A lot of interesting reads have come across my computer screen the past week, prompting me to want to start a “Thoughts for Thursday” series. I don’t know that it will be a weekly thing but rather more as things come my way that I find interesting or have a strong opinion about. I’ll also be keeping up with my “Words to Love” list where I feature posts that move me by other small-time bloggers, but those I prefer to comment on directly in order to support the writer rather than provide a separate commentary. Most of my “Thoughts for Thursday” articles will be from the “big” guys that I want to share or discuss.
My idea started by a few great articles I found like one on how children raised in non-religious families are more moral and another on a new study that shows the youngest in the class is often the smartest. Both stories really moved me and speak to my reality.
But then this happened:
And while I don’t usually watch the Queen Latifa show (and apparently it’s been canceled and this episode has been airing around the country at different times, I just caught it yesterday), I’m so glad I let my TV run through after CBS This Morning finished rather than changing to music as I usually do. I watched these three young women, mesmerized by what they had to say. I sat there, nodding my thinking “yes!” “that is why we homeschool!” “so true!” “I hate that this is a reality for so many children…”
These girls, wise beyond their years, pin point so exactly ALL that is wrong with our education system, why we are failing our children, and proving that our young people deserve better. The end is what really gets me “What did you learn in class today? Don’t talk loud. Don’t speak loud. Keep your hands to yourself. Keep your head down. Keep your eyes on your own paper…But the greatest lessons, are the one you don’t remember learning.”
But the beginning also spoke to me, To Kill a Mockingbird was one of my favorite required reads in school and I remember reading The Catcher in the Rye in high school, taking in Holden Caulfield’s teenage angst while experiencing my own. I remember when The Giver was banned, I didn’t at the time (and still don’t) understand WHY it was controversial. Many of my favorite books of all time are now “banned” or “challenged”. This includes To Kill a Mockingbird and The Giver but also Bridge to Teribithia and My Brother Sam is Dead. These books and others like The Jungle, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men, changed my view of the world, how I think and my desire to learn.
Did you know books like Gone with the Wind, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings books have been banned or challenged in recent years? (you can find tons of more information on banned/challenged books at the American Library Association’s website). So where does all this leave me?
It leaves me happy we homeschool right now. It leaves me happy my children are not being subjected to the ridiculous rules of the mainstream school system. I’m glad my children don’t have to spend 6 hours a day sitting down, being quiet. I’m glad my children are learning to be respectful because it’s the right thing to do, not because an authoritarian system says they should be (this links back to my above linked article on secular families).
But these three brave, smart young women have also led me to make a major parenting decision: my children will read banned books. Maybe not all of them but they will be exposed to these beautiful classics. I will not “protect” them from the reality of their world or the history of it because some adult on a power trip doesn’t like the language or message. And we’re starting right now. My kids may be too little for many of the great novels, but we will start with Where the Wild Things Are and In The Night Kitchen (my girls have a daddy and a baby brother, they’re no stranger to a rogue penis!)
I would like to also take a minute to discuss this article as well (mostly because it’s a bit older and I can’t leave a comment directly!) In this article titled “Why I let my children walk to the corner store–and why other parents should, too” the author takes an all too common “our children are too protected these days” stance and perpetuates the “our world is no less safe than it was in the past.”
I would like to point out two flaws in her argument, though.
1) She says:
It is always a risk to let your children out of your sight. But truthfully, the most dangerous thing you do every day is drive anywhere with a child. About 300 kids are hurt daily in car accidents; an average of three are killed that way every day.
True. But the flaw in her argument here is that children are injured and die on the roads every day because 3/4 of child restraints are use incorrectly and 1/3 of children ride unrestrained in the car (more on these stats on others here). I don’t see car accidents being justification for leaving your children home alone for any reason, all she is proving here is that people need to be better educated about car seat safety.
2) She also states:
It might not sound that way, listening to the news, but crimes against children committed by strangers are rare and declining.
Since 1993, the number of children 14 andunder who were murdered is down by 36 percent. For children 14 to 17, murders are down 60 percent.
Awesome, I’m really glad to hear this! BUT has anyone stopped to think about the fact that this is not mere coincidence but true BECAUSE parents are more careful? My children are much less likely to be abducted if they are always under the care and supervision of a capable adult. Duh! We’ve created this new reality and I for one will not advocate going back to the “old way”. The “bad” people are still out there and they know which children to prey on: those that aren’t supervised! Maybe I’m overprotective but I will do everything I can to protect my kids. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it, my mommy job is simply to keep my kids safe and it’s not a responsibility I take lightly.
