Cuckoo's Nest Censorship

Your apprehension over the subject matter of the novels being read in class is well founded and understandable. It is in the very nature of a parent to wish to protect his child, especially in the ever-impressionable teenage years, from “truculence,” “sexism,” and “antisocial ideas.” However, the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as every other novel read in an English class, not only has literary value, but is fundamental in exposing children to the realities of the world, harsh or benign. Censorship of the materials read and the topics of discussion in a public school can lead to a lethal condition in students known as ignorance, which, if left untreated, can breed highly uneducated and oblivious adults. Although reading novels …show more content…
They can formulate opinions on these issues at a later date, when they are older and more mature. You have to remember, though, that, as stated by the National Council of Teachers of English in “The Students’ Right to Read,” “youth is the age of revolt.” It is at this crucial age that kids begin to question everything they have been taught from the moment they were born. Therefore, when censored, teachers “are placed in the morally and intellectually untenable position of lying to their students about the nature and condition of mankind.” They are misinforming their students about the complexities of the world and leaving them ill-prepared for life beyond high school. To give a simple example, I was not aware of the fact that babies came from women and did not simply fall from the sky until I watched a particularly riveting episode “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” one day at eight years old. Imagine if I had not been exposed to that simple fact of life and continued into adulthood being completely oblivious and unaware of how human life is made because it is considered a topic too taboo to be discussed in school. Children have to learn about such profane topics at one point in their lives, whether it is at sixteen years of age or thirty-six. It is safer and more advantageous to let kids discuss these matters in a protected, healthy environment conducive to learning rather than allow them to believe the malicious and uneducated rumors on controversial topics spread by their obtuse