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Noble High students
anxious to read ‘The Catcher in the Rye’
By ADAM D. KRAUSS
Democrat Staff Writer
NORTH BERWICK, Maine — Noble High School freshmen
say "The Catcher in the Rye" should not be banned and
that it offers kids an opportunity to read about some
of the things — like drinking, smoking and having sex
— that they already discuss with friends in the halls
on their way to class.
Kailey Rule, a 14-year-old freshman from North
Berwick, said reading a book doesn’t make the reader
just like the main character. "Just because it’s a
book doesn’t mean people are going to go out and start
doing it," she said. "We’re in high school and we can
definitely handle that."
Justine Dimambro, a 14-year-old freshman from
Lebanon, called complaints over the profanity in the
book "stupid."
She explained, "Because when we talk between
friends that’s the language we use. That’s part of
today’s society. When my sister read the book, a lot
of things were uncovered about peer pressure."
Sharon Hall, a 14-year-old freshman from Berwick,
said the novel "is about all of the things that do
happen."
And Drew McCormick, also a 14-year-old from
Berwick, said it’s useless for parents to try keep
controversial or risky books and music out of kids’
hands.
"One way or another, we’re going to hear it,"
she
said. "We hear worse things in the hallways," he said.
"People wouldn’t think it was so weird if maybe it was
more OK and an open thing and we were able to discuss
it easier. By not being able to be educated about it,
you’re more likely to experiment with it and get in
trouble."
Students were responding to a recent request by a
parent, Andrea Minnon, for the School Administrative
District 60 board to ban the book from the ninth-grade
curriculum because of its content and language. Minnon
told the board there is not enough being done between
the schools and parents to make them aware of what
books are being read.
J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel tells a first-person,
coming-of-age tale through the mind of Holden
Caulfield, who spends two days wandering through New
York City after being expelled from prep school.
Kalie Snow, a 15-year-old from Lebanon, said
reading about people’s experiences with subversive
elements of culture should be embraced.
"I don’t think it’s a bad thing because we should
learn about these things," she said. "As long as kids
don’t take it to heart and don’t do these things, as
long as you just read it and learn from it, it’s OK."
James Maheux, a 14-year-old freshman from Lebanon,
said since the book is already here it might as well
stay. "If they have it in the school then they should
leave it in the school because it’s already been
here," he said.
Chris Green, a 14-year-old freshman from Lebanon,
said bluntly, "I don’t think it needs to be banned.
... It’s been here this long; nobody’s complained
about it yet."
Green said the things the parent objected to are
aspects of regular high school life. "We’re in a high
school," he said. "We know about that stuff already.
Ashley Seeliger, a 14-year-old freshman who said
she read the book when she was in fourth grade, said
she loves reading "weird books."
She said things like drugs and sex are "a part of
life and it’s a writer’s freedom of speech, and you
can’t really protect people too much because when
they’re not exposed to it, they freeze and they don’t
know what to do."
The book has a long history of stirring controversy
in America’s public schools. According to materials
provided by the National Coalition Against Censorship,
in 1986 the book was removed from the required reading
list at a high school in Wyoming because of sexual
references and profanity. In 1985 it was banned from
English classes at Freeport High School in Florida for
the same reasons.
SAD 60 has never pulled a book from the curriculum,
Superintendent Paul Andrade said.
Of about a dozen students interviewed, none
supported banning the book.
Rich Kent, a professor of young adult literature
from the University of Maine in Orono, said in today’s
shock-culture world, Salinger’s novel is relatively
tame. "In the 21st-century, that book is benign," he
said. "Yes, it has some foul language and yes it talks
about the exploration of coming of age or whatever,
but it’s tame as compared to some of the things kids
are reading out of school or watching on MTV."
Kent said banning "Catcher" would open a floodgate
of requests. "If we start banning books then we’re
going to have to look at the Bible, Shakespeare, a lot
of the revered books that are sitting in libraries
across the country," he said. "And that would be a
very sad day."
The best thing to be drawn from this experience for
the district is healthy debate on the merits of the
book, Kent said. "The great thing is this parent has a
right to do this and that should be celebrated and
honored, but she also only has a right to do this for
her child.
"But to deny students across the board any access
to literature is a problem in my eyes," Kent said.
One of the teachers of freshman English at the
school, Mike Boodey, said the book is a classic taught
so students can find possible parallels between the
character’s life and their own. "I think it makes them
think, asks questions of them," he said. "They’re
going to make connections with their own lives."
Boodey warned against people making judgments on
the book without reading it. "If people don’t read the
book ... they’re only going to see the parts that are
controversial," he said. He said it is definitely
appropriate for any grade in high school. Boodey also
said it’s important for parents to know they have the
right to bring their grievances with a book to the
board.
Echoing sentiments made last week by the high
school principal, Christian Elkington, Boodey said, "I
don’t think it’s right for the book to be pulled at
the detriment of the whole class just because of one
parent.
David Miller, the school’s head librarian, who will
also serve as a member of the committee assigned to
explore the book and issue an opinion on it for the
board, said he hopes the community voices their
opinions on the book. "Hopefully the whole community
will come out and argue their points of view," he
said. "Personally, my whole goal is to listen
carefully to everyone. Hopefully it will not turn into
Ms. Minnon versus the school board."
Kim Bernard, a board member representing North
Berwick, said she is reading the book again. She gave
no indication Monday of how she felt on the matter,
but she said just because students are used to
profanity doesn’t make it acceptable. "Just because
kids hear a lot of profanity in their daily lives,
that doesn’t mean that makes it OK," she said.
Democrat Staff Writer Adam Krauss can be reached at
692-3300, Ext. 5032, or
akrauss@fosters.com |
