The Dirty Words

1. The Dirty Words Tiffany Smith, Ronetta Snyder, and Connie Tharrington

2. Teacher Survey Results for Elementary School • Have you ever skipped over “ugly” words while reading aloud to your students? • Have you ever not purchased or read a book because of explicit language or illustrations, or might be controversial in some way? • Have you ever had a parent to complain about the language of a book? If so, how many times? • Have you ever marked out words or removed pages/chapters because of offensive language or illustrations? • Do you think it is okay for teachers to require students to skip over or replace offensive words when reading aloud? Is it okay for teachers to allow students to read the offensive word aloud?

3. Teacher Survey Elementary Comments • “For most part, I don’t expose them to ‘ugly’ or offensive language to begin with.” • “If I read a book aloud and skip offensive words, then students don’t use it independently.” • Once, Several, Twice: J. B. Jones’ Books, “Not language – story content – but related to religion.” Not a book, but a movie shown as part of Week of the Young Child—Babe, Pig in the City.” • “I just don’t allow students to use the book. I use another one.” • “Should not be required by choice.” • “If students are mature enough to handle it.”, “Depends on word.”, “I don’t think I would allow students to read a book aloud if it included offensive words…at least not on purpose.”. • Depends on age of students.”, “It depends on the word and the students reading it.” “ I do not approve of shut-up/stupid as “ugly” words.” “I don’t think it should be an issue if reading appropriate material at school.”, and “I don’t think students should be allowed to use books with offensive words. Students in lower grades are just learning how to read, they don’t need to have offensive words to read.”, “Only if there is a discussion ahead of time with principal or other grade level teachers and there is time for teachers to explain why a particular word is offensive and have a teacher led discussion. Often this would depend on overall grade level and maturity of class.”, “Only in high school classes. Maybe it would depend on the situation.” ,“I don’t give them books for read aloud that have offensive language.”, ”Would depend, but probably not.”, “Not in elementary school.”

4. High School Results • Have you ever skipped over “ugly” words while reading aloud to your students? • Have you ever not purchased or read a book because of explicit language or illustrations, or might be controversial in some way? • Have you ever had a parent to complain about the language of a book? If so, how many times? • Have you ever marked out words or removed pages/chapters because of offensive language or illustrations? • Do you think it is okay for teachers to require students to skip over or replace offensive words when reading aloud? Is it okay for teachers to allow students to read the offensive word aloud?

5. Teacher Survey High School Comments • (Question #3) “Only once was in Jurassic Park book.” , “The violence of Frankenstein was too much ‘Hollywood’ (Didn’t know Mary Shelly was a writer.) • (Question #4) “Sex scenes.” • (Question #5) “If they are more comfortable.” , “With limits.” , “Not if it’s part of the text – the class may require some instruction in use of language before reading aloud.” , “It would be helpful to bifurcate vulgarity/ blasphemy.” , “I usually read aloud to regular students and read the words myself to prevent any uncomfortable feeling about the words.” , “Depends on maturity level of class.” , “If it bothers the student they can omit or change the word.” , “Circumstantial – it depends on context and the word.” , “If the material is in the state appointed textbook then I would not have a problem. Apparently the people (state) agreed and felt is was okay.”

6. Comparison of Elementary and High School Data

7. Total Results of Survey

8. Why do we censor? • Adults would like to be seen as positive role models. • Adults, themselves, are uncomfortable with or find some text and illustrations personally offensive.

9. PRO --- Profanity Selection Policy “The fact of sexual incidents or profanity appearing in a book should not automatically disqualify it. Rather the decision should be made on the basis of whether the book presents life in its true proportions, whether circumstances are realistically dealt with, and whether the book is of literary value…” –Lincoln High School, Ypsilanti, Michigan

10. Books Banned/Challenged for Profanity Blue Trees, Red Sky by Norma Klein (profanity and immorality) My Teacher Glows in the Dark by Bruce Colville (crude language: “farting” and “armpit farts”) Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey (Profanity/Inappropriate language and references to bodily waste) Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson Las Brujas (The Witches) by Roald Dahl

11. Banned and Challenged Books in Texas 2002-2003 Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey (Profanity/Inappropriate language and references to bodily waste) Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Las Brujas (The Witches) by Roald Dahl (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Christmas Sonata by Gary Paulsen (Profanity or Inappropriate Language)

12. Banned and Challenged Books in Texas 2002-2003 Crazy Lady by Jane Leslie Conly (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Dove Songby Kristine L. Franklin (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii 1941 (Dear America Series) by Barry Denenberg (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (Use of the word “bitch”) How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell (Profanity or Inappropriate Language)

13. Banned and Challenged Books in Texas 2002-2003 Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Knock a Star: A Child’s Introduction to Poetry, 1982 edition by X. J. Kennedy (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Tell a Lie and Your Butt Will Grow by Dan Greenburg (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running in the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen (Profanity or Inappropriate Language) Wonder by Rachel Vail (Profanity or Inappropriate Language)

14. Censorship in Crawford, Texas – Make the connection? Somebody Else's Kids by Torey L. HaydenThis book describes the struggles of a special education resource room teacher responsible for four special-needs children, including a twelve year-old who is pregnant, an eleven year-old boy whose early life was full of domestic violence, and a five-year-old with autism.Crawford Independent School DistrictCrawford High School LibraryProfanity or Inappropriate Language, Sexual Content, Violence, or Horror Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel has cerebral palsy and cannot walk or talk but has excellent cognitive abilities and is well-adjusted and happy. He discovers that his father wants to kill him to end what his father believes must be a tortured life because of the physical disability. Told from the perspective of Shawn, the book raises issues of the meaning of freedom, life and death, and parental responsibility. Crawford Independent School District Crawford Middle School Library Profanity or Inappropriate Language, Sexual Content, Violence, or Horror

15. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron The Higher Power of Lucky was awarded the 2007 Newberry Medal.

16. Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey Written and illustrated in a comic-book style, the story follows Super Diaper Baby's accidental swig of super-power juice and the flying infant's battle with Deputy Doo Doo, a villainous piece of excrement. The 125-page book brims with toilet talk, purposely misspelt words and, critics say, an overall disregard for authority. Last year, the Chicago-based American Library Association tracked 515 challenges to remove or restrict publications. Captain Underpants books landed on the group's list as the sixth most frequently challenged book.

17. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson “What are they teaching you at that damn school?” This line from Katherine Paterson’s Newberry Medal-winning novel Bridge to Terabithia started a controversy in Oskaloosa, KS, that now has teachers required to notify parents of the “profanity” contained in the books their students read. Teachers, teaching Kindergarten through eighth grade, must compile a list of profane words and the number of times that the word appears in the text used in class. The list will be distributed to parents who can decide whether or not to let their children read the selected books. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron The Higher Power of Lucky was awarded the 2007 Newberry Medal. Challenged because of the word “scrotum” appears on the first page of the book.

18. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson “What are they teaching you at that damn school?” This line from Katherine Paterson’s Newberry Medal-winning novel Bridge to Terabithia started a controversy in Oskaloosa, KS, that now has teachers required to notify parents of the “profanity” contained in the books their students read. Teachers, teaching Kindergarten through eighth grade, must compile a list of profane words and the number of times that the word appears in the text used in class. The list will be distributed to parents who can decide whether or not to let their children read the selected books.

19. Why was material challenged?

20. Literature taught in WSFC high schools that contains profanity/offensive language: 1984 Frankenstein The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Jungle All Quiet on the Western Front Lord of the Flies Beloved Of Mice and Men Catch-22 One Day in the Life of Night Ivan Denisovich Catcher in the Rye The Crucible The Celebrated Jumping Frog of One Flew Over the Calaveras County Cuckoo’s Nest The Crazy Horse Electric Game Roxanne, the movie Soldiers’ Letters Home Desiree’s Baby To Kill a Mockingbird Fallen Angels

21. Books Banned/Challenged for Profanity The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (incessant use of racial slurs including the “n” word) Black Boy by Richard Wright (banned in US in the 1970’s for “obscenity”) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (one of the most challenged in 2006 for its profanity) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (banned in Anaheim, California English classes in 1984 for “racially charged language”)

22. Books Banned/Challenged for Profanity The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (banned for the use of the “n” word) Holding Me Here by Pam Conrad Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (banned in Boston in 1881 for “explicit language”) Somebody Else’s Kids by Torey Hayden Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (banned in Waukegan, Illinois in 1984 for undesirable racial language) You Hear Me: Poems and Writings by Teenage Boys by Betsy Franco, editor

23. Beloved by Toni Morrison In 1987, Beloved was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Toni Morrison’s body of work was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993. Other major awards include: the 1996 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Pearl Buck Award (1994), the title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (Paris, 1994), the1978 Distinguished Writer Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is the Robert F. Goheen Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Princeton University. http://www.oprah.com/obc/pastbooks/toni_morrison/obc_20000427_aboutauthor.jhtml

24. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya In 1971, Rudolfo Anaya received the Premio Quinto Sol award for Bless Me, Ultima. Some of his other awards include: National Chicano Council on Higher Education fellowship (1978 – 1979), National Endowment for the Arts fellowships (1979, 1980), the Before Columbus American Book Award (1980), the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence and Achievement in Literature (1980), a Kellogg Foundation fellowship (1983 – 1985) and the PEN Center USA West Award for Fiction for his novel Alburquerque (1994). In Norwood, Colorado, the principal of Norwood High School, Mr. Condor , had all the copies meant for the freshman class collected and ordered the janitor to destroy them after parents complained of the profanity in the novel. In addition, a parent requested that the books be burned. Condor granted the request, but there is no evidence that the books were actually destroyed. Apparently they are in a landfill somewhere in the Rockies. http://gale.com/free_resources/chh/bio/anaya_r.htm http://www.iaiachronicle.org/archives/blessmeultima.htm

25. Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger The novel is constantly banned for profanity and called blasphemous because of the repeated use of the word “goddamn” Catcher in the Rye was published July 16, 1951. The novel reached Number 4 on The New York Times Bestseller list and was chosen for additional publication by the "Book of the Month Club.“ http://www.questia.com/library/literature/catcher-in-the-rye.jsp

26. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier The novel is the 5th most banned book in the 1990’s. In 1991, Robert Cormier received the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring his lifetime contribution in writing for teens, for The Chocolate War, I Am the Cheese, and After the First Death. Robert Cormier said, “Political correctness is one of the worst things to happen to literature. It's killing language and thought. It's evading real life. It's substituting euphemisms for truth. ”  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/robert-cormier/

27. Robert Cormier’s view on censorship “I've been involved with banning attempts since the publication of THE CHOCOLATE WAR in 1974 and, yes, it's more prevalent today. And more organized.  It's fine to call attention to the problem with the Banned Books List. Teachers and librarians can prepare for the battle when the books are known ahead of time. One of the reasons why I object so strenuously to censorship is because so much of it is absurd. And stupid. Censorship attempts call attention to the book under attack.  And immediately, kids want to read it. And then it's read for the wrong reasons. Every parent has the right to control what their children read. I don't object to parents who do not want their sons or daughters to read, say, THE CHOCOLATE WAR or WE ALL FALL DOWN. But I object when parents don't want other people's children reading those books. I think that a controversial book belongs in the classroom where it can be discussed, where a teacher can guide the students, where, in fact, a student can get up in class or write a paper saying that he or she doesn't like the book and objects to facets of it. That's the kind of freedom that we must preserve.”   http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-cormier-robert.asp

28. The Color Purple by Alice Walker The novel received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award, and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/alicew/ Cujo by Stephen King The novel received the British Fantasy Award in1981. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/stephen-king/cujo.htm Lord of the Flies by William Golding The novel is banned for profanity and racial slurs. After the publication of Lord of the Flies, Golding was granted membership in the Royal Society of Literature in 1955. Ten years later, he received the honorary designation Commander of the British Empire (CBE) and was knighted in 1988. http://members.aol.com/Kiwi11020/awards.html

29. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men is the second most banned book in the US in the 1990’s. It was banned for “racist language” in Florida and “vulgar language throughout” and “profanity” in Georgia. Also, it has been banned for the use of the Lord’s name in vain. A George County School Board in Lucedale, MS banned the novel from district classrooms and libraries after a grandparent complained about profanity in 2003. John Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He received the Nobel Prize in 1962. http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-mty-stnbeck/steinbeck-timeline.html

30. A Separate Peace by John Knowles The novel has been banned for “graphic language.” A Separate Peace won the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. It also received the William Faulkner Award for the most promising first novel of 1960. In 1961, Knowles accepted the National Association of Independent Schools Award. http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/a_separate_peace/1.html Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson The novel is the winner of the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award, the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award, and the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Award. It has been banned in several high schools in Washington, where the novel is set, because of “offensive language.” http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780791078778#TABS

31. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene The book was nominated for the National Book Award in 1973. The novel won the New York Times Outstanding Book Award, the Golden Kite Society's children's book writer's award, and the American Library Association's Notable Book Award. http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780142406519,00.html The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien A George County School Board in Lucedale, MS banned the novel from district classrooms and libraries after a grandparent complained about profanity in 2003. The novel was a finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. http://www.chipublib.org/003cpl/oboc/things/biography.html

32. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The novel was banned in August 2001 in Oklahoma for “racially charged language.” The novel won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the Alabama Library Association Award and the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In 1962. Harper Lee received the Bestsellers' paperback of the year award.   http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/1837.php The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy The book won Conroy a humanitarian award from the National Education Association. http://www.libs.uga.edu/gawriters/conroy.html

34. Online dictionaries have profanity too! http://www.merriam-webster.com/ http://www.yourdictionary.com/ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ http://www.alphadictionary.com/index.shtml

35. To Censor or Not to Censor Do we all censor? Is this the best policy?

36. Why do should we not censor? Intellectual Freedom “Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.” “Intellectual freedom is the basis for our democratic system. We expect our people to be self-governors. But to do so responsibly, our citizenry must be well-informed. Libraries provide the ideas and information, in a variety of formats, to allow people to inform themselves.” “Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas.” http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/intellectual.htm#ifpoint1

37. Websites ALA http://sshl.ucsd.edu/banned/books.html http://www.ila.org/pdf/2006banned.pdf http://americanfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/banned_books_week__radcliff_list http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=12122 http://www.abffe.org/bbw-booklist-detailed.htm http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17270600&brd=1574&pag=461&dept_id=532215 http://www.pcc.edu/LIBRARY/news/banned2006.htm