[bksvol-discuss] Re: Comments about "strong language" or "violence".
- From: "Lori Castner" <loralee.castner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:37:46 -0700
Denise, in my opinion, you said it very well.
Lori C.
----- Original Message -----
From: Denise Thompson
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 2:34 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Comments about "strong language" or "violence".
I swore I wasn't going to enter into this discussion since we don't set
policy for bookshare anyway, but Roger you pushed me over the edge. Actually I
agree with you in principle, but I would have to say that in my opinion in
trying to make a point you've sort of gone over board here. The folks who are
restricted from reading books marked adult are those under age. Parents provide
guidance and/or make decisions regarding their children in many arenas in life.
What sites they visit on the Internet, what TV shows they watch, what kids they
hang out with... all in an effort to help them develop the values they deem
most important. That varies for each of us. When a child becomes an adult- in
most states- 18 years of age, they can read what they want, visit whatever
sites they want on the Internet, etc. I hardly think calling bookshare's policy
of restricting books with adult content the same thing as banning books from
adult African Americans or adult women, etc. It seems to me that with that
argument you've slipped into apples and oranges. Now of issue of what
constitutes adult content is different and frankly won't be answered here. The
US supreme court and most other levels have given opinions and folks just don't
agree on the definitions. A little healthy discussion is good. I think we've
done that and now it's getting into the nonconstructive stage. I'd suggest we
move on and let Bookshare decide. If we don't like it we can quit as volunteers
or suck it up and proceed with our jobs anyway.
Denise
At 11:03 AM 3/28/2010, you wrote:
You are engaging in semantic pedanticism. You are against banning, but if
you call it restriction then it is okay. The simple fact is that those
so-called restricted books are still banned for a certain group of people who
fall into a certain status. Even if they are permitted to read them with
parental permission it is not the person who is doing the reading who decides
what to read. Think about other groups of people who might be restricted
because of their status. Can you imagine being prevented from reading a book
because you are a woman? Would you think it was perfectly alright if you could
have access if you got permission from your husband or, if you were unmarried,
from your parents, uh, father? That exact situation has been reality in the
past and is still reality in some parts of the world. How about this? Imagine
being prevented from reading or even learning how to read because you are
Black. That has been reality in this country too. Would it be justified if it
was allowed on the condition that your owner gave permission? Okay, the
Bookshare system works, but what does it work to do? It works to restrict the
rights of people simply because of what they are. The fact that it works is
reprehensible itself.
_ _ _
"As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the world"
Virginia Woolf
The Militant:
http://www.themilitant.com
Pathfinder Press:
http://www.pathfinderpress.com
Granma International:
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann Parsons" <akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 8:33 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Comments about "strong language" or
"violence".
Hi all,
Actually, Roger, you're confusing the issue somewhat. The method used by
Bookshare makes sense. What it does is restrict books rather than to ban them.
If you are under eighteen your access to adult content is blocked. the block
can be resinded if the child's parent or guardian agrees. For adults what this
rating does is merely place adult content behind a gate, if you will. It is
tabu, not banned.
I agree that those who want to ban books are wrong. Banning books makes
them unavailable to anyone. Deliberately destroying or removing books from
libraries is anathema to me. Restricting them is a different story.
What bothers me most are those who decide that certain books are evil or
bad and they have not read them. This, I feel, is prejudice and the beginning
of totalitarianism. When a church or a government tells its members or
citizens they can't read X or Y, that's restricting knowledge and therefore
restricting the power of the People. The whole Harry Potter hoodoo is a great
example of ignorant idiotic people making a judgment about a series of books
without reading them. Nowhere have I found a clearer statement of morals and
ethics and what is right than I have in the books by J.K. Rowling. <smiling>
I dunnow how other books can be accepted without question as Young Adult.
Frankly, I think the whole rating system stands on its head sometimes.
However, the Bookshare method seems to be working, even though we proofers
sometimes have to fiddle with the rating because the computer isn't smart
enough to make decisions of this kind.
BTW, I don't think we need to resort to name-calling in order to make a
point. It retracts from the argument, frankly.
]Ann P.
--
Ann K. Parsons
Portal Tutoring
EMAIL: akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx
web site: http://www.portaltutoring.info
Skype: Putertutor
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost."
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