Dear Vanilla,

The Councillor felt that the list of books he and his group presented to the library were not "proper" books for young people to consider.
And therefore should be removed from the library shelves.

He felt for example that a book dealing with drug addiction was -
"inappropriate." However, as I said in my previous post - the books on his list were not the type of books that should have been banned.
Just one example, "Came Back to Show You I Could Fly," by Robin Klein, was a wrenching and unforgettable portrait of a family torn apart by the presence of a child on drugs. The book conveys all the horror and anguish of drug addiction and its effects on all concerned, but while not making it sound easy, the book does end on a hopeful note. As a reviewer pointed out, there is no hysteria, no attempt to probe unduly the whys and wherefores, but rather a patient, understanding acceptance of the pain and frustration, no miracle cure.

So often 'issues' novels only glamourize the issue. This one did not.
Neither did any of the other books on the Councillor's list.
They were all extremely well-written novels designed to make young readers think.

Anyway, the books were not removed from the library shelves as I wrote in my previous post. The heart of this issue was one's definition of education I suppose. The Councillor and his group obviously believed that education is designed to pass on from generation to generation a prescribed, accepted, and very limited body of knowledge. And that everything else is taboo.

Luckily the library's position was different to the Councillor's.
The library did not give in to what they considered "unfair pressure."

Cheers.

Very interesting case Foxy. Kind of thing that makes my blood boil. But it sounds like conservatism rather than political correctness that was the problem there.

My apologies Taryn if you believed I was supporting comments made by wassup(?). I'm guessing that's the one you're referring to. My intention was only to support a person's "right" to speak their opinion whether or not it is accepted or acceptable. Perhaps the words I used were not adequate in explaining my meaning. I am not gifted when it comes to speaking/writing.

Since it seems you have already chosen not to believe anything I have to say, you most assuredly will not believe my apology but so be it, life is full of choices, I choose to forgive and love. I refuse to choose a bitter life of harbouring resentment and anger. You may not choose to have me work with "your" people but to me everyone is the same. I do not define people by the colour of their skin or the religion they choose to follow. Maybe I am just an idealist living in an unrealistic era.

I make my choices every day, choices that let people express their opinions without fear of reprisal, I choose to be politically correct or incorrect as the situation permits. When I am with my friends who I look different to are together, we joke around using political incorrect terms. This is our choice.

God bless you Taryn, God loves you and so do I.

I apologise for using this forum to make personal comments rather than discussing the issue.

Don't forget that while we are able to practice Freedom of Speech we also have laws that prevent/deter racial vilification and the like.

So not pure F or S as the words might imply, but a balance of the rights of speech with human rights. Not always an easy balance and obviously some have concerns about OLO's practice on this issue from comments made above.

I remember when my daughters were at primary school (mid-late 90s) the Principal decided to ban the traditional Easter hat parade and egg hunt for the juniors. There was outrage at the school and I must admit I was not too happy about it at the time and I am an atheist. I know this might sound odd to some, but for the children's sake the egg and hat parade was looked forward to by kids and parents alike.

The reason given was that, given our multicultural society it was thought that Easter being a Christian festival was not reflective of all the families at the school. Our school was a smallish one at about 300 students at the time, and of those, three families were of other faiths (not including the atheists). I should add that the parade was not terribly religious - in that there were no bible readings or other religious rituals (even though Easter itself is obviously an important Christian celebration).

I guess what we have to ask ourselves is was this decision right or wrong? (If one can even talk in terms of right or wrong) Was it PC or was it the Principal's way of saying religion or religious festivals should not be part of public schools given that children from various ethnic backgrounds attend public schools all over Australia.

What do people think?

I've popped in a couple of times today, but decided to have Sunday as...er, Sunday.

But I remembered that I had managed only to send the first part of a post yesterday-(top of page 12), then my post count was up, so no more posts. (Don'tcha just hate it when you can't post WHEN you want?.......!!). I don't want this to go on tomorrow's allowance!

"Ginx: Please do not shout and jump down my throat for demonstrating something that is true. Vanilla wanted an example and I gave one. Whether the intention of the directive to Santa failed or not is really not the point- the point is that it even occurred in the first place as a result of PC gone crazy."
Posted by TammyJo, Saturday, 23 February 2008 5:01:09 PM
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TammyJo; first, you will note there are no choices to variegate text tone. The only option is caps, which I (and other posters) use in place of italics or underlining. (WHEN you have to put your hands over your ears-I am shouting!) It is a ludicrous cyber fallacy to take INTERMITTENT caps, and refer to them as shouting!
We have a poster on OLO that uses caps all the time. He is hurting, not shouting. But when someone is REALLY text shouting, by Glod you will know the difference!

Well now; see what I mean about PC being 'used'? Your Ho,Ho example never eventuated, yet you use it as an example as if it did!
Did you not notice that I DID mention that they TRIED PC and failed.
I acknowledge the ATTEMPT, and the fact that what you put forward is an absolutely classic example of TRUE (not the false 'racism protection' PC)-Political Correctness.

This kind of twaddle is being assigned to the wastebasket more and more where it belongs.True PC is as you pointed out, instantly recognizable as such. It is damned easy then to see what the terminology PC is NOW being used for..

Just out of interest, could somebody please provide a verifiable Australian example of where Christmas celebrations have been banned at a school?

Also, where in Australia was any any Santa banned from saying "Ho, Ho, Ho"?

The word "apocryphal" springs to mind. So does "bulldust".