“Science and censorship cannot coexist. Neither can science and conflict of interest.”
![](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/X_letters-480x320.jpg)
“Science and censorship cannot coexist. Neither can science and conflict of interest.”
This spring, a 10th-grade honors English class was supposed to be studying Khaled Husseini’s acclaimed novel about two boys from different social classes growing up in 1970s Afghanistan. On April 27, teacher Brooke Bowman sent a letter to parents explaining the value of the 2003 best-seller as a teaching tool while warning of its mature content. In the scene in question, a servant boy is beaten and sexually assaulted by an older boy from a wealthier family.
“I realize that most of the Mountain Xpress readers are oblivious to the amount of censorship that occurs on the Mountain Xpress website affecting commenters of the opinion letters.”
Cullowhee teen Anne Wade took on the complex issue of censorship in schools and won first place in the National Coalition Against Censorship’s 11th annual Youth Free Expression Project Film Contest.