Consequences Of Banning Slaughterhouse-Five In High Schools

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Comedy clubs have proven that people prefer in your face profanity versus nineteenth century sheltering by their sheer popularity. Since recorded time, people have had differing ideas on how to raise their children. Some of these ideals include what to teach them and when it is appropriate to do so. It was shocking when television shifted from Dennis the Menace to The Simpsons. Unfortunately, society was not as wholesome as many perceived and related more to The Simpsons than Dennis the Menace. In truth, The Simpsons showed reality instead of idealism. While they were trying to show a more realistic, yet comical depiction of life, some thought of them as portraying that as normalcy as opposed to merely depicting exaggerated comedy. Literature …show more content…
Whether out of convenience or the sheer desire to place blame on a perceived evil, human nature almost always takes the easy route when dealing with conflicts. The irony in that situation is that taking the easy route generally makes things harder, just as a doctor treating only the symptoms of a disease generally makes things worse. Another irony pointed out by Ken Paulson in an article discussing the consequences of banning Slaughterhouse-Five in high schools is that "...today's high schools are full of students engaged with video games and engulfed by social media. Why would we ever build a barrier to reading a book?" (Paulson 1). Paulson shares the same belief when he points out the hypocrisy behind trying to shelter students from profanity within thought-provoking literature when today's students have an immediate and consistent connection to far worse at their fingertips through social media. Teenagers in America have instant access to topics far worse on social networks like Twitter and Instagram. The ease of promoting and receiving negative ideals grows more and more each day. In addition, Paulson also states that our "...society in which movies rated for a high school audience include extensive profanity and violence, and where three of the top 10-selling songs featured the F-word in their titles, how can coarse language in a book... be considered a threat?" (Paulson 1). While social media and the music industry solidify what society and culture are, literature shows what it truly is and forces readers to think what it could be. While at times overbearing, the profanity in Slaughterhouse-Five serves a purpose by creating more realistic imagery of the situations within World War II. Just imagine a drill sergeant at Paris Island addressing new recruits with, 'Gee wiz guys, we're going to have happy happy joy joy times.' It

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