In Praise of Knowledge

Some parents in a local school want to ban a book on a sixth grade reading list because it discusses an Asian girl's escape from China during the World War II and describes war atrocities as "rape." I never understand why parents make such a fuss over things like this. I am quite sure these children are exposed to things much worse. We would rather suppress the truth about history and then have me, as a teacher, have to deal with students in a college course who do not know that slavery existed and exists or the not so grand history of our great America. Similarly, we would rather deny the presence of natural human sex drives and instead deal with the sexual deviance that is running rampant in our world. No this is not the only thing that leads to this, but it has to have clear connections. Where is the praise for knowledge and the acceptance that sex is a part of what makes us human? The quicker these children learn that our world is no the white-washed picture we are fed the better. But then isn't childhood about sanctuary from the world? Ahhhh, the endless questions of the human world.