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Banning books bans learning

Aweek ago, a video of John Green popped up on my Tik-

Tok for you page. Normally, it would be something I ignored and scrolled past. However, I heard that an Orange County school board candidate wanted to ban his first book, “Looking for Alaska”, from all schools and libraries in that district and I was drawn in.

Green said that the concept of his book being band was “surreal” because that was the school district he was from and the candidate, and the group behind the idea Moms for Liberty, were some of the kids he had gone to school with.

Now, banning books is not a new concept in school systems and it isn’t surprising that this is happening. Last year, the graphic novel “Maus” by Art Spiegelman was banned from school curriculum in Tennessee because of violence, nudity and profanity. The book is a retelling of Spiegelman’s father’s experiences as a Polish Jew that survived the Holocaust.

The book naturally is violent, given the period in history, and yet it was banned. The story is an important one, one that teenagers need to read. But because Spiegelman told the story in a realistic way, students have to suffer by not getting that point of view.

“Looking for Alaska” is nothing like “Maus”, but I still think it’s an important piece of fiction for young adults.

The people wanting to ban Green’s book called it pornography because of certain sexual scenes that happen. And if anyone has ever read the book, they wouldn’t necessarily think that word was an appropriate description. Instead, I’d describe the book as an homage to being a teenager. Whether parents like it or not, teenagers think about sex and even have sex quite a bit. It’s just the reality of growing up. But the story is about more than that. It talks about death and finding your identity, all things that teens should learn to do.

I’d understand if the book was being banned because it was targeted toward young children. But that’s the thing. It wasn’t written with young children in mind. It’s written about high school students, with high school being the target audience.

Green said that he found it ironic that the group Moms for Liberty were pushing for his book to be banned when the reality of it is that they are trying to “restrict the liberty of other people’s kids to read what librarians and teachers deem appropriate for those other people’s kids to read.”

I think he hit the nail right on the head with that statement.

Why should a group of parents get the right to restrict what other kids read? Shouldn’t they simply mind their own business and not allow their own children to read the book?

In my eyes, reading, regardless of if it’s fiction or nonfiction, is meant to broaden your mind about

the world and allow you to make your own decisions about the world. If we censor that view because something isn’t appropriate, where would that self-discovery come from? It’s not right that groups of close-minded individuals get to Aubrie Lawrence decided that the next generation has to follow in those same footsteps. Teenagers should not have to look at the world through rose-colored glasses only to have them pulled off when they enter the ‘real world.’ That is how we end up in an unaccepting world, where those ‘undesirable’ things we don’t talk about are seen as taboo. Ironically, this week is banned book week. So, if you have the time, pick up a banned book that you weren’t allowed to read in high school and give it a read. Who knows, you might discover something new about yourself by reading it.

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EDITORIAL

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6Sept. 22, 2022 | The Eagle | csceagle.com Opinion

As We See It

Students need to have time to succeed

u By Velvet Jessen

Opinion Editor

Everyone learns at a different pace and in different ways. I feel like I’m not learning at all. College is supposed to be hard; it’s supposed to challenge you and make you into what you need to be for what you want to do with your future. But it’s also supposed to teach you.

So why does it feel like I’m always grabbing at air trying to learn. And when I finally grab onto what I’m supposed to learn the teacher is saying we have a test coming up and we’re going to put some extra brand-new information in it.

So, I study and forget to eat and ignore everything else while I try and figure out what I’m supposed to know. Only to go into the test knowing every person I’ve talked to about the test also says they don’t know what’s happening. Or after the test saying they went in pretty confident and left almost equally confident that they did not get an A.

But they can’t focus on that because we have two more quizzes this week that they need to focus on plus homework that’s due Friday night that they’ll probably have to push off until the last possible minute.

Then a couple of weeks after those quizzes we’ll be given a test, which shouldn’t be so bad if we’ve been studying for quizzes or doing the homework right?

Most of the time when students are facing this problem it’s because Velvet Jessen

it’s midterms or finals week. Which are supposed to be the two times school is really stressful not every other week.

That’s not quite how it’s been working though for students.

Students stress and cram for quizzes or learn what they need for homework and aren’t able to retain the information. Cramming doesn’t create long term memory but when students are so busy and stressed cramming is all they really have time to do.

We’re told we need to maintain top grades but also be involved because that looks good if you apply to anything. But how are we supposed to be able to be involved, take a full course load, do well in those courses, and learn things long term?

To learn long term students need time to actually learn and let things set in.

Most people would struggle with that list of things, let alone if we decide to acknowledge that students are actual people with lives and not little robots that walk around campus.

Students have to sleep and unless they want to burn themselves out, they have to take care of themselves.

How are students supposed to be able to do everything they’re expected to and have time to do anything other than cram when they study. And if they aren’t learning things long term then how is college preparing any of us for what we’ll be facing in our future.

Is studying and constantly stressing with barely enough time to breathe really how students are expected to learn to skills they need for the rest of their life?

Gossip sometimes is what you need to heal

u By Kamryn Kozisek

Staff Editor

Gossiping is a pass time that many people in every college and high school in the U.S. enjoy.

In fact, who doesn’t enjoy a good ‘tea time’, I know I do.

Lets be clear this column is not anti-gossip, in fact it might be pro-gossip. I do however think that there are rules to this.

For starters, I don’t think that for any reason you should pick a person that you don’t know and start talking about their appearance. I mean what gives you the right to pick a random person and absolutely demean them for no reason.

The second major rule that I think is important, is that it should never be a lie. There is no reason you should randomly decide that you are going to make something up about somebody and spread it like its the truth.

The third and final rule is that under no circumstances should you share someones secrets as a way of getting back at them. Using their secrets as a way to get back at someone is just straight up cruel.

Now all that being said, I think talking about who is dating who or who got a job where, is acceptable.

Even bad mouthing someone to your friends, as long as its the truth, I think is something that helps all of us heal.

If someone has done you wrong and you dislike them for one reason or another, I think it is very healing to get out all of the negative thoughts and emotions.

That being said I also think that its important to get up and move on. You can’t sit in your anger forever and there is only so much bad-mouthing Kamryn Kozisek

to be done.

Once you get it out of your system, its time to move on pretend that person didn’t dump you, act like someone didn’t ruin a group project.

At the end of the day, some times you need to get out all of the gossip out of your system but there are morals behind it.

I can see how anyone who has had people bad mouth them, which is all of us, could be skeptical about how gossiping can be good. On the other hand who hasn’t gossiped. Even those who have been hurt by it have.

I can ensure you that as long as you are talking to the right people then it shouldn’t matter, because the hope is that it never leaves that circle.

Now I am pro-gossip and pro-disliking those that have hurt you, but I would like to say as you grow and mature letting go of those feelings become easier.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is let go.

This also includes taking measure

of how big of a problem someone is and take into consideration where they are in life. Maybe you find out someone ““You can’t sit in your anger forever and there doesn’t like you over a small problem or thing you did. Just remember as you get angry maybe that is just where is only so much bad-mouthing to they are in life. You have to ask yourself, is be done.” this really something that needs - Kamryn Kozisek to effect me? Is it even something worth another thought? This semester I am trying to enter my ‘I can be the bigger person’ era and I think taking out needless gossip is an important part of that.