Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Story.... What can happen when books are banned

There once was a boy named Johnny Lee. Johnny Lee was your average ninth grader, trying to find himself, though still very impressionable, and lacking in the area of worldly wisdom. Johnny Lee liked high school alright so far and it helped that his 18-year-old brother Clay was there, if needed.


During one seemingly normal English class, his teacher announced that the next book they would read had some adult material, but she thought it was important that they read it. The book was called Crank. Johnny Lee's teacher further explained that it was about a girl that got hooked on, you guessed it, crank. This got Johnny Lee thinking. Just like all the other kids, he had attended the assemblies and seen the videos that pleaded the students “just say no to drugs”. Sure he saw some gruesome footage of the addicts but there had to be a missing link. Why would anyone start if they would only go crazy and live in pain? Either they left out some major details or it was simply acting and that stuff didn't really happen.


Over the next week, Johnny Lee could not get his mind off the subject and it certainly didn't help that his teacher informed his class that they would no longer be reading Crank on account of it currently being challenged and would likely be banned because of the controversial material. Johnny Lee overheard a few of the token smart kids discussing how they were going to order the book online to cure their curiosity. Johnny Lee was curious all right, though not necessarily about the the book itself. What he really wanted was someone he confide in about his confusion towards drugs.


Later that afternoon when Johnny Lee came home, he was happy to see that Clay's friend Buster was over. Buster had been Clay's friend since middle school and was Clay's only close friend that really payed talked to Johnny Lee, and his attention made him feel special. This made Buster very cool in Johnny Lee's eyes, so naturally he had always looked up to Buster and truly believed that he knew everything. Johnny Lee decided to share his confusion about drugs with the older boy. A sly smile came over Buster's face when Johny Lee brought up the topic of drugs. Buster told him that they were “freaking incredible” and “Just look at me, I'm happy as calm and healthy as a horse.” Johnny Lee felt relieved that he finally got the “truth” on drugs and was glad he didn't need a book to do so.


Six weeks later, Johny Lee gets high whenever he gets the chance. He has all failing grades and gave up his dream of starting on the football team. It makes you wonder what could have happened if he was able to be educated on this “too scandalous for the classroom” material....


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