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Forever by Judy Blume “But it's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” (Blume, Judy) Judy Blume’s novel Forever is about two high school seniors, Katherine and Michael, who deal with teenage sexuality. Parents want the book to be removed from library shelves because it deals with sexual activity without “punishments” including pregnancy, STDs, and others. Forever has been banned in many middle and high schools for the issues of teenage sexuality and offensive language. In my personal opinion I think that Forever for the ages 12 and up (young adults) in all libraries. I think parents ban the book without reading it so they assume the worst. Katherine is a 17 year old high school senior who meets a boy named Michael at a New Years Eve party. During the novel Artie explores his sexual orientation with Erica’s help. The day after the party, when Michael goes to see Katherine they kiss and start dating. It’s her first “real” relationship and she has to experience the newness of it. After awhile Katherine and Michael start to fall in love and feel more and more comfortable around one another. During their dates they start to make-out and they go from there as it gets more intense. Eventually they decide that they are ready and they make plans to have sex for the first time. They go on a ski trip with Michael’s sister and have sex there. The high school couple promises to love one another forever, which is where the title of the book came from. After having sex, Katherine goes to the clinic to receive a subscription for the pill. Her parents become worried that their daughter and Michael are becoming too serious so they send her off to a summer tennis camp for a few weeks. She is heart broken because she has to leave Michael for a few weeks and is also reluctant to get away. While away from home Katherine is told that her grandfather died and tries to cope by kissing her tennis instructor. She develops a crush for her instructor because she thinks he’s more interesting, more experienced, and he is older. Katherine starts to realize that there are more guys out there besides her boyfriend. She breaks the news to Michael when he comes on a surprise visit and the relationship ends and they go their separate ways. Forever raise concern on many frightening issues that cause outrage in parents such as: promiscuity, gender roles, lying, and sexual ethics. Forever was one of the first books that dealt with teenage sexual activity and the absence of “punishments” like pregnancy, dangerous illegal abortions, STDs or death. Also, in the book Katherine visited Planned Parenthood and went on the pill. “One of the major messages of Forever- one that teenagers receive- is that teenage sex is fun, pleasure-filled, and carries no moral repercussions.” (Stevens, Bryce) This is what some people believe the message in Forever is and this message is one of the reasons parents do not want their children to get a hold of this book. Other people that have read the book realize that the real underlying message of the book is that “teenage sexual relations out of marriage make you feel good physically but are inevitably followed by heart break and anguish.” (Stevens, Bryce) There are sexually explicit scenes in this book and parents did not want their children reading it. Parents want Forever pulled from the library shelves because Katherine and Michael do not practice safe sex. The book was attacked for the “frank treatment of adolescent sexuality”. A lot of parents think that children are too young to read a book about sexuality so they try to have it pulled from library shelves in order to protect their child’s innocence although, it was written for young adults starting at the age of 12, many people feel that it should be adult literature only. Although most students like the book and want to keep it in their libraries, one said “it is presented as contemporary fiction yet does not address AIDS, not to mention the more complicated understanding we have of the Pill’s benefits and drawbacks.” (Sutton, Roger) Another issue that is controversial in the book is homosexuality. Michael Wagner’s friend Artie, “explores and acknowledges some uncertainty about his own sexual orientation.” (Medical Humanities) Erica, who is also one of Artie’s friends, sticks by him and helps him sort through his thoughts and decisions. People also think that homosexuality is too mature a subject to be presented to kids at the age of 12. They think that children at that age and younger do not fully understand, if at all, the subject of homosexuality. Judy Blume has her own opinion about censorship in general. Blume says “I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed. Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children’s lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don’t read about it, their children won’t know about it. And if they don’t know about it, it won’t happen.” (Blume, Judy) Forever was first banned in 1982 at the Midvalley Junior-Senior High School in Scranton, Pennsylvania and was also banned in 1997 at the Middle school of Elgin School, in District U46, in Elgin Illinois. The school board removed the novel from the school library, citing parental complaints about sexuality. The decision was challenged in 1999, but the policy remained despite the complaints. The National Coalition Against Censorship has urged the school board to reinstate Forever, pointing out that removal of books due to their content is unconstitutional. It’s not just in this middle school that Forever is banned or being challenged. In Texas a “librarian is currently campaigning to have Forever taken off the shelves of every school library in the state.” (Crown, Sarah) Forever has also been banned inside the Pasadena Independent School District. It was removed from both the intermediate and high school libraries. Later on, “the reconsideration committee advised that the book be retained in the high schools, but the superintendent decided to remove it entirely.” (The File Room) Judy Blume’s book “Forever” is often challenged in the Texas school districts and in 2002 it was banned in Cranfills Gap ISD Middle School for its sexual content. After re-reading the book Forever by Judy Blume and researching the controversy over it we have found out that it has been banned for teenage sexuality and offensive language. Parents do not like the book because there are not any consequences when the two seniors in high school have sex. Other people like the book because they believe Blume writes in a non-judgmental way and that she is simply putting the truth out there. The reason Blume even wrote the book was because her daughter, Randy, once asked her why there was not any books out there that had two teenagers engaging in sexual relationship and not have any punishments involved. It is rated as a young adult’s book meaning it is written for the ages 12 and up but some people believe it should be an adult literature book only. My group’s opinion is that the book should not be banned for any reason. We think it should be available for anyone to read and that parents overreact to the contents of the book. |