Mia comments on Banning The Giver

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:37:36 -0500

This has been my favorite book since about 3rd grade. I may have heard before that it's been banned, but it really surprised me when I started doing research what small, inaccurate things this book has been banned for. Drug use? Sexuality?
I wonder if the parents read the book or just read a page mentioning the "Stirrings Pill" or a brief mention of nudity...

Nicole comments on Banning The Giver

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:28:50 -0500

Imagine living in a utopia, a world with no problems. No war, no emotion, and no free will. Lois Lowry’s The Giver is a book about a 12 year old boy named Jonas. Jonas lives in a seemingly utopian society, where war, feelings, and emotion are nonexistent, because people take medicine to suppress them. Each family unit is allowed two children, one of each gender. Extra children that are born are “released” from society. It is revealed in the book that “releasing” is infanticide. The surplus children are euthanized, and some people also “release” themselves, or inject a lethal medicine into them. When it is revealed that Jonas’ brother will be “released”, Jonas tries to run away with him to escape.

The Giver has won a Newberry Medal, yet it has created opposition i n libraries and classrooms across the country. It seems that librarians as well as parents have some concerns about the use of euthanasia, infanticide and suicide in a middle-school level book. They feel that middle school students aren’t ready to handle the discussion of such topics, and want the book banned from their children’s libraries. From a parent’s perspective, I would be worried about my child’s innocence being stolen by a book. This is not the case; however, because The Giver merely discusses topics which parents feel uncomfortable explaining. The facet of the matter is, most kids in middle-school are already exposed to “the real world”, and will not be as negatively influenced by The Giver as expected.

I understand that the book discusses suicide openly; something not socially acceptable in our society, I do not think it is a legitimate reason not to allow kids to read about it. It is a problem we face in society today, and will continue to face as long as there are problems in life. As for infanticide, it is a real-life problem that occurs in our society everyday. However horrible it is, I feel that it’s unfair to kids to hide them from the truth. Suicide is am issue, and it will continue to be as long as we don’t live in a utopia like Jonas. I think that it would be unfair to kids to shelter them from real life problems.

While The Giver doesn’t say that suicide is wrong, it doesn’t promote it, or state that it’s acceptable. If concerned parents could get past the fact that this book has some controversial topics in it, they would see that many kids would benefit from reading it. The Giver may be on the new edge of what’s socially appropriate, but it has messages in it which are very beneficial to children who may read the book.To ban this award winning book because it discusses real-world problems would be unfair to children who would benefit from the story.

Megan comments on Banning The Giver

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:22:25 -0500

I think The Giver was a really good book and should not be banned, it teaches children nothing is perfect and we can't make it that way. It teaches all of us that to get rid of something that you don't like, you may have to give something up that you do like. Like, for example, The community got rid of love and "stirrings" because there were problems with relationships, and so, there was no choice in who you got to pick to be with, which just ended up blocking out the whole love thing. Which love is really important. So our world will always be imperfect, but we have to learn to live with it, or we might end up killing the smaller of a set of twins.

L Dzki comments on Banning The Giver

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:15:29 -0500

I read this book when i was about ten years old, i think this book is a good representation of the world. This book showed me that the world is not perfect. I think that it shouldnt have been blocked

Rachael comments on Banning The Giver

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:05:12 -0500

i also read this book when i was very young, and i loved how much it made me think. i will remember that book forever, and i can't believe it's been banned.... i feel sorry for any children who now won't be able to read this book...

Darren comments on Canyoneering in Zion

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:37:06 -0500

Zion is such a beautiful place. I am not a climber/rappeller but have heard great things about the descent into The Subway. I love lifestyle photography and had the good fortune to meet a great rappeller. I was able to get some good rapelling photographs and hope to work more with climbers and rapellers.

Thanks for this post.

Darren

michael abernathy comments on Banning The Giver

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:28:21 -0500

The book is also charged with containing sexual passages. In my personal opinion I didn’t see anything like that. There is a brief paragraph in which Jonas discusses a dream he had that involved a female classmate. His parents see this as the beginning of what is termed the "stirrings" and he is promptly medicated to control those urges. So I think it should be kept on all school and library shelves

Ashley comments on Banning The Giver

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:08:15 -0500

I think it is just ubsurd what parents are saying about these books! I mean come on! Because it has death and killing?! First of all, they probably didn't even read the book! Second of all, it's all in the news and papers, about the kiling and all that. A kid reading a book that mentions it is not going to go around like,'DEATH!DEATH!' I mean seriously!!!
And technically, there was no positive light to the killinganyway. as a matter of fact, Jonas hated it and looked down on it.
People are just crazy! and getting worked up for nothing!!

Alphonsus comments on Banning The Giver

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:32:49 -0500

So i find it rather ironic that a book that is about the government shielding and banning things from everyday life, just so happens to be banned.

Todos los que están contentos de que se prohibió este libro son estúpidos.

Jenn comments on Banning The Giver

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:02:37 -0500

I agree completely with Meg and Alphonsus. We are putting these same children, that we are shielding from the book, in more danger by allowing them to believe that the world is as simple as it may seem.

Jaylor comments on Banning The Giver

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:08:17 -0500

The Giver was EXTREMLY weird and freaky i think it should have a better ending and less death...

Bess comments on Banning The Giver

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:52:59 -0500

I am 35 and I was required to choose a young adult book to deconstruct and reconstruct using critical literacy. You can google critical literacy for a full explanation. My two high school daughters have read The Giver. One did not like it and the other did so I read it. I was blown away by it.
I understand why people want to ban it. I makes you think about the way life should be. It makes you question the status quo. It makes the reader uncomfortable. We all want to have the opportunity to be happy with our lives and have peace and contentment, but are we willing to give up who we are to do that? Those who see this book as a danger to their children probably have not read it like most of the people who have posted here have said. That or they read it and totally missed the message. We must learn from our mistakes (memories are required for that) and there is the saying, you can never know peace if you never know war. Obviously that is very strong, but you get the meaning.

Brooke Burbank comments on Banning The Giver

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:16:59 -0500

I quiet honestly enjoyed the book and disagree with banning I mean I read it for english and found nothing wrong with it we let children watch movies that are worse than this book.

Tyler comments on Banning The Giver

Tue, 25 May 2010 13:58:43 -0500

The Giver is a great book that should be admired throughout the future. It shows that the world isn't perfect and if it was perfect it wouldn't be the best. People think life is all bad but when you read this book it tends to show you the truth to life and our world is better than we think. We tend to believe that we wont make it any better or our world is the worst out there but if you put it into reality it isn't. The giver is a colorless reality where everyone is a specific thing when life as we know it is not like that. We are able to be different and experience things that "The Receiver" is given from "The Giver" in the story but we have our own reality to show us this and we tend to take things for granted.

Anonymous comments on Banning The Giver

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:26:49 -0500

The Giver is the best book ever. It offers so much insight and is so emotional. Banning it is terrible, mean, and stupid.

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