OPINION
TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MCLEOD MADNESS
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Effects of literature on kids overblown by deflated adults
BETSY MCLEOD
bmcleod@kansan.com
What do the books, "James and the Giant Peach," the Harry Potter books and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" have in common? They are all ingredients in the cake that make up everything that is wrong with our society.
we must protect our children from the evils that influence them when they read. Protect them from the sexual content, racism, offensive language and violence. If we keep these abinations on the shelves children everywhere will be running away in giant peaches in the company of life-sized insects.
Mark Twain, who does he think he is, putting the "N" word in a book that takes place in 1845? It's an abomination. Giant peaches. Life-size insects. Broomsticks and wands. It will be pandemonium. For the good of the future generations, all books that portray sex, violence, offensive language, racism or homosexuality should be banned
— or better yet burned. Head for the hills, the books are here to search and destroy.
The challenging of books in schools and public libraries is no new battle in the United States. Between 1990 and 2000 there were 6,364 challenged books reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom. The group that puts forth these complaints is mostly of parents that fear a certain book's effect on their child.
According to the American Libraries Association, 2004 was the first in five years that J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter", which has been cited for its support for Satanism and the occult, was not the No. 1 most challenged book. It was replaced by Robert Cormier's, "The Chocolate War." Out of the 10 books on the ALA's 10 most challenged books of 2004, four were cited for homosexual themes, eight for offensive language and three for sexual content.
The Blue Valley School District in Johnson County is currently being harmed by parents
upset with some of the books on the required reading list. About 500 parents proposed the removal of 14 books from the school, including "Song of Solomon", by Toni Morrison, because of allegedly unacceptable language, sexual explicitness or violent imagery, according to the Web site
ClassKC.org. The Web site gives nine reasons why the books should be banned, the best one being
"While textual descriptions of heterosexual sex, oral sex, homosexual sex, anal sex, rape and incest are not generally classified as pornography, it's undeniable that descriptions of sexually explicit scenes helps develop an appetite for more of the same. Unfortunately, that appetite easily and logically leads to pornography and sexual experimentation."
Logically, if children read about sex they will automatically spread their legs for any Joe or Jane that walks by, just like if they read the Bible they will be inclined to wander the desert for 40 days. It all makes perfect sense. But if children can't read controversial books, how can they understand and form opinions about the controversies themselves?
Parents might argue that it's OK if kids want to read these books outside of school, but they shouldn't be forced to read them in an academic environment. Logical as well, because everybody knows teenagers' favorite recreational activity is to read and analyze a nice challenging book, always taking time to consider the different arguments and questions that are introduced.
Whoever thought that our parents, the ones that begged us to read when we were little, would be putting up such a fight to keep us illiterate? Next week in the Anal-Retentive Parents News: "Everybody Poops." A book of shameless lies
McLeod is an Overland Park freshman in French and studying pre-journalism.
THE B-SIDE
Violence in video games lessens sensitivity to value of humanity
Sometimes video games mimic reality too much to be entertaining. This weekend, we were reminded how thin a line we tread between life and imitation when a convicted felon decided to turn his rage on the very executors of justice in the trial that might have locked him up for good.
SAM HOPKINS
shopkins@kansan.com
Pistol-whipping, car jacking and shooting people in the face — the news reports streamed in especially fast because the events transpired in Atlanta, where CNN has its headquarters. In the end, four civil servants were dead, and the whole country was aghast at the senselessness of the crimes committed. I couldn't help but think about video games.
In "Grand Theft Auto," so called because you commit crime repeatedly to win the game, cars are hijacked at gunpoint and prostitutes and policemen are gunned down like dogs or beaten with baseball bats. These things happen in the world.
I used to swing play swords and shoot Super Soakers, replicating violence by means of Nerf foam or water. I also played the "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" arcade game, putting many 16-bit robots to a rusty death. These were not pedestrians or drivers, though, and you would lose points for killing civilians. This is a major distinction between the games of the past and many of today.
Violent games are the root of society's ills. But they do reflect a certain measure of our problems. In that respect we have to draw the line of what we consider fun, and decide whether our hobby is perpetuating a degenerate mindset in which violence and harm are thought of separately.
When we receive positive reinforcement for killing on screen, we start down a slippery slope. College kids are not likely to go on a rampage because we have a sense of something to lose and, hopefully, of humanity.
Brian Nichols, still presumed innocent of this weekend's spree, apparently had nothing to lose. I don't know if he ever played violent video games, but surely some journalist will dig up such details in an in-depth report. Clearly, human life lost significance to the killer.
Let's return for a moment to the slippery slope mentioned above. The film "Fahrenheit 9/11" — whether you agree with its political points — conveyed the morally tenuous position in which soldiers are placed each day. The soldiers interviewed in the film — soldiers our age — explained that thinking of battle as a video game made the horror easier to bear. But, they added, the illusion only works for so long before the reality soaks in.
We play games to take a break from life, and to release pent-up energy. Shooting games stem from the familiarity of warfare and its images. I have faith in most people's ability to distinguish between carnage and computer-generated fun, but sometimes life blurs those lines for us. It is up to individuals to sort out the strands and pick the least destructive path.
❖ Hopkins is a Prairie Village senior in linguistics and international studies.
BENSON'S PERSPECTIVE
Wes Benson/KANSAN
EDITORIAL BOARD
Orwell's 1984 theme finds friend in attorney general
"Kansas, as bigoted as you think." There is no doubt that this satiric bumper sticker is a massive misrepresentation of Kansas as a whole. Nevertheless, we have at work some dedicated local extremists flooding the media with enough shocking ideological maneuvers to allow Kansas to remain in the limelight.
And there are so many people to thank for bringing fame to Kansas. We must acknowledge Fred Phelps for his unremitting homophobic crusade, the former Sen. Kay O'Connor (R-Kansas) for her vocal opposition of women's voting rights, and we must not forget to express our gratitude to the 1999 Kansas school board for banning that sinful evolutionary "theory" from our curriculum.
These radicals do not represent the majority of people residing in our humble state. It is time to restore the state's tarnished image before being a "Kansan" becomes synonymous with being a "zealous reactionary."
Attorney General Philkline deserves the credit forreeling in the majority ofKansas' bad press lately,buthis endeavors have the
If given that Kline's true purpose in taking these drastic measures is to prosecute sexual predators, why is he stopping with only those women who had abortions? What about all the other women who have been sexually violated? Wouldn't the logic follow that he should obtain their medical records, too? And while he is at it, why not examine the medical sexual history of males, too? Is it possible that maybe, just maybe he has ulterer motives for this 21st century inquisition?
potential of harm much more than our reputation. This avid anti-abortionist has been attempting to subpoena abortion clinics for the comprehensive medical records of 90 women and girls who received late-term abortions for his stated purpose of investigating criminal cases. Although he loudly proclaims the need of prosecuting sexual abuse, he seems more driven to ensure that underage sexual activity is reported and abortion laws are upheld.
Phill Kline's anti-abortion crusade, which received national attention, is another example of extremeists embarassing us as students and residents of Kansas.
Kline is rallying his ultra-conservative base by psychologically attacking a woman's legal right to have an abortion while simultaneously disregarding the Fourth Amendment of the
The Kansas City Star reported Feb. 25 that Kline said at a news conference, "I have the duty to investigate and prosecute child rape and other crimes in order to protect Kansas children."
The clinics refused to turn over the unedited patients' files and have requested that the Kansas Supreme Court intervene in order to protect doctor-patient confidentiality. These files contain the patient's name, medical history and "details of her sex life, birth control practices and psychological profile," as described on cnn.com. The clinics were willing to give edited versions with some of the personal information left out such as the patient's name, but that was insufficient for Kline.
Constitution that protects "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" unless there is probable cause.
There is no reasonable ground for supposing that his plan would even succeed in accomplishing his declared goals. Kline should by all means punish sex crimes, but these tactics explicitly target and disgrace women who
have had abortions. Whether to have an abortion is one of the most private and agonizing decisions a woman could make, and nothing could be worse for those women than to have their decision made public.
It would set a perilous precedent to allow the state to access a person's most private information. The thought of Big Brother examining confidential medical records with such details as a patient's number of sexual partners is too hauntingly Orwellian for Kansans to accept.
Although Kansas can normally repel the success of these aforementioned fanatics, every now and again, they have a victory. If you forgot, just last year Kline was successful in deciding what music Kansans should be allowed to listen to by restricting thousands of CDs from our libraries.
But what can we do to stop this? Get busy. Write to Kline about what you think of these intrusive measures.
Office of Attorney General Phill Kline
Topeka, KS 66612
Sarah Stacy writing for the editorial board.
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Saracita Sych and Anne Weltmer.
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Dr. Lanahan, what's up with the commercials?
So if our last two presidents smoked marijuana, shouldn't it be legal by now?
The *Kansan* just did an article on The Facebook on the front page. That lame.
Yes, you're right, evolution is just a theory. So is gravity.
Hey, just in case you guys were wondering, if you can't afford the tip, that does mean you can't afford delivery.
Templin?
What's with our basketball players and their goat beards?
This is to the guy who thinks that McCollum is so great: guess how much alcohol we just snuck into
March Madness has made me mad.
Whatever makes those Jamster cell phone ring commercials should be shot.
Buck Fucknell.
.