Reading is the core priority for Year 7s at Turves Green, whether it be through the Accelerated Reader Programme, Classroom readers, Library readers or the 16 x 16 programme or – best of all – boys enjoying a book of their own because they love to read a good story. Literacy is at the heart of all our learning. But what if you live in a place where books are banned? During Banned Books week – which runs through the last week in September – Year 7s have been taking the chance to learn about where and why books have been banned both in countries as far apart as the United States and China.
Boys have been surprised to learn that much-loved stories, such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ have been banned in some places for what they reveal about the difficult issues of racism and injustice. They have also discovered that a key Year 8 text, ‘Animal Farm’ was once banned in the Soviet Union for what it seems to say about Josef Stalin. Most shockingly of all, they have discovered that not only ‘Witches’ by Roald Dahl, but even the Harry Potter series have been banned in some countries for promoting witchcraft.
Luckily all these books are available to our boys, helping them not only to immerse themselves in great stories and enjoy the fantastic worlds of imagination to which they can be transported by a writer, but also to understand the complexity of human life and experience by thinking about some of the issues which spurred the writer to create them in the first place. Year 7, who are currently reading ‘Ghost Boys’ paused their reading for a lesson or two this week to consider the reasons behind censorship and the implications while some have been exploring the displays and activities on this vital topic in the library.
