Forum - View topicNEWS: MD County Removes Dragon Ball Manga from All Schools
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2336 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Luckily for me I live in the city instead.
Even more lucky is that I hate Dragonball anything. |
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RadicaLElly
 Posts: 194 Location: Coral Springs, FL |
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To all the people who think this was a good decision or even just that comics shouldn't be allowed in school libraries:
Who the f*** do you think you are? Who are you to decide what is and isn't appropriate reading material for someone else's child? I don't give a rats a** if the book says T-rating. It's illegal for a library to deny any book of any kind to any patron, and therefore it's the responsibility of the parent to decide what is and isn't appropriate for their child. But hey, ruining it for everyone else is easier than parenting. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Yeah, I'd rather that kids be reading not to much "quality" literature at school but challenging literature. Dragonball and many other manga like it aren't that challenging to read or challenging in their content. They're fun as heck, but not particularly deep or difficult.
Still, you can do a lot worse. A 13-year old I know formerly read nothing but Halo books. And I mean nothing. So I dragged him to the manga section and plopped Fullmetal Alchemist in his hands just to get him out of a rut. Now not only is he a big FMA fan, he's also tried reading other stuff, both manga and regular books, beyond his old habits. Success so far as I'm concerned. 
Just because something is in traditional book form doesn't mean it's automatically higher quality than a comic book. There's plenty of trash in both formats, it's all a matter of what you select. |
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rinmackie
 Posts: 1040 Location: in a van! down by the river! |
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Wow, I must say, I'm really surprised to see all this hate for manga in libraries on an anime/manga site. While I agree that the Dragon Ball manga series may be inappropriate for elementary students, I see no reason to remove it from the high school. As for manga/comics/graphic novels not having the same literary value as written text, I have to disagree with you all there. True, Dragon Ball may not be on the same level as say, Jane Austen or Shakespeare, but doesn't make it any less of a good story. Also, you've forgotten that Dragon Ball was inspired by Journey To The West, which I believe is a classic piece of Asian literature. Course I don't necessarily expect your average schoolkid to investigate the source of Dragon Ball but if he or she digs deep enough into the manga medium, there's a decent chance they might become interested in Japanese/Asian culture. Kids might want to learn something based on the love of a certain kind of entertainment! What a concept!
Speaking of Shakespeare, I believe his plays were the blockbusters of his day. They appealed to the common man just as much as they did the sophisticated elites. Matter of fact, I believe some of his works have sex jokes in them. I know Romeo and Juliet does. Anyway, I believe the reason most kids don't like to read is because usually the only time they do is when they're required to in school. So they learn to see reading as a chore. The only exception is if they have parents at home who encourage them to read. I think reading for educational purposes if fine and should be encouraged but when if comes down to simple entertainment, I don't see the point in narrowing the field to certain kinds of literature. Oh, if you think this only an issue involving manga and comics, think again. I read in a newmagazine (yes, I read other things besides manga) that while lots of Americans (though mostly women) are reading more, the elites are whining because people are choosing to read trashy novels and other kinds of fiction, but not classic literature or anything deemed to be of quality. Well I got to go now, I'll post more on this later. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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You're right that it's a classic. You're wrong if you think Dragon Ball bears any resemblance to it whatsoever. They used some of the same names, and that's pretty much it.
Now that is absolutely true. A number of my professors in East Asian departments (language etc.) have noted an influx of students who became interested in Japan as a result of an interest in anime and manga. I'm somewhat unusual for having gone the other way; I loved Japan from as long as I can remember, and became interested in anime and manga as unusual aspects of the culture. |
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Namia_the_Theif_18
 Posts: 44 |
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yes, yes thay do and what i can't understand is why they would stick a voilent manga like that in the elementary/middle school place?? in our library we have a teen center and in there is just about every kind of teen book u can find. but, it's not just all the sex/language/comedy stuff. we actually have to make a shelf for kids who wanna read teen books with bigger words in them and we have to label it "Books that won't make you blush" because, i'm sure a 9-yr.old doesn't wanna hear about how some guy and girl plan to do it u knw what i mean? anyways, they brought this upon themselves & they should've known better i kinda don't feel an ounce of remorse for them. |
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Otaku_X
 Posts: 298 |
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I know when I was in elementry school, I didn't want to read anything other than Goosebumps and Animorphs. In high school, I started reading manga. Now all I read is stuff like manga, Star Wars novels, Japanese novels, and the occasional older book, like Dracula, Frankenstein, H.G. Wells stuff, or the James Bond novels.
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SDS
Posts: 9 |
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In regards to the idea that manga doesn't belong in the library, ignore the fact that Dragon Ball is a manga for a second.
Let's apply this notion of "literature" and "significance" elsewhere. That section of romance novels at your library? Too trashy and poorly written, it's gotta go. What about those Young Adult novels that are all about vampires and full of sexual innuendo and teenage slang? Not up to the standards of English set by the TRUE classics. And Oliver Twist? Man, I don't know about that Charles Dickens fellow. He seems kind of out there, and his language conjures up too much dissident imagery. Stories should be SAFE, not about poor kids who might die any second. While librarians and scholars can decide on what books are more culturally significant than others, it should not be their job to purposefully and willfully restrict access to other books, unless perhaps they believe those books would do real harm to those who read it (and this might even be how Maryland's superintendent is approaching Dragon Ball). |
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rinmackie
Posts: 1040 Location: in a van! down by the river! |
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Ok, I'm back. And yes, vash, I realize Dragon Ball has very little in common with it's source material. Anyway, I just happened to mention this discussion to one of the librarians where I work. Yes, that's right, I work in a library, a community college library to be exact! When I told her that some people expressed the idea that manga shouldn't be allowed in school libraries because they're not "serious literature", she said that it was silly argument because most libraries, including the ones in schools, carry popular entertainment literature and magazines. So why should something like manga or graphic novels be an exception?
Yes, kids should be encouraged to read other things besides manga but they shouldn't be discouraged from reading it, either. Also, speaking of my workplace, I have been successful in getting manga in our library. Initially, I was discouraged on my first try because the head librarian, didn't know anything about it. But I started noticing we were getting American graphic novels, so I tried again and this time, success! So now we have, two series of manga, Lament of the Lamb and xxxholic, which I personally donated. And there are plans for the library to purchase more in the future. It may take some time because we're not exactly rolling in the dough, but it will happen. Plus, if we can have Twilight (which is on the shelves right now), we can definitely have Vampire Knight! P.S. I think SDS summed it up nicely! |
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mglittlerobin
 Posts: 1071 |
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I totally agree, someone come over here and tell me that "Kingdom Come" by Alex Ross doesn't qualify as literature. Saying that graphic novels and manga and teen fiction and romance novels aren't "literature" is just stupid. If libraries were filled with just classic literature, I'd never go, much less volunteer at one, which I do on a weekly basis. I'm happy to see young people reading stuff, even if it is mostly Twilight and stuff like that, at least they're reading something. |
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TsukasaElkKite
 Posts: 3950 |
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I can understand elementary and middle schools, but high schools? COME ON!
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LibraryJoy
 Posts: 27 |
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I'm a librarian, so I can't resist tossing in my two cents.
Public libraries and school libraries have different missions, as I think most people will agree. Public libraries exist to provide information and entertainment to everyone and anyone. We do not control who checks out what, because that is the job of a parent or an individual's choice. We simply offer a variety of experiences. As a teen librarian, I definitely think manga is an experience that modern teenagers should have as an option. It's a pretty popular medium, and it does expose them to a completely different culture, even if it's not "literature." Not everyone reads it, but many do. And sometimes, I can tell them, well if you liked this manga, try this other book... Our high school library also carries manga - because I gave it to them. As a small library, my shelf space is extremely limited. Every month I add new books, and sometimes, I have to get rid of some older ones to make space. (Don't even get me started on the 30 vol's of One Piece coming out next Spring - I have to rearrange the whole section). So when I weed old titles, I offer them to the High School first - all books, not just manga. I really think that's the best of both worlds. They don't have to use much of their budget for manga or other fiction titles, but there's some there. And if anyone wants more, they can come to the public library to find it. Schools have the right - and responsiblity - to act "in loco parentis," in the place of a child's parents while the child is in school. That's why school libraries have to be more careful about what they put on their shelves and its "age appropriateness." The public library, on the other hand, has neither that right nor that responsibility, so parents are responsible for monitoring their children's behavior here and can decide if DragonBall is right for their 9-year old or not. |
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hikaru004
 Posts: 2306 |
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If they want to read it that badly, they can still go to a public library.
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russ869
Posts: 422 |
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Yeah, this is the first volume we're talking about. To give you a good idea, the title of the second episode of the anime version is something like: "Alalala-! No Balls!!!" And as the title suggests in when Son Gokuu first discovers that there are something called "girls" that missing a few things "down there." Obviously this isn't encouraging children to go looking under girls' skirts to make sure they see for themselves. It's all a joke revolving around that fact that Gokuu is a total idiot because he's been raised all alone in the wilderness.
Yeah, lucky you. That was a close one, huh? Geez...
You might not realize this but libraries (particularly school libraries) DO NOT have a responsibility to supply you with whatever the hell it is you want to read. Might I direct you to this guys comment below. | >
Yup. |
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Haterater
 Posts: 1727 |
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I believe that learning can be achieved in different ways. What one book might seem brainless to some, is very touching to another. Its all subjective, and I don't like this notion that if its not traditional education, than its not good at all. I think that's one of the reasons for keeping back some people to learn.
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