Rosie Dawson-Hewes: Let's not be a nation of ostriches

Literature holds a mirror up to society and shows us the harsh realities we need to face.

This week, Ted Dawe's book, Into the River, was banned from sale or supply under an interim restriction order issued by the president of the Film and Literature Board of Review, Don Mathieson QC, after a request by Family First to review the classification.

Full disclosure: like many of the critics who've vocally agreed with the banning of this award-winning book, I've not actually read it. In fact, judging by the reactions on social media this week, I'm in the same boat as many Kiwis - I'd never heard of it before this week, but it's now definitely on my must-read list.

Jenna Todd, of Auckland's Time Out Bookstore, has read it.

She said: "It takes a look at the path that a young Maori boy could take after leaving his whanau, having his culture disregarded and being bullied within an alienating boarding school system. It's gritty, unapologetic and raw. It contains sex, drugs and swear words. But when read in context, its confronting scenes add depth to the protagonist Te Arepa's toxic surroundings. Many of the so-called scandalous and 'offensive' scenes result in negative experiences for him."

The arts, and literature in particular, have long been a reflection of our experiences of life. Many great books now considered classics were banned in their time. Think Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and Golding's Lord of the Flies.

Sometimes it's hard to look in the mirror and face the honest truth of what's looking back at you. This is where literature comes in. It holds a mirror up to society and shows us the harsh realities we need to face.

How we, as a society, react to that reflection is key.

The wholesale ban of one book isn't going to fix the challenges our teens deal with. For anyone to think they're not already faced with racism, sex, drugs, swear words and bullying on a daily basis is to have one's head buried in the sand.

New Zealand has a high teen pregnancy rate, we have a binge-drinking culture and one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. All you need to do is take a look at your teen's Twitter or Facebook feed and you'll no doubt see instances of bullying, whether they're the victim or the perpetrator.

I think Dawe's book gives us an opportunity to address these issues. It opens the door to having those difficult talks with our kids about the tough things they're facing.

A friend of mine teaches English at a low-band decile-3 high school in the Hutt Valley. When I asked him about it, he said Dawe's work gave a voice to the disenfranchised.

Kids like books they can see themselves in, and Into the River deals with issues that many of our young Maori face. Let's not hide from that. The reality for many of our youth is harsh and modern literature should reflect that. Why pretend it's all sweetness and light when we all know it's not?

Let's not be a country of ostriches. We should use this opportunity to take a good, hard look at ourselves and what our kids are facing.

It's not easy. But neither is life. As adults, it's our responsibility to have the uncomfortable conversations so we can teach the next generation of Kiwis how to deal with the hard knocks life deals out. Otherwise we're just living in a fantasy and setting them up to fail.

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