Evagation

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Should my comment have been deleted from a website?

Earlier today I found a journal of a young adult author Shannon Hale. She had a blog linked from the main site (and you all know me and my voracious blog reading) and I began reading her archived entries. I read quite a few entries in which she speaks unkindly about teachers because they aren't doing enough to motivate students to read, and that it's their fault for pushing so many "classics" on kids and not "fun" books. Apparently, she received some negative feedback and wrote the following post: Have you hugged your teacher today? In response to those earlier posts (made by her, in her blog) that showed negativity towards teachers, and their lack of willingness to teach anything but the "classics." Today I posted the following comment for the above mentioned post: [Begin Post] I've had far too many great teachers to count but I do think it's great that you all are celebrating good teachers. Personally, I don't think it's fair to toss blame around in regards to what you (and some commenters) think students SHOULD be reading in schools. As many people pointed out, some schools have a set curriculum (both my parents taught for over 30 years apiece) and teachers can be penalized for not teaching required curriculum. On the OTHER hand, in the state I live in (California), The California Department of Education has posted an extensive catalog of recommended literature for grades K-12. CA Recommended Literature (K-12) You might be surprised to realize how many books are recommended by the state for use in classrooms. The "classics" actually take up a small portion of that list, and it is updated every few years to account for new YA books that should be added to the recommended reading list. Please stop railing on the teachers (I know you're going to say, "But look! We're talking about great teachers we've had!" but this thread was in response to a great amount of vitriol from the blog author towards teachers, trying to backpeddle after the fact is nice, but it doesn't take away from the fact that you have unfairly blamed teachers for problems that are often out of their control--standard curriculum set by a specific school district--and you were often unkind in your remarks. Teachers are incredibly underpaid and are trying to do the best they can with the resources made available to them.) In almost every class I've ever taken (from 3rd through 12th grades) we always had to read specific books as a class, and then had to do at least two more supplemental book reports on a book of OUR choosing. Meaning we could head straight to the library and just grab whatever caught our eye. There were also teachers I had (mostly in junior high and high school) that would excuse students out of the standard reading if they had a good reason for it, and would assign an alternate book for that student. There were also teachers (Hi Mr. R.!) who were tenured and completely disregarded some of the required reading list for their class (thank you, Mr. R., for not making us read "My Antonia"). I have been a voracious reader my entire life--I began reading the classics at an early age. (My Dad had me reading Homer and Shakespeare before junior high, and I would have to write a two-page report on the book and that report became a type of voucher for me--if Dad approved the report, which he always did, then he and Mom would take me to the bookstore and I could pick out three books of my own choosing, no censorship from them at all.) (And I loved reading Homer, even at that young age. I might not have understood all of it but I got the basic idea and truly enjoyed it.) And that's a great example of how PARENTS can encourage their children to read and learn to love it (I don't think I've seen anyone mention the role a parent has in what a child reads, when their role in their child's life is much more important than any English teacher's influence). Again, please look at the recommended literature reading list for grades K-12 (specific to California, but I'm sure every State Education website has a similar list). It has recommended books that were printed just two years ago. It has recommended books for all genres (you complained about the lack of genre reading in schools, which is also not true) including (but certainly not limited to): fantasy, humor, horror, mystery, and science fiction. All of those are genres that kids might view as "fun," and shows that there is far more variety in classroom reading lists than you give teachers credit for. Personally, I think parents should be more involved in what their children are reading. It's easy to blame the teachers (and you are blaming them, no matter how you try to cushion it by saying you are "appealing" to them) when, again, they are doing the best they can with the materials provided. That's my last point. You complain about teachers not assigning fun books but that's almost always a FUNDING issue. The current administration has constantly tried to cut funding to our schools. Without those funds, teachers cannot go out and buy an entire classroom set of a newer book because they simply don't have the money. If you were to actually talk to some teachers, instead of appeal to them, you would be told that they would LOVE to be able to teach a wide variety of books but that they lack the funding to make it happen. So. Instead of blaming, complaining, or appealing to the teachers, you should be writing (and complaining, and appealing) to members of your state legislature about your concerns that teachers aren't getting the funding they need to keep their reading curriculum current. To allow teachers access to the money they need to buy classroom sets of newer books, books that, as you have said, might grab the student's attention and convert that student into a life-long reader. [End Post] I went back to the site later to see how people responded to my post and found a notice from the site administrator explaining that two comments had been deleted and that the commenters had been notified by email (not me, but check my last entry for the site admin's response--even though I posted the same email address I always used--my katie@exaggeration.org account--the site admin said that it wouldn't accept his/her email) The site administrator also said that anyone who wanted to read the deleted posts and be told the reason they were deleted (although not the authors, apparently), that an entire copy of both posts would be emailed to these curious readers. To which I replied (as another post to the aforementioned blog entry): [Begin Post] I posted my email address when I posted the comment that was later deleted. I did not receive an explanation for this deletion. I also want to make it clear that I do not give my permission for you to forward my deleted post to anybody who asks for it. Since it was deleted entirely from your site, the rights to it reverted back to me, the author of the post. I will be posting my deleted comment in it's entirety on my own website (http://journal.exaggeration.org) and anyone who wants to read it may read it there. Please do not violate my rights by sending a "copy" of the post to your curious readers. I have no way of knowing that you are actually sending them the entire post, or an revised/edited version. Which is why I'm directing those who want to read it to my journal site. The post will be there in full, no revisions, no editing. [End Post] Of course, that post was also deleted. I figure that I am somehow violating the site's stringent commenting rules (which were laid out in an October 2006 entry: On Commenting). Perhaps I was a bit condescending (I honestly don't think so but I'm going to let you all decide) but it wasn't an offensively condescending manner. My post also could have been considered "smarmy, rude, or critical of others," by the site administrator. I personally don't feel that it was smarmy, I was not rude--in fact, I made a conscious effort to try and not be rude and to simply stick to what the blog author has posted in her blog, and my opinions about her postings, without resorting to juvenile name-calling--but my post could have been construed as being critical of others. As for the possibility that I was "critical of others." I was critical of people, specifically the blog author and the content of some her posts. I do not understand how criticism is a deletable offense. (This blog author is a published YA author, in case you were wondering, so she must understand the merit of good criticism.) The second definition of "critical" in the American Heritage Dictionary states that is is "characterized by careful, exact evaluation and judgment." Although I fully admit to being critical in my post, I also did my best to make it a careful, exact evaluation and judgment. Although, again, I'll let you all decide in my comments trail (if you want to weigh in on this matter, that is) and, no worries, there is no censorship here, so post whatever you like and be assured that it will not be deleted. Also semi-important to note: The post made by the site administrator saying that two posts had been deleted and anyone who wanted to know why could simply email a request to the site admin and the admin would send full copies of both posts along with the site admin's explanation for deleting them. The site admin deleted that post after I posted about how I was just going to post my comment on my own site, and anyone who cared to read it, could find it there. (Again, I find it odd that the authors of those deleted posts were not notified of their deletion but the readers of the blog were told about deleted posts and only had to send an email request to receive copies of them. I always post my contact information when commenting anywhere on the internet. Not once have I had a problem with someone not being able to contact me through the email address I include with every post I make (the katie@exaggeration.org account) and I have gotten quite a few emails from people who have read my comments on various sites. So I do not see how it would not work this time around.) So, what do you all think? Was my original post smarmy, condescending to the point of rudeness, or offensively critical? Please feel free to let me know in the comments. None of which will be deleted--I firmly believe in our right to express our opinions (regardless of whether you agree with mine, or not) and I am tired of people saying that they are against censorship, only to turn around and censor the critical opinions of others. The author of this blog has published four young adult books and I realize that she can police her blog in any way that she chooses, I simply find it sad that an author would embrace censorship, and delete critical opinions of her blog. Although if you read her entry about how she feels about negative criticism, it makes some sense. (Shake That Groove Thing blog entry) P.S.: I finally received an email from the site admin explaining why my post was deleted. The first reason that it was deleted was because it was too long. Which is true, it was rather long for a comment.
The second reason was: "The content was inflammatory and the result was that other commenters were rushing forward to defend Shannon. She's asked me to help keep this a positive place, and the shouting match brewing was very negative.The content was inflammatory and the result was that other commenters were rushing forward to defend Shannon. She's asked me to help keep this a positive place, and the shouting match brewing was very negative." (Since I don't know how to keep my damn mouth shut when prudence dictates that I should hold my tongue, I will simply say that if the site is meant only to be a positive place then she shouldn't have done so much complaining about teachers and curriculum. She should, instead, have focused on positive solutions for the problem instead of empty complaints. But that is only my opinion.)
Thirdly: "The content crossed the line from 'opinion' to 'libel.' The accusations you made against Shannon are unfounded (feel free to browse Shannon's past blog entries for proof), and besides that, they came across as rude. I'm sorry if you didn't intend that, but it read that way to me. As long as I have any say on this blog, I want to maintain it as a place of truth, and if people want to express differing opinions, they should be based on fact and be offered in a friendly manner. Having a differing opinion is one thing (I don't delete those, as you'll see if you browse the blog comments, and out of thousands, I've only ever deleted five), but your accusations were defamatory."
I was also sent the other deleted post, that I will not reprint here out of respect to it's author. I will say that the negativity in the other deleted post was directed towards me, not the blog author. Basically, it came down to this paragraph of mine:
"Please stop railing on the teachers (I know you're going to say, "But look! We're talking about great teachers we've had!" but this thread was in response to a great amount of vitriol from the blog author towards teachers, trying to backpeddle after the fact is nice, but it doesn't take away from the fact that you have unfairly blamed teachers for problems that are often out of their control--standard curriculum set by a specific school district--and you were often unkind in your remarks. Teachers are incredibly underpaid and are trying to do the best they can with the resources made available to them.)" People objected to my use of the term "railing on the teachers" ("railing" in that context was synonymous with "scold," and I do think she was scolding teachers); the line "great amount of vitriol from the blog author towards teachers" ("vitriol" was considered a defamatory statement, and I probably should have said "great amount of vitriol from the blog author towards english curriculums being taught by english teachers in our schools," which would have been more of a factual statement.; and lastly, people objected to my (misspelled! ha on me!) comment that her current post was simply an attempt to "backpeddle [sic] after the fact." What I read as backpedaling, others saw as a clarification from the blog author about her true feelings towards english teachers. The reason I think it's necessary to include this long post-script to an already massive entry is that I want everyone reading this to know that there are differing opinions than mine. Also that I have been accused of libel, defamation of character, and rudeness. The rudeness doesn't bother me, although I am sorry that I came across that way but I am bothered by the other accusations. I can't remember ever having been accused of libel, or defamation of character, for something I wrote on the internet. Which is why I'm surprised that it was the above post that got people so riled up and hurtling these accusations at me. Nevertheless, the accusations have been made and if there is anyone left reading this far, thank you for making to the end, and please feel free to form your own opinions about anything posted here.

Labels: censorship

Posted by Katie. on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 1:49 PM | Permalink | 2 comments | links to this post   

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