Anne Frank vs. Bella Swan
Culpeper County School Administrations this week made the decision to pull the famous Diary of Anne Frank from the 8th Grade curriculum. After facing criticism from the state and even at a national level (the story was covered by The Washington Post), the school system revoked their decision.
A concerned parent complained that the book should be removed from the 8th Grade curriculum on the premise that there were references to the young girl’s vagina that were “inappropriate” for 8th Graders.
This decision to censor school curriculum in an effort to protect students from “inappropriate” topics is absurd. If a parent wants to ban Anne Frank, a poor girl leading a lonely and dangerous life in Nazi-Holland, then that parent should make sure that his or her child is not reading Twilight! In fact, that parent should make sure that his or her child is not watching MTV, or VH1, or perhaps TV in general because every show on either of those channels makes obscene references to sex and drugs, usually very graphic. At least in The Diary of Anne Frank, students are able to discuss sexual topics with educators in a classroom setting with their peers. Here they will get the facts, and will not be influenced by the tempting celebrities and idols that promote such obscene behavior in popular culture. Students can discuss the reasons Anne Frank was writing about sensual matters in her private diary when she was a teenager. Anne Frank was living in the middle of a devastating war in a desolate country with little companionship or hope. Some cansympathize with her when she wants to get a chance to experience love before she winds up captured and in a concentration camp.
This parent and others who feel the same way, should make sure their children do not see any Twilight movies or read any of the books if they feel that Anne Frank promotes the wrong message with teenagers. In Twilight, Bella Swan not only gives into her lust and coherts with her dangerous vampire and werewolf boyfriends, but allows the boys to put herself in danger and in life-threatening situations. She abandons her family to follow them out of the country and even gives up her life to become a vampire to be with her boyfriend for eternity. In the second book, she retreats into a shell and lets herself become completely depressed when her boyfriend breaks up with her. She stops talking to her father and her friends for months and loses all interest in her life, just because her lovable vampire isn’t in it any more. By the third book, Bella is back with her vampire boyfriend and sneaks over to his house when his family is out and tries to seduce him. Finally, in the fourth book, Bella convinces her boyfriend to have sex with her, and becomes pregnant.
Teenagers are reading about and seeing this material with their friends on Friday nights and at dark movie theaters, outside of a school setting. It would be much better for them to discuss the foolish reasons for Bella’s actions with experienced and knowledgable adults in a classroom setting than laugh about it at slumber parties. When kids watch the dirty shows on MTV which promote the lavish and glamorous lifestyle of sex, booze, and hardcore drugs right in front of them on reality TV shows, kids learn to expect this as a social norm. They learn slang and false information about sex and other “inappropriate’ topics. The school system needs to realize that students are going to learn all of this inappropriate information anyway; it is part of going to high school and growing up. Instead of letting staged MTV shows and sex-crazed teen idols like Bella Swan teach their children, parents should support schools discussing sensitive information with their children in a classroom setting with teachers ready to answer any questions and advise students.
Why has every 8th Grade girl seen Twilight with her friends when she is not allowed by her school system to read about a holocaust victim in an academic setting? Students can discuss the strength that it took Anne Frank to face every day in war-torn Holland from her tiny bedroom that she shared with her older sister. They can converse in a classroom about the teenage girl’s sexual awakening and deepest thoughts. Students can examine her situation and her reactions in an academic and appropriate method if the book is read in school.
Kids are going to learn about these inappropriate topics one way or another, and learning about them in a school setting would encourage them to make the right decisions based off of accurate information and not the propaganda that MTV and other popular media are giving them. Today’s pop culture is sharing more “inappropriate” information with kids than Anne Frank is.
