With the upcoming start of a new schoolyear many teachers are looking for new sources for their classes. It was then that some art & culture teachers stumbled upon www.artinthepicture.com, an art history site covering almost everything from the Dark Ages till today. However these teachers are continually struggling with school boards and overprotecting parents wishing to ban anything 'inappropriate' from schools. Therefore these teachers have asked Bruno Dillen, the creator of artinthepicture, to create a child-friendly version of his website. A child-friendly version of an art site ? If there is anything that should not be censored, that is art. Art should be an expression with no limits. Are should move and sometimes even shock people. This is truly a great example of censorship going too far. Children won't get hurt seeing an unsolicited painted boob or any other so-called unappropriate body part. Overprotecting your children will not help them: you might temporarily cover up the world for them, but it is not the parents' duty to cover the eyes of their children but to open them and give the correct information if possible. This is the only way children will learn how to cope with all emotions involved in life. It should not be the duty of teachers, but unfortunately today many teachers do not only receive the already difficult task of educating children but also the almost impossible task of trying to educate the parents. Bruno Dillen claims that teachers should not give in to this demand from parents and to stand up for their own beliefs. |
