Did you hear about that Scroggins guy who thinks Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is pornographic? He goes on to say that he thinks that Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut are also highly immortal and inappropriate for high schoolers to be reading.
Its likely I'm late on this, but its an issue I think is important. And with Banned Books Week just around the corner its even more important for this to be heard by a wide range of people. Which is why I'm cross-posting this to my personal journal LJ and to my book blog at blogspot.
Let me say right up front I haven't read Speak, its not my usual genre of book (being contemporary teen fiction), but I know that one of my friends who works with inner city girls urges those girls to read Speak to see that they can have a voice. So I know it has an impact--a powerful impact that helps people to heal.
Scroggins says that "In high school English classes, children are required to read and view material that should be classified as soft pornography.". And later he admonished parents and school administrators alike demanding to know "How can Christian men and women expose children to such immorality?"
Mr. Scroggins I would like to address your use of 'pornography' and 'immorality', since I don't believe you learn their meanings from the same dictionary I did:
Your Dictionary.com Definition:
por·nog·ra·phy (pôr näg′rə fē) noun
1. writings, pictures, etc. intended primarily to arouse sexual desire
2. the production of such writings, pictures, etc.
Emphasis is mine, but note how it explicitly states that its intended for sexual desire. Scroggins is claiming that the rape scenes in Speak are 'soft porn'--so then is he implying that Anderson wrote them to sexually arouse her readers? That Anderson equates 'rape' with 'desire'? What kind of deviant is he that he would even broach the subject of rape as arousing?
As for the case of 'immorality', again I question the context of his statement. What is immoral about presenting teenagers with books that don't glamorize the darker side of being a teen? Nicole (of WORD for Teens) pointed out, in her SPEAK Loudly post, that at her college orientation, the students were warned that one in every four girls would either be raped or an attempt would be made. What kind of world is it that students are warned this during their first week?
But this is the world we live in and one that kids are thrust into every day without knowledge or a way to protect themselves or even see the signs. Books like Speak and Twenty Boy Summer and all the other ones that have been denounced as 'pornographic' or 'filthy' go a small way to helping warn girls (and guys) that this does happen, this could happen to you, you need to Speak up.
Why is it immoral to want to prepare them, in a way that doesn't come across as condescending or preachy or 'I know what's good for you so listen to me'? These are books that teen girls (and guys), as well as adults, have picked up and felt moved by. These are books that make people sit up and think, that make people question just what is happening and to look closer at the classmates who do seem more withdrawn. Who's behavior has changed and to question the 'rumors' going around.
Mr. Scroggins I don't understand why you would want to wrap the children of the Republic Schools up in cotton and insist that they don't see the darker side of life. I don't understand why you would advocate for girls who have been in the position Melinda was in to remain ignorant of ways to work through the trauma and find their voice. You're no better then the guy who told my one friend that he believes women would prefer to be raped than to be murdered. As he said "At least they can come back from that". Its not something to 'get over' like the flu or a common cold, something you can bury like a bad break up.
To read more about other perspectives and thoughts follow the twitter hashtag of #SpeakLoudly, check out Laurie Halse Anderson's post about the whole fiasco and read the comments condemning Scroggins as a fool. If you live in the area attend the school board meeting tomorrow night at 7pm and show the administrators what books like Speak really mean to you. Don't let your voice be drowned out by religious nutpots like Scroggins--Speak Up and Speak Loudly.
