Scholastic Books Ban?

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Catholic friends,

Should we protest and ban Scholastic Books? I am coming to the conclusion that we should for a few reasons, for example:
  1. Scholastic is NOT Catholic
  2. Scholastic co-produced The Golden Compass
  3. Scholastic promotes Harry Potter books
  4. Scholastic teaches masturbation is okay
For those who are not yet aware, let me explain these 4 points:
  1. There are other Catholic book publishers and book fairs, so why bother with a non-Catholic at best and an anti-Catholic at worst?
  2. The Golden Compass is anti-Catholic (see Catholic League letter about Scholastic at www.catholicleague.org)
  3. Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) warns against reading Harry Potter books.
  4. Masturbation is sinful (Catechism and Bible) Scholastic says it’s okay (visit www.scholastic.com and search “masturbation”)
So, I am thinking of sending a letter to our principal, superintendent, and bishop. Thoughts?

Thanks,
CatholicAviator
 
CatholicAviator said:
  1. Scholastic teaches masturbation is okay
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I read the article that you referenced, and it doesn’t say what you’re implying. This article is just about 4 and 5-year old kids who “touch themselves”, not about teenagers!!! A 5-year-old kid is not capable of becoming sexually aroused and “masturbating” in the true sense of the word.

Plus, if you boycotted every publisher that produced a book that you found objectionable, there probably wouldn’t be any publishers left.

I think you’re overreacting on both counts.
 
It’s been a while since my kids were in school and got the monthly Scholastic book order. (1990s). Oh, what fun!

We were able to acquire many hundreds (yes, hundreds) of wonderful books, especially the books for children and young teenagers, for a very cheap price. I kept all of those books and now I am reading them to our nephews.

I never would have bought so many of those books in a bookstore, especially the books about different cultures, religions, and races. I’m so glad I did buy them, though.

I don’t think we should boycott a whole company. Just avoid the books that you disapprove of.
 
Banning books is bad. It will always be BAD.

If you are well in your faith and if you teach your children well: they gain closeness to God – not separation from Him when they read blasphemy. If you don’t trust them enough to do that – take a really hard look at your parenting and where it might end up. Take a long hard look at banning books - and where THAT might end up. Would you like all books about Mary or the Saints banned? Well keep pushing for book-banishment and you may just get that lovely side effect too.

It’s up to YOU to raise your children – not Scholastic.
:cool:

My thoughts? You are way out on a limb here.

(We love Harry Potter in this house, but we don’t watch or read Golden Compass. I sure haven’t made a deal about it because forbidden books are awesome books to kids. I just said “how sad a man would write a book about hating God, I wouldn’t read it.” Considering they know I’ll read just about ANYTHING – well that got their respect, not their curiosity. BECAUSE I didn’t forbid – I just explained it easy-like. “There’s nothing good here, let’s go read Grimms!” That’s that. If I fought tooth and nail to ban scholastic (Arrrghhhhh – no WAY!) I would be acting a fool and not very level-headed! And – I will hope my kids will fight the fight for the freedom to read as long as they live – even if they don’t read the books in question.)

So no, I will not boycott Scholastic. I will not join in on a “book banning” but I will respect a parents right to choose what is right for their kid’s to read.
 
Absolutely NOT.

Banning books does nothing but invoke further curiousity.

Besides - none of the reasons you gave are very valid, IMO.

not a Catholic company - I purchase other items from non-Catholic companies. They offer a good, inexpensive, quality product.

Golden Compass - I’ve never seen it or read it, so I will not comment (unlike others who feel the authority to comment on Harry Potter, even though they’ve never cracked a cover…:whistle: )

Harry Potter - Personally have read the entire series with my kids and LOVED IT! Awesome series, great moral teachings, and fabulous reading for preteens to teens to adults, in my experience.

Masturbation - checked out this link. That is NOT masturbation in the sexual sense. A 2 year old touching himself in the tub is not a sin! It is normal curiosity, and anyone who “punishes” a toddler for touching himself is creating huge issues for this kid! A toddler is not sexual.

I agree with the other poster who said Scholastic is a great way to build up a good library rather inexpensively.
 
This is an old topic, come up in other threads.

Scholastic also has a Christian department. They bring it out when they have book fairs in the book fair case.

What our old school did (a Catholic one) with Scholastic:
  • Teachers who had time to distribute Arrow, Lucky, etc. and collect money for the monthly flyers did so. The 2 parents who complained were told that it was up to the parents to look over the items the child chose, not the school. This was paritally because of books, and partially because Scholastic not only offers books now. Scholastic offers kiddy junk, such as necklaces, cheap pens, little toy animals, stamppads, etc. Sometimes Scholastic will have an offering on a flyer for $30. But they always also have an offering that’s about $1.
  • During the book fair, the librarian was duty-bound to lock up any Captain Underpants, Golden Compass, and anything that did not meet what the principal and the pastor decided were Catholic values and viewpoints. At the time, there was no offensive junky stuff,so that stayed out until the big boys started buying the feather pens and chasing the big girls.
The big gripe about Scholastic was the net profit after the fair. If the school confined itself to Scholastic products, then they made much more of a profit than if they asked for straight commission.The money went directly to the library, and the library needed other things besides Scholastic materials.

There ARE Catholic book services, and they do offer book fairs. There are also local bookstores that offer a book fair.
 
I’m ordering books for my kids this week. Just because they sell these books, doesn’t mean you have to buy them.
Do you not shop in books stores anymore? They sell a lot of things that are not Catholic, but I stilled get sucked in everytime I walk by one.
I don’t believe in people telling you what you can and cannot read.

That being said, I no longer shop at our local Christian book store because I feel some of the books they carry, and the owners attitude towards Catholics, is not Christian like. I have mentioned it to others, when asked if I shop there, that I do not, but I don’t run around telling people not to go to the store. I’m not banning them or try to shut them down, I just don’t go there anymore. So I think if you really have a problem with Scholastic, then don’t look at the order forms sent home and don’t go the website. They never claimed to be a Christian company.
 
English translations of the two letters by Cardinal Ratzinger follow: Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Vatican City
March 7, 2003

Esteemed and dear Ms. Kuby!
Many thanks for your kind letter of February 20th and the informative book which you sent me in the same mail. It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.
I would like to suggest that you write to Mr. Peter Fleetwood, (Pontifical Council of Culture, Piazza S. Calisto 16, I00153 Rome) directly and to send him your book.
Sincere Greetings and Blessings,
  • Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Click to expand...
He was not speaking as the Pope when he said this.
 
CatholicAviator said:
  1. There are other Catholic book publishers and book fairs, so why bother with a non-Catholic at best and an anti-Catholic at worst? …So, I am thinking of sending a letter to our principal, superintendent, and bishop. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
From what I understand, Scholastic makes it easy for schools to sell affordable books, but they are not the only organization that publishes and sells children’s books.

If there are Catholic (or non-religious) book publishers that you think would better serve your local Catholic school, then look into it. Gather information about their book fairs from the publishers you prefer.

We are creatures of habit. We usually use and buy variations of what we have previously used, (especially if we like it and it’s easy and “user friendly”.) Marketers should know that it’s much easier to retain old customers than to gain new customers. It will be tough to sell the idea of changing providers and removing Scholastic completely from the schools. I suggest you ask about adding another book fair, rather than pushing to take away Scholastic’s.

If you feel strongly about wanting to use another seller, go for it. It takes volunteers or co-ordinators to run book fairs. You probably stand a stronger chance of effecting change if you volunteer. Gather information about the book sellers you like and present it to the administration, along with an offer to volunteer to help run the new book fair.
 
gardenswithkids said:
If there are Catholic (or non-religious) book publishers that you think would better serve your local Catholic school, then look into it. Gather information about their book fairs from the publishers you prefer.:clapping:
**
If you feel strongly about wanting to use another seller, go for it. It takes volunteers or co-ordinators to run book fairs. You probably stand a stronger chance of effecting change if you volunteer. Gather information about the book sellers you like and present it to the administration, along with an offer to volunteer to help run the new book fair.**:clapping:
Click to expand...
Brava!
 
CatholicAviator said:
Catholic friends,

Should we protest and ban Scholastic Books? I am coming to the conclusion that we should for a few reasons, for example:
  1. Scholastic is NOT Catholic
  2. Scholastic co-produced The Golden Compass
  3. Scholastic promotes Harry Potter books
  4. Scholastic teaches masturbation is okay
For those who are not yet aware, let me explain these 4 points:
  1. There are other Catholic book publishers and book fairs, so why bother with a non-Catholic at best and an anti-Catholic at worst?
  2. The Golden Compass is anti-Catholic (see Catholic League letter about Scholastic at www.catholicleague.org)
  3. Pope Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) warns against reading Harry Potter books.
  4. Masturbation is sinful (Catechism and Bible) Scholastic says it’s okay (visit www.scholastic.com and search “masturbation”)
So, I am thinking of sending a letter to our principal, superintendent, and bishop. Thoughts?

Thanks,
CatholicAviator
Click to expand...
I’ll be frank, this scares me. This whole attitude scares me. I’m disappointed to see it so prevalent here.
 
All I can say is PHEW after reading this thread.

I love the book clubs and the $1, $2 monthly book specials. I love it so much I am the Scholastic parent for my 5yo’s Kinder class, my 4th grader’s class (though they have yet to put in an order) and for the gifted ed teacher’s student load. I wanted to make sure the kids had a chance to order books so I stepped up to be the parent who collects the money and puts in the orders. At our school, teachers are not supposed to do the Scholastic book clubs any more - something happened in our state recently with a teacher and money (not sure of the details).
 
I am not against Scholastic Books, if I didn’t make that clear. We just got a batch.

I am against parents who will not look at what the kid orders, just write the check or forks over the coin and blam, the kid has books.

I am against Scholastic’s use of force in not giving schools what they actually earn in the book fairs, instead giving them credits in Scholastic materials, and giving them less if they want the cash they’ve earned.

I am against the junk Scholastic promotes in addition to books. Some of it is useful, like the fifty state bingo game my daughter recently ordered. Some of it is plain junk, and I wouldn’t want my kid to buy it at Target, so why should I want them to buy it through Scholastic. The cheapo pens and pencils, the hardcover books in a set with cheap jewelry, the stamping sets, the calculators- UGH. But again, parents should be watching what their children purchase.
 
MamaZona said:
I’ll be frank, this scares me. This whole attitude scares me. I’m disappointed to see it so prevalent here.
Click to expand...
As I pointed out, if you read down a bit, that letter put out by people against Harry Potter was used wrongly. Cardinal Ratzinger had another priest come along and review the book, and the book was found to be OK to read, just fantasy.

I don’t have a problem with kids buying Scholastic. I have other problems with Scholastic, and with parents.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
As I pointed out, if you read down a bit, that letter put out by people against Harry Potter was used wrongly. Cardinal Ratzinger had another priest come along and review the book, and the book was found to be OK to read, just fantasy.

I don’t have a problem with kids buying Scholastic. I have other problems with Scholastic, and with parents.
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Maybe it is just my mindset this morning, but it just seems like there is a bit of “ban this” “boycott that” going around. It smacks of fundamentalism and being reactionary.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for activism, but not activism for activism’s sake. I worry that too much of this makes religion in general look bad.

It was one of the things I had the hardest times with that drove me from the faith during my atheistic period. I worry others will be similarly influenced.
 
MamaZona said:
Maybe it is just my mindset this morning, but it just seems like there is a bit of “ban this” “boycott that” going around. It smacks of fundamentalism and being reactionary.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for activism, but not activism for activism’s sake. I worry that too much of this makes religion in general look bad.

It was one of the things I had the hardest times with that drove me from the faith during my atheistic period. I worry others will be similarly influenced.
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MamaZona - if you read the rest of the posts you will see that hardly anyone agrees with the OP (original poster). We do indeed need to pick our battles and personally this is not one I wish to do - the only book that the OP mentioned that was bad was “The Golden Compass” and honestly, this is a parental problem like OutInChicagoBurbs has pointed out, not a problem with the company.

We could certainly stop buying from Doubleday or whoever published the Dan Brown books but goodness wouldn’t that be cutting off our noses to spite our faces?

Brenda V.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
Scholastic offers kiddy junk, such as necklaces, cheap pens, little toy animals, stamppads, etc. Sometimes Scholastic will have an offering on a flyer for $30. But they always also have an offering that’s about $1.
Click to expand...
The Scholastic book fairs do have a lot of junk. Even in the 1980s when I was in elementary school, the teachers were griping because all the students were buying pencils and folders, and nobody was buying books! Still, the Scholastic book fair was one of my favorite events during the school year, and I bought a lot of fun books through it. In retrospect, none of them had objectionable content.
 
I believe I started a similar thread last year. I wasn’t for BANNING Scholastic, I was for NOT USING Scholastic anymore. We are a CATHOLIC school and all the books they had of a religious nature were generic Chrisitan (okay in little kids books, but more troublesome in some older kids books), Golden Compass, PLUS Joel Olstein (sp?) on prominent display. I’m a convert and I think the books we offer to or students and parents should be CATHOLIC. When I brought this to the attention of the ladies working, they had no idea about this Joel guy NOR that none of the books were Catholic. THIS is a troublesome attitude in my opinion. The parents have no idea. I’ve written my letters, but I doubt anything will be done, and to be honest, life has gotten in the way of me bugging them about it. I pledge, though, before my last child leaves this school, we will have CATHOLIC books at the bookfair–even if I have to buy them myself and resell them…I’ll be honest and say I don’t like Scholastic at all and think our Catholic school could do much better. Many of the books they offer now are FLUFF, FLUFF, FLUFF. It’s hard to find decent books there. I don’t order them anymore and avoid them when I can. That’s just me. That’s not book banning. Not letting a seller into your school or into my home is not “banning” in the burning books sense, so some of you need to get off that bandwagon. Protecting young children from cra*py books is my job as a parent. Junie B Jones is NOT great literature. Barbie and the whatever is not great literature. Strawberry shortcake is not great literature. It’s all product tie in and junk for the most part and our Catholic schools (and public schools) can do much better.
 
Scholastic does not say masturbation is okay
Scholastic is a publisher. one of its books allegedly says that
you want to know if we (you don’t way who “we” is) should boycott the publisher

At least one of Cardinal Ratzninger’s/Pope Benedict’s books is published by Doubleday, as an edition of the CCC. Doubleday is a publisher that includes under its corporate umbrella, and under the Doubleday imprint itself all kinds of books on every imaginable topic, with every imaginable point of view, with characters committing and condoning every imaginable type of sin. That is not its purpose for existance, but those types of books are included on its lists.

should we then not buy worthy books from this publisher?

when a Catholic school hosts a Scholastic book fair they can choose any books and other items they want to include. the non-book items are included because they sell well and generate income for the school, as the number one purpose is as a fundraiser, and incidentally to get books into the hands of children. The school has the opportunity to review all offerings and to reject those that conflict with their values.

If your Catholic school has not done it, speak with the people in charge of arranging the event, or better yet, run it yourself, and find a different source. Most Catholic book and gift stores will be glad to come into your school for a day with a selection of Catholic books and other items.
 
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