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Originally Posted by GlennD
I would absolutely agree with this.
I would also say that high school is not necessarily the place to dig into controversial books just because they're controversial.
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No? I rather think the Most Banned Books Of All Time List SHOULD be taught. Books aren't controversial in a vacuum. The alternative -- teaching the local "values" -- ensures that these kids are going to grow up in a Pleasantville-esque world where the real world they encounter later on will
blow their sheltered minds.
People who think differently from them? How is that possible? Cue shrieks of rage and pain. I'm not even sure WHAT will happen if they run into someone from a different culture entirely -- presumably they will react something like the People of Krikket in the Douglas Adams' book "Life, The Universe, And Everything."
In my view, the point of education is to broaden a child's horizons, not to solidify the worldview they were born into. I recently said this in a post about the Harry Potter school houses and I think it's apropos to be repeated here.