To Ban or Not To Ban Books

I discovered the joy of reading when out of boredom I started reading my mom's Filipino romance novels. I was only nine. After that, I borrowed my cousin's Sweet Valley High books. During my freshman year in high school, I was already reading historical romance novels; some bought and some borrowed from my classmate's mom. Before I graduated from high school, I have already read several of Sidney Sheldon's novels. 

Looking back and as a parent now, my journey into having a lifelong love of reading is definitely not the one I want my little Queen B to experience or any child for that matter. Partly because of what I have read, I have acquired unrealistic ideas of what love should be. My concept of beauty and goodness were muddled by what I have read. I was exposed to classic and critically acclaimed books, but they were few and far in between. 

As the saying goes, "You are the books you read, the movies you watch, the music you listen to, the people you spend time with, the conversations you engage in." It is only by the grace of God that I now have a life with Him in it. It could have easily been different especially with the concepts and ideas I have bombarded myself during my teenage years in the name of entertaining myself. 

The last week of the month of September, this year it began last September 23 and will end today the 29th, is Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association (ALA) and Amnesty Internal. It celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. 

As I go over the list of challenged and even banned books, I am surprised to see that I have read and even enjoyed several of them. Last year, 2017, the most challenged book is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I have read it and even watched the two seasons of tv series based on the novel. Even, my favorites Harry Potter series, Hunger Games series, and Lord of the Rings series were challenged when they were published. You'll be surprised that a lot of the most challenged books in history are award-winning and even considered as great works of art now. Well, even the Bible was banned before and continued to be banned in some countries in the world today. 

So should certain books be banned? Definitely NO! I agree with the objective of the Banned Books Week campaign which is to ensure the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them and to keep these materials publicly available so that people can develop their own conclusions and opinions.  

But as a parent, I do believe that we have the responsibility and should have the freedom to provide age-appropriate materials and books that adhere to our faith and values to our children. How can we do this without banning books that go against our goals as parents?

One of the many things I have learned from the first ever homeschooling talk I have attended is that children's books are not created equal. Others are far superior to some. Not just in terms of their illustration but as well as literary content. This teaches us that we should be mindful of the books we acquire for our children, especially in their formative years.

In a span of almost four years, we have already amassed a large number of children's books. Sadly, public libraries are almost non-existent here in the Philippines so we need to build our own. Our collection mostly consists of award-winning children's books, classics, and popular books. Some talks about serious matters but others are simply for fun. We have books written by both popular and almost unknown authors. I recently added several children books by different Filipino authors in our collection. A lot of these books were researched beforehand and others were browsed before buying.

Our little Queen B still can't read on her own so J and I read aloud to her. Since we have an advance knowledge or have read the book first by ourselves before reading it aloud to her, we already know what the story is all about and have thought of how to explain concepts she might find foreign or confusing. 

By exposing our children to good quality books early on, they will be used to good storytelling, beautiful illustrations, and books that talk about characteristics we value. This intentionality will train them to be mindful of what they feed their mind. 

It took me years to acquire that habit but I did eventually learn how to distinguish good storytelling to not-so-good storytelling, to worthwhile reads to better avoid books, and to books that strengthen my relationship with God to those that have the power to turn me away from Him. Before purchasing books, I now check reviews about it so I will not waste my time and money. 

Make it also a habit to have conversations about the books you read with your kids. Make your conversations a safe zone in which your kid will not be laughed or judged at because of their thoughts or opinions. This way any topic, a choice made by the characters, or situations presented in the book can be discussed whether it is right or wrong, how your child should act when he found himself in a similar situation, and even how to avoid those problematic choices. So when they do read or have been exposed to books and materials that do not adhere to your family values on their own, they know that they can have a dialogue about it with you and you will be there to help him address those issues. 

Make every book a learning experience for your child. Train them to think critically and not just accept as outright facts what they read. Together, double check the information presented in the books especially when reading fiction stories. 

In her novel Clockwork Angel, one of Cassandra Clare's characters said, "One must always be careful of books and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us." Words do have the power to change us. They can excite or anger us. They can make us laugh or cry. They can make us feel empowered but also discouraged. They can give hope but also illicit fear. 

But remember, we also have the power to control and choose how we will react to the words we read. Let's train our children to do the same and do this as early as possible before the world train them how to think. 

Yours, 

Lady