Manga banned in school...!

[soul alive]

and many fifth graders don't even know what some drugs are until they are conveniently informed not only on how to identify them, but also how to use them by "drug prevention education."

back on topic. i might suggest writing a letter, informing the uninformed school officials about manga, and possibly include a list of titles that are and are not acceptable for school, so that teachers can identify it easier, and not end up taking manga that is suitable for kids, claiming that it's pornographic/violent/etc.

i have a bit of a beef with what is deemed by schools to be acceptable and unacceptable reading material, especially required/assigned reading. in my junior year, my english teacher had us read an autobiography, and while everything in it really happened, i wasn't comfortable reading about the author's molestation, among other things, (which are pretty well detailed for 'just words'). but we still had to read it. *sighs*

but you can't ever make everyone happy when it comes to issues like this, if everything that was potentially offensive was banned from school, we wouldn't be doing much there...

good luck with this problem.

[Scribs]

It is the right of the school to ban items they deem objectionable. It may not be a wise or just decision but they have the right to do it just the same. The last thing to do would be to be a smart alec about it. If they know you are a christian and you make a big stink over "comic books" what kind of witness is that. It is a shame that they were banned, but hey, life is tough.

[Arnobius]

It is the right of the school to ban items they deem objectionable. It may not be a wise or just decision but they have the right to do it just the same. The last thing to do would be to be a smart alec about it. If they know you are a christian and you make a big stink over "comic books" what kind of witness is that. It is a shame that they were banned, but hey, life is tough.

Good point. So many times they use the slur "dumb### fundy" in cases like that.

[bigsleepj]

Off course if you're going to ban Manga you might as well ban normal books because in all honesty they interrupt with the learning process as well. Why else would you bring a Stephen King novel to school?

[Hitokiri]

Off course if you're going to ban Manga you might as well ban normal books because in all honesty they interrupt with the learning process as well. Why else would you bring a Stephen King novel to school?

Then that goes into the entire thing of "well, those are educational and constructive reading whereas manga/comic books are not" that some people bring up.

[Ingemar]

Off course if you're going to ban Manga you might as well ban normal books because in all honesty they interrupt with the learning process as well. Why else would you bring a Stephen King novel to school?

Exactly what I said, in not as few words.

[Yeshua-Knight]

all i'm reminded of is how the nazis in germany during WW2 confiscated and burned books, hmmm, halfway there it looks like

[Ingemar]

Wrong analogy Yeshua. First of all, there is no destruction of manga here. Secondly, the Nazis seeked to destroy books that clashed with their ideology. All that the teachers in this case ask is that the students allocate their manga reading time OUTSIDE of school. Teachers generally don't get the vapors over what kids read outside of class, but various socialist dictatorships do.

Nazis are bad people, yes, but even I get tired of hearing everyone and their brother comparing this-and-that to Nazism.

[Yeshua-Knight]

ok, true enough, i'm sure there is some good reason behind their banning of manga, my apologies for making such a comparison

[kaji]

[quote="agasfas"]I know some schools can make certain rules if they see it as a clear threat to the learning environment, but I can hardly say this is (unless it's a mature manga). If you wanted, you can also goto the School Districts board meeting. Raise the question that how can mangas be distrubing the learning environment, because it's reading materal just like a book. I mean, I'm sure the library has a thousand books that talk about more controversal topics. And given it's not a private school, it makes no sense. Then again hats, sodas and card playing aren't allowed in many of Austin high schools anymore either.

If you really want to get your voice heard, I would suggest going to a board meeting, or setting up a appointment to chat w/ the principal about it- get his imput on why he made that decision]
Indeed, this is your opertunity to stand up for what you think is unfair and wrong.
Rally the troops, sign petitions, and walk out. Your history and sociology teachers will be proud.

Your best way to raise support it to theorize and generalize, "if they can do this unjustly? What is to stop them from doing that?" Dont come up from the bottom as students, meet them head on as adults, be smart and polite, and always firm/clear in your concern. Never take the offense or defense, only the concerned citizen.

-kaji

[Madeline]

That is completely bogus! Why would anyone want to do such a thing? This definitely has "school board" written all over it. I bet they caught ONE kid with an inappropriate manga and now they decided that they should ban anything with pictures in it for the "safety and welfare of the students"...

It's funny how they open the doors wide for students to lie, steal and cheat, but discourage prayer and discipline in the schools. They are a wonderful example of the effectiveness of the public school system. *gack*

[Shao Feng-Li]

Heheh. That's to funny.

I love being homeschooled.

[Pent]

In my school they will take a manga away if you are seen with one. And they don't give them back untill the end of the year and still then they will forget to give them back at the end of the year. They never offiacially banned them at all. It's not even stated in the rules. They just took my friends Naruto one day. They have alot of other rules which are not stated in the rules to. They won't give back other stuff either that they have taken from me. My teacher took my camara three months ago. It's a public school to! You got to wonder if it's legal for them to take our personal property like that. We have no say either. Since I'm gone from this school after this year anyways I'm not to mad, but I wonder when kids and teens will ever get a say in things.

[Dark_angel]

....Well, one of the titles was Love Hina, but that I believe was a volume with less ...fanservice....than some others (or so I was told) However, manga such as CardCaptor Sakura and Fruits Basket were also considered "Inappropriate" which does not make any sense since the title clearly states rated all ages.

As for drawing manga, I'm already doing that, but few of my teachers are especially paranoid about this, if they see your pencil move in any direction that doesn't look like you're writing, they will immediately ask you what you are doing, and some of them wander around the classroom and check to see if the students are "actually studying..." which especially upsets me because the lack of privacy, atleast they did not instigate investigations in the lockers (everyone still brings them to school, but atleast they keep it out of sight)...>_> I think that's against the law,but you never know...

[desperado]

dark_angle and pent you two really need to get your parents involved, specially pent. a school cannot hold onto your property that long. get your parents to go yell at them.
schools are really getting out of hand lately but if you have grounds and wave lawsuit under there nose they do seem to do a 180

[Scribs]

As for drawing manga, I'm already doing that, but few of my teachers are especially paranoid about this, if they see your pencil move in any direction that doesn't look like you're writing, they will immediately ask you what you are doing, and some of them wander around the classroom and check to see if the students are "actually studying..." which especially upsets me because the lack of privacy

A teacher looking around the room to see if people are studying doesnt seem like an invasion of privcy to me. I mean, come on, if you are in a class you are there to learn from the teacher and if you are doing somthing else it is the teachers right to stop you.

Now, back in the good old days techers had an effective way to keep kids doing what they was told... Whips!

[ChristianKitsune]

My school must like me!! hehe.. Most of my teachers love my art! And one of them is using a lot of my orginal anime drawings for our literary magazine.. I also take my mangas to school when i have free time.. Ahh living in a small town with a 3A school is nice!! *kicks back*

[Dark_angel]

....I got mine back early, but it seems my friend is not. She can't get her parents to come because her parents don't know about it...apparently they disapprove of all comic books are would be encouraged by what the school is doing....x_x
....As for the drawing manga part, we got our old private space back, the teachers haven't been as itimidating...as the thing with the whip...I know, I've had the "pleasure" to experience them before...-___- but they are not allow to do that in the US, good thing too...^__^ For now, we'll just have to see if the school is willing to compromise, I suppose...but thank you all for your words of encouragement and advice...^___^

[mechana2015]

My teacher took my camara three months ago. It's a public school to!

This needs to be delt with through the principal and the schoolboard by your parents. Unless you were using the camera in an innappropriate way (eg. taking pictures in class, sing the flash to blind people... stupid stuff...not that I'm saying you did) they should have no reason to take it. There's no law against having a camera to uses for pictures to remember your friends, or school events with, and no reason for there to be such a rule...especially an unwritten one, which isn't legal (I dont think).

[Arnobius]

dark_angle and pent you two really need to get your parents involved, specially pent. a school cannot hold onto your property that long. get your parents to go yell at them.
schools are really getting out of hand lately but if you have grounds and wave lawsuit under there nose they do seem to do a 180

Ordinarily, the school holds on to the item until a parent comes to claim it. I don't doubt there is corruption in some places but in any event, researching what the law allows helps to avoid looking stupid later on.

[rocklobster]

Schools are always banning the wrong stuff. GRR!

[starfire]

Heheh. That's to funny.

I love being homeschooled.

Ditto. But, then again, my mom doesn't like manga either! And she has the right to take away anything she wants!

Yeah, I agree that it was probably 1 or 2 students that had a hentai manga. Or Even a normal one like Ranma 1/2 or Kenshin(for violence) could cause a teacher to freak out. It's not that they're worse than other comics or books per se. It's just the cartoon shock effect. When you see a big eyed pink haired girl beating up a horribly disfigured mutant, it's a little more shocking than say a Steven King novel. And if it was a hentai, yuck. That definitely has no place in schools(or anywhere else in my opinion)

Comics are just something the school can handle. Which is probably why they're getting more attention that other more pressing issues. It's posible the school is trying to look tough, to cover up for problems they can't handle? You have to feel kind of bad that they have to deal with all that stuff. They're only human themselves.*shrugs* hope it all works out

[~Natsumi Lam~]

wow,


i wonder what their reasoning is?/// hum

do you go to a private school?

maybe they are trying to control the henti population and distributation...


~NL~

[Silvanis]

What? What's wrong with people???? *grrr, mutter grumble*

[~Natsumi Lam~]

It's funny how they open the doors wide for students to lie, steal and cheat, but discourage prayer and discipline in the schools. They are a wonderful example of the effectiveness of the public school system. *gack*

i agree..... fully!!!

Ive been homeschooled, private school and public. WHat shocked me [about public schools] the most was the teachers complete amoral character and their blatent disregard for their role as an authority figure. Many of my teachers would cuss during class and make sexual jokes. Many were just off in character. We can see how the future generations will turn out if you just hang around a school for a while and observe teacher-student and student-student interactions. That is why i am going to be a totally different teacher in 3 years. Raise the moral bar.

~NL~

[SP1]

I had good teachers (in a public high school) that I believe were excellent role models. However, you'ld still get in trouble if you brought a comic book to school. I also have to now watch what my daughters wear: no slogans, no wearing all black (too goth I suppose). Annoying.

[~Natsumi Lam~]

I had good teachers (in a public high school) that I believe were excellent role models. However, you'ld still get in trouble if you brought a comic book to school. I also have to now watch what my daughters wear: no slogans, no wearing all black (too goth I suppose). Annoying.

sorry you have to deal with that.... i guess those guys have good intentions i hope.

~NL~

[Kurama]

NO WAY!!!!!!! 0.o

[Fireproof]

If it's manga specifically, then yeah, they're being stupid. I can understand magazines, etc. Still not a great move, in my opinions, but there's not a whole lot one can do to stop them.

[Myoti]

That's kinda wierd. You'd think they'd encourage reading, and mangas are really more "graphic novels" than they are "comics". Seriously though, about half of the literary stuff I've read in school was worst than what you'd find in the average manga. O_o

Reminds me of something that happened awhile back.
Alot of black people in Georgia seem to think that the real Georgia flag is a sign of racism, so some kid at the school tried to ban the use of it and any Dixie Outfitters shirt. That is ridiculous, and I was one of the first to sign the counter petition (though I don't think the first petition actually went anywhere).

and now they are taking up any books with "pictures" in them (comics, manga, etc) because it is apparently "inappropriate".

I've seen plenty of "inappropriate" pics in our textbooks. Much more than in any manga I've read.

Well, draw your own instead of paying attention to what they're trying to teach.

Bwahahaha.

Though, sadly usually the principal has the say-so.

Ugh. Ours doesn't give a crap about what we say and is super conservative.
I'm in the news broadcasting class for our school, and they get onto us about everything. He even got mad because one of the girls did a peace sign on camera and he thought it was a gang sign. @_@

Then that goes into the entire thing of "well, those are educational and constructive reading whereas manga/comic books are not" that some people bring up.

I've learned more from mangas then I have from "literary works of art", and I've read quite a bit.