I went to a rather rigid school, but this was in the UK, where educational emphasis )in private schools) seems to be placed more on what a person achieves than the type of person who achieves it, as the US private system seems to.
I never heard of any books being banned, in this day and age I would have thought schools would encourage kids to read, seeing as most prefer to play computer games, watch tv or have the attitude of "**** the book, I'll see the movie!".
Leisurely reading amongst today's youth is dwindling, and for a school which prides itself on excellence, it seems ludicrous to have such censorship. They would prefer walking Bible robots who have been sheltered from anything unholy? These people are not going to develop good social skills or learn much about the real world and it depresses me, as once they leave their familiar surroundings, adult life will be even more alien and discriminating.
My school obviously had rules on smoking and drinking, most schools do. But censorship within the library? Not at all. Outside of school hours/premises, students could do whatever they wanted (so long as it was legal!) and I think this balance between strictness and freedom is really helpful; it ensures that students can follow rules and guidelines but didn't discourage extra-curricular learning and didn't attempt to act as a moral guardian (parents anyone?) or segregator to the kids, so that they wouldn't have problems in society when the cotton wool wrapping and the imposed naivety wore off.
I've kinda gone off topic. A lot. But I feel strongly about censorship and also about schools which discourage individuality, adapt a parental role beyond their in locus parenti responsibility for safety and try to mould their students into their ideal citizen instead of developing a particular individual's brain and traits in the most fruitful direction that student can go.
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