BAN RANT

One parent complains about the language and mature content of K.L. Going's FAT KID RULES THE WORLD and all hell breaks loose. Check out K.L.'s BLOG for a very interesting discussion and offer your own support if you wish.

I wonder if this boy's mom--and this is a 14-year-old, not a ten-year-old--monitors his TV shows and movies as closely as she monitors his reading. I wonder if she allows him access to a computer. Does she tape his phone conversations? Does she follows him around every minute of the day to be sure nobody drops the F-bomb in his presence?

What did she think when her son was back in fifth or sixth grade and the teacher informed him that yes, people do indeed insert their penises into vaginas? Parents think nothing of allowing 10 or 11 year-old kids to participate in sex education classes--and then they flip out when those same kids pick up a YA novel in which the characters might actually DO the dirty deed.

Every parent wants to protect their child. Do it! Protect them from guns. From school violence. From underage drinking. From drugs. Sexual predators. Depression and suicide. The self-hatred that often leads to depression and suicide. Not from a fabulous book that deals realistically with such issues as childhood obesity, bullying, drug use, death of a parent, and homelessness. Yes, the language is raw at times but it's the same language the majority of kids see and hear--and many, many use--on a daily basis.

Protect us from a society where ONE PERSON can demand--and often get--a book removed from the shelves of our libraries.