Sunday, January 31, 2010



VA: Now they're censoring Anne Frank's diary

Just one complaining parent again, it seems:
"A version of an iconic autobiography detailing a young Jewish girl’s two-year experience hiding from Nazis in a cramped “Secret Annex” has been pulled from the shelves of Culpeper County Public Schools.

“The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition,” a vivid memoir of Anne Frank’s private thoughts during the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, will no longer be assigned to CCPS students, according to Jim Allen, director of instruction for the school system. This book is usually given to eighth-grade middle school English students to read.

Citing a parent’s concern over the sexual nature of the vagina passage in the definitive edition, Allen said school officials immediately chose to pull this version and use an alternative copy. “What we have asked is that this particular edition will not be taught,” Allen said from his office Wednesday morning. “I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. So we listened to the parent and we pulled it.”

Apparently, Anne’s father, Otto Frank, the sole survivor of the “Secret Annex,” felt the need to censor his daughter’s most intimate thoughts as well, eliminating about 30 percent of the original diary published in 1947. He omitted parts where Anne criticized her mother and other Jews living in the confined quarters as well as some sexually suggestive references. However, during the 50th anniversary of her death in a concentration camp, the Anne Frank Foundation published the unedited definitive version in 1995....

According to Amazon.com, “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl,” tops the list of commonly banned children’s books in public schools nationwide. The reason listed for banning this book is “for being too depressing for students.” Other books that made the Amazon list include “The Catcher in the Rye,” “Harry Potter,” “Of Mice and Men,” and “Harriet the Spy,” to name a few.

Source

This is really getting insane

6 comments:

Bobby said...

Schools are stupid, they don't realize how hard is getting kids to read since they are more likely to buy Cliff Notes or read a summary on the Internet.

Why ban Harry Potter for example? It's a brilliant piece of literature, it certainly has turned millions of people into reading, and not just kids since there are plenty of adult fans.

As for The Diary of Ann Frank, I read the censored edition and admit it was rather boring and tedious. There are better books about the subject, but the school is acting stupid with the censorship mania.

We The People said...

Once again, we see proof that not only are there some truly fcuked-up people in Virginia, a long-known fact, but also that there are some very dangerous people running our education system. This is also the result of a country being pushed away from one of it's fundamental principles, majority rule. That one person can literally effect the lives of hundreds-of-millions, is a sign of national insanity and moral decay.

Anonymous said...

HOME SCHOOLING!

Anonymous said...

When you think about though, what better way to get kids to read something than for them to hear that it's been censored somewhere?

I wonder how many kids are now plowing their way through that book simply because they heard that someone doesn't want them to read it?

Anonymous said...

The book is banned because it is “for being too depressing for students.”

Does anyone else find it curious that thousands (millions?) of students have read the same book and have somehow survived and continue to live normal lives?

Just another example of the pussification of America.

Robert said...

This is also the result of a country being pushed away from one of it's fundamental principles, majority rule.

One modification I would make to that: "...majority rule, consistent with morality."