Book Controversy in a Small Iowa Town

A few months ago, our local high school attempted to ban a book that was being taught in the Lit to Film class. The book was "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" by Peter Hedges.

The reason this was happening was because of the sexual content in the book. Apparently some people thought this should not be taught in high school. The class, Lit to Film, is only offered to juniors and seniors. Meaning the students who take this class are between 17 and 18 years old. There is also a permission slip given to students for parents to sign before they can take the class. This letter lists the books that will possibly be covered in this class. So it is not like parents are not aware of what may be covered in this class.

Yet, the superintendent pulled the book, without reading the entire book. He also did this on one parent's complaint. It was not like there was a monumental outcry about this book. It was one parent. Then others jumped on the band wagon. One mother even compared the book to Penthouse Magazine. The two are polar opposites.

There was a committee formed to discuss whether this book should be banned completely from the curriculum and the school library. Their vote was to allow the book to remain in both. Those findings then went to the school board and ultimately it was decided that the book would stay unbanned.

Personally, I have never read the book. However, I did allow my son to take the Lit to Film class and allowed him to read this book. He took this class after the controversy about the book. He could not understand what the big deal was about. He said the passages weren't that long and it was not discussed in the book in great detail.

My problem wasn't about the content about the book. If parents do not want their children to read material like this, then the kids could opt out of reading that book and read something else. And parents are given a list of material along with a permission slip. The list specifically states that both the book and the movie may contain adult content. Parents are encouraged to look over these books and movies. Yet these parents acted as if they had no clue as to what was going to be covered in this class.

The problem I have is the simple fact that this book was going to be banned. It was censorship plain and simple. What I find odd is that this book has been read for several years in this class. Mainly because the author is an Iowa native and it is about a boy from a small (fictional) town in Iowa. The teacher of this class felt the kids would relate to the main character. Until this year, nothing was said about the content.

The other problem I have is parents stated they did not want their children subjected to this material, yet they allow their daughters to wear clothes that leave very little to the imagination. They allow their sons to wear their pants so low that their underwear is showing. The girls are allowed to wear more make-up than a street walker.

These kids listen to music that is more sexually explicit than this book. Their own language, both oral and body language, is even more vulgar. And I'm quite sure they've seen and read worse on the Internet. Yet these parents are complaining about a book with a few passages of sexual content.

If these parents are so concerned about what their children are being exposed to, why do they not object to the music, movies, and clothes? Why did they not actually take the time to read the material before their children took the class?

I truly believe it is the responsibility of the parents to pay attention to what material their children are going to be covering in school. But I also believe parents should do this before their child takes the class. As stated earlier, there were permission slips sent out. And parents were informed if the material was inappropriate, they could request their child be given more appropriate material to read.

This controversy could have been avoided had the superintendent and parents actually read the entire book and not focused on the minor sexual parts. I applaud the school board members for taking a stand against censorship and allowing this book to remain a part of the curriculum.