Perks of being in denial
The Merrimack Valley High School book challenge situation is a cautionary tale rooted in denial. I taught “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky in an English course to private school seniors. Students responded enthusiastically to it. I disagree with the removal of any book from any curriculum based on parental objection.
As a parent, I empathize with the concerned parent’s impulse to protect her child’s innocence. However, as a teacher familiar with adolescents, the belief that a high school sophomore has not already encountered the novel’s “inappropriate” topics prior to their English class is naive. Thus, the challenge seems more about parental self-protection from the discomfort of allowing a child to progress to adulthood than shielding the student from emotional distress.
Rather than opting the student out of reading the text, the student’s peers (and teachers) have been held responsible for meeting the parent’s needs. As for the school, the reviewing committee gave in to the objection because of a lack of “capacity” to field future complaints about the novel. This choice of immediate relief will, ironically, probably yield new book complaints.
Finally, the parent refers to the novel as “children’s literature.” The novel’s genre is young adult fiction. Perhaps the parent and the school would benefit from reading an example of children’s literature. I suggest “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” by Laura Numeroff in which the mouse asks for something, receives it and continues to make demands. What book will be challenged and removed next?