Sons school banned certain books

[Sadless]

Hi all so my son came home yesterday and said that some books have been banned in school. He said how to kill a mocking bird and mice of men.
I am not a reader so don't know what's in this books to make them be banned in school. Anyone know and any ones else school done the same.

Thanks
Sal

I love of mine and men. And all steinbeck actually. It's such a shame it was banned. All his novels have such a strong social commentary element: the whole point is that you read the stories about these people and relate to them and so drive social.change for good.

For example, a modern equivalent of OMAM might be a book about travellers who most people would not feel particularly sympathetic towards. But the book gives an insight into their lives that most people reading the book would never otherwise have. Which would have to be a good thing. I won't spoil it, but despite the horrible crime, you really do pity the purportrator. That is fantastic writing.

It's a very short, zippy novel. I'd encourage my son to get a copy and make his own mind up. Particularly as he seems interested. It could be an opportunity to have a really good discussion about race, censorship, and the rewriting of history as a result

Ban as in removed from the school library and dc aren’t allowed their own copies or ban as in they are going to teach some of the other books on the syllabus instead. Tbh I can see how teaching both is a bit samey and not all that great for girls, especially in mixed sex classes. Curleys wife not even getting a name and strutting about like a temptress, Scout non-conformity being such a big deal and the false accusations of rape. There is absolutely LOADS to talk about in terms of the role of women and the portrayal of women but maybe being a teen girl sitting in set 5 y9 English it feels more shit than fascinating. There has been an out of school rape in the current y10 in my dcs school and given that there are around 300 reported rapes on school, premises every year it’s hardly a unique situation. Both pupils still in the school. I would absolutely not want the class sitting around having debates about false accusations and women as objects/possessions as if it’s some abstract concept.

OMAM was on the syllabus when I did my GCSEs over 30 years ago. I'm not surprised it's been updated.

Honestly it's hard to get proper information from my son but soon as he walked in yesterday it was school have now banned books from the 1920s. He seems abit annoyed about it must have had English yesterday. But the teacher must have a rant saying they have over 200 copies of the mice to men in school and you wouldn't need 200 in school library. But the teacher must have told the kids someone's parents have complained. I will email the school about it and see what they say.

Sal

That’s funny dd did of mice and men this school
year.
They had a class discussion pre reading where they decided whether they’d be reading the ‘n’ word out loud and chose not to.

Isn't it a bit odd that your son was so incensed about books from the 1920s being banned?
My DS is the same age and he would have come home delighted that they were getting more modern books. Although fwiw his school hasn't taught OMAM or TKAM for years. They teach more modern classics and YA books. And we make a real effort at home to read widely.
I did a dissertation on Steinbeck (and love his work) but I wouldn't consider my DS' education lacking if he never read Steinbeck at school. There are lots of great books out there.

They would have 200 copies of OMAM as it used to be on the GCSE list, my DD1 studied it.
I think a number of schools now do it in y9 as it is good to teach and they have the texts, so...

@DaisyQuakeJohnson

A lot of modern “classics” tend to be less straightforward and bore kids even more than the older ones.

@SimpleShootingWeekend
Sonwe shouldn’t allow to Kill a Mockingbird because there is a false accusation of rape in it and that goes against the “believe” mantra?

That false accusation is ripped straight from real life as at the time there were many false accusations from white women which got black men killed precisely because they knew they would be automatically believed. But I guess that doesn’t fit the current narrative.

I knew someone would take an issue with that central plot point in this day and age. Seriously think about it, that stuff really happened.

You really need more information from the school.

Who complained, on what grounds and why did the school cave.

'Parent activists' come in all shades of extremist and both religious, right wing and left wing organisations, from the UK and beyond are gaining toe holds in education by this sort of thing.

Actually, I'll go against the grain here.

Let me say that I am usually against censorship and support robust debate.

However, books like OFOTCN portray racism and the content must be incredibly uncomfortable to read for black students, especially in a class that has a mix of white and black students.

Imagine having to sit through discussions of gut wrenching institutional racism as a teenager in school, when you are already feeling sensitive about all the usual teenage things: debating the utter lack of dignity afforded to African Americans people, it must feel excruciating to read a book with your classmates that was written when there wasn't much awareness about racism.

In the context of schools being a mix of ethnicities with black students mostly still being the most disadvantaged, it can be incredibly uncomfortable for bale students to read such a text in the presence of white pupils and probably teachers who will have unconscious bias (through no fault of their own).

We know that mostly it's really hard to understand the extent of racism for white people, even with the best of intentions. I don't think the classroom is an appropriate space for OFOTCN as black student don't have a choice whether they want to attend and take part in discussion or how the conversations in class pan out. Ditto about the way learning difficulties are pictured.

I agree with this comment.

Since OMAM has been taken off the GCSE syllabus, lots of schools have been teaching it at KS3, often year 8, as they have the books, the knowledge, the resources. Although accessible from a word-reading pov, it has many challenging issues - not just race. The representation of women in this novel, for example, is something that 11-12 year olds often struggle to engage with meaningfully as they read.

There is also the point that both novels mentioned on this thread were written by white people, when there are other books exploring similar themes written by people of colour, and for obvious reasons these books have not been foregrounded previously.

Excellent point

You're obviously not reading the right books @Tamzo85 and I wonder if you have a teen in school. There are amazing modern classics and some fab YA books being studied in schools. OP's school sounds like it hasn't changed the reading list since the 1980s. Their DCs have missed out on a lot.

He is in Y9!?!
Please ensure he is reading those books and then discuss them with him.
Its not good enough for him to just rely on whatever the teacher said and just believe it.

If it helps, I had to study To Kill A Mockingbird for GCSE and I found it soooo boring

Both are great books. Problematic, of course, but so are many great books and obviously they need to be taught sensitively. The same applies to much of Dickens and Shakespeare!

I have a lot of sympathy with what @HighlandsAndBeaches says (though I'm not sure what OFOTCN is) and I think it's fine for schools to decide they are no longer to teach those books. I would hope they would keep them in their libraries though and make them accessible for wider reading.

If I recall the issue with Of Mice and Men being on the GCSE syllabus was that it was seen as a very easy option, partly because it is so short. I can't remember when we read it when I was at school (1970s) but it certainly wasn't for O level.

I agree about the use of the books being more important than the content.

I studied of Mice and Men for my gcse English back mid 90's. We studied a lot the use of language and descriptions.

Even now 25 years later I can think back to how we weren't as Pc aware and didn't note many things that would be noted now with regards the language and Characters.

As we evolve we can't ignore history - he teacher is right that's that how we learn.

Great way to get the kids to read them. Nothing more desirable than banned content.

Left-wing thought control.

Neither is on the GCSE any more.

I'd complain to the school about it being banned.

See what they do then.

Really? Dd studied OMAM 3 years ago .
Oh well, shows I'm out of date already.

Still, my point stands, the books are there to provoke discusion, some of the content is unpleasant, but that's why they were written, to bring issues to the fore and discuss them.

If we encourage our dc to only learn about things they agree with and like, we will end up with generations of people with no critical thinking skills or understanding of other points of view.

Romeo and Juliet was one of my O Level set books in 1977. Being old doesn't mean it should be written off.

Crikey

To kill a mockingbird and of mice and men were on the school syllabus and included in exams when I was at school