Profanity top reason for book challenges
PULLMAN – Profanity, sex and religion were the main reasons that books were challenged or banned in schools across the state, according to a study by AccessNorthwest at Washington State University.
The survey of 185 school districts found that in the past two school years, there were 34 book challenges by parents or community members. Ten books were restricted and six banned from the schools.
Banned books were physically removed from the library or classroom. Restricted books remained, but could not be accessed by all students or were not freely available on the shelves.
Only one book was challenged more than once. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain was challenged for profanity in the Easton, Tacoma and Renton school districts. Only the Tacoma School District restricted use of the book.
The survey found that 11 challenges dealt with profanity, nine with religion and seven with sexual content. Five books were challenged over whether they were age-appropriate; two were questioned over violence.
Of the six banned books, three were in one district – Northport, along the Canadian border north of Spokane.
Parents there expressed concern about inappropriate language and sexual content in three poetry books: “Do You Hear Me?” and “Things I Have To Tell You,” edited by Betsy Franco-Feeney, and “Paint Me Like I Am” by WritersCorps.
Each book is a compilation of poetry written by teens, and dealt with issues of growing up and adolescence. The Northport School District felt the books contained too much sexuality and violence, and banned all three from its libraries.
Religion, usually content viewed as anti-Christian, was often cited in challenges. That included content on the occult or witchcraft, such as the Harry Potter series.
But in Tukwila, Muslim students challenged “The Inferno” by Dante Alighieri because of the Christian doctrine and because of a reference to the prophet Mohammed being in hell. After a review, the district decided to keep the book.
Book challenges were about evenly split between Eastern Washington and Western Washington, even though the East Side accounts for just 22 percent of the state’s population.
Elementary schools in Spokane faced the most frequent book challenges, four in all. Parents of elementary students complained about sexual, violent, frightening and evolution-related content in four books.
Jennifer Magelky conducted the survey as an intern for AccessNorthwest. She was guided by executive director Dr. Susan Dente Ross and research assistant David Cuillier.
Of the 296 school districts in the state, 62.5 percent participated in the survey during summer and fall of 2004. AccessNorthwest hopes to do the study every year.