Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The Little Red Schoolbook

It's amazing that a book that would be largely uncontroversial today received so much attention in the early 1970s. I mean, can you imagine, a book which explained to kids what sex actually involved. Australia was so much more a conservative place.
t's funny to hear how over the ages people have justified censorship on the grounds that people are somehow incapable of processing material deemed to be morally questionable...they really thought this book was going to tear apart the fabric of society and turn kids in to monsters. But then again I suppose some of the people who hated that book probably do think that kids nowadays are monsters
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"What do you mean by 'it began as a joke' ? It was the joke that was brilliant!"

1 comment:

Duke said...

I recall quite a bit about that book and have been searching the web for more information about it. I guess I was hoping to find in on-line somewhere but seems to have been a pipe dream. Like you, I recall the controversy then. What makes you think it would be different today? I wish we could put it out and answer that question, "would it be controversial today?". Maybe just in Texas. Let me know if you're interested in links.