Samantha Robinson, a Canadian teenager, wants readers to omit using curses while reading Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. She has asked her school to ensure that students won't have to read out swear words in literary classics.Ms. Robinson also got 40 fellow students to sign a petition supporting her cause at the school in Cambridge, Ontario.
She said she had noticed that "vulnerable" immigrant students were uncomfortable while reading portions of Of Mice and Men out loud, where they encountered swear words or racially charged phrases.
"Swearing is one of the worst parts of our culture and language, and here it's being encouraged," said the 17-year-old.
According to the Winnipeg Sun, Earl Famme, the school's principal, said he was surprised the issue had been raised with the school board.
[For the life of me, I can't decide whether this episode hails the birth of a censorship advocate or a racist. The word "vulnerable" has become a code word in censorship circles for "weak-willed" and "tending to be influenced by immorality". Although no religious fanatic could possibly have any method for measuring "morality".
Plus, why are immigrants especially "vulnerable" just because they are immigrants? Saying they are "vulnerable" assumes that they have no ability to develop tolerance for new situations or the ability to decide for themselves to not use swear words.
You know, if this Ms. Robinson is smart enough to determine -- without any professional credentials or time spent counselling these immigrants -- that they are vulnerable, how come she isn't smart enough to figure out that their discomfort probably stems from culture shock and not any sort of "vulnerability".
Also of note, the report that she received support from 40 students is irrelevant. This is a clear demonstration of sloppy reporting and how statistics are so frequently misrepresented. The number 40 is raw data without any meaning whatsoever. To make the fact meaningful, it would be necessary to express it as a proportion of the student body; i.e.: 40 out of how many? If the school has a student body of 200, that 40 might be important at 20%; if the student population is 1,200 it is much less so at 0.33%. --MN]
Return to chronology 17 Apr 2001
2001, April 24: Student's attempt to ban swear words during reading is thwarted
Samantha Robinson, from Cambridge in Ontario, has failed in her attempt to ban swearing during the reading of classic texts in school. The Canadian teenager had asked the School Board to stop readings with swear words in them but it refused.The 17-year-old said she noticed some immigrant pupils were uncomfortable when reading portions of Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, in which there is swearing and racial insults.
The School Board voted down the request for a ban six to three, but said the matter should be decided by the school itself, according to a report at the Canoe website.
Ms. Robinson commented: "I'm a little bit disturbed, but things like this happen. I don't think this is a failure, I think this is an amazing success. People all over the place know about the issue now and at least now maybe something can be done in their towns."
[Spoken like a true censorship advocate, alas. From what little I was able to determine from research on the web, Ms. Robinson seems to be a holier-than-thou holy roller who parades her faith and projects it before her as a glowing shield. Pity. I was inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt and had concluded tentatively that she was merely a naive youth. Instead, it appears that she has the arrogance of the self-righteous instead of the arrogance of the adolescent. --MN]
Return to chronology 24 Apr 2001
2007, January 13: Allegations of journalistic malfeasance and a taking to task of this editor
By a site visitor. The following message was entered into my guestbook on this day by a former schoolmate of Samantha Robinson. At the visitor's request for confidentiality, I have edited out his or her name and e-mail address.Saturday 01/13/2007 4:02:49amSee this page for the follow up correspondent by both myself and the visitor, in which we explore the issue of my original reporting on the matter, and a number of associated issues.
Name:[Reader]
E-Mail:XXXXXXXXXXXXX@XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Homepage Title:
Homepage URL:
Referred By:Search Engine
Location:Canada
Comments:Michael... Ive sent you an email... please email if you havent recieved it...It's a matter of truth and importance.
Actually I'll just paste the email here lol
"PLEASE READ THIS FULLY AND UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT WAS SAID WAS SIMPLY NOT TRUE
http://fangfacedreamweaver.6te.net/bannedbks/chrono04.html#170401a
re:student Samantha Robinson's attempt to ban swear words from the classroom.
You wrote:
[Spoken like a true censorship advocate, alas. From what little I was able to determine from research on the web, Ms. Robinson seems to be a holier-than-thou holy roller who parades her faith and projects it before her as a glowing shield. Pity. I was inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt and had concluded tentatively that she was merely a naive youth. Instead, it appears that she has the arrogance of the self-righteous instead of the arrogance of the adolescent. --MN]
Had you actually taken the time to get to know Ms Robinson as I have, you would have discovered that she is in fact non-religious. You jump to conclusions about her motives and have yourself created and spread mis-information. How you ascertain her motives as being faith based are simply beyond me. From what I've learned of this bright young woman, she simply doesn't believe in God and actively speaks out against censorship.
There was more to the story than simply what was written in the papers. Miss Robinson was trying to have a racist bigot of a teacher dealt with by the school board. The "vulnerable immigrants" thing was a very minor issue and had nothing to do with the swearing, but had to do the racism that this particular teacher displayed on a daily basis.
I know these things as fact now, because I've interviewed her extensively as well as researched all involved in depth... her requests were not based on malicious intent... the censorship imposed upon her by the school board and the principal were nothing short of malicious however.
The mere fact that you would label someone like Samantha Robinson as a "censorship advocate" shows that you haven't taken the time to fully investigate this matter. She has to be the most anti-censorship supporting person I know, and to infer that she was a budding racist is simply disgusting. As far as I and everyon who knows her is concerned... her character is beyond reproach. However, for printing such blatant falacies and for not gathering the entire story before casting your judgement upon her... and undoubtedly others... your character I can likely say is not.
If you would care to redeem yourself and uphold any sense of journalistic integrity I implore you to remove those damning statements you made on this page (http://fangfacedreamweaver.6te.net/bannedbks/censorenglit.html) and to not be so quick to judge someone in the future.
For the sake of truth, I ask that U right this wrong.
Thank you for reading this message in it's entirety. I trust you have the scruples to at least consider what I've asked.
[Reader]
"
Please email me if you'd care to discuss this.
thanks, [Reader]Return to chronology 13 Jan 2007