoice in their affirmation, integrity, and courage"(Clark, op.cit.).
I am part of that audience rejoicing in writing that is wholesome and uplifting even while honestly confronting ugly problems. It is my privilege to seek literature which is in harmony with my convictions and ideas.
But what if I had not been free to read a crude or vulgar book? I could not value a wholesome one so much, nor know what to watch out for. Because I have been free to choose, I have also been free to blunder and balance as I develop my own standards for reading literature. I recognize the need to give everyone else the same privilege.
Censorship is dangerous, yet sometimes some regulation is necessary to protect the rights and privileges of all; we must be careful with it, even in our homes. Intervention is the work of teaching that allows for choice and accountability. Selection is a responsible way to choose or suggest books based on our honest understanding of what is true and what is best; it is all any mentor can do, for none of us have all truth nor all understanding about what is best. When parents and teachers select books and explain their selections, they teach their values while allowing for agency and open themselves to discussion about the selection. Self-censorship will have guidelines that vary from person to person - this must be respected by and for all individuals; each can choose for himself.
