A Waukesha, Wisconsin school has banned students from singing “Rainbowland” by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton because they believe children are too immature to hear this song.
They claim it focuses on “controversial issues.”
The lyrics in question are as follows:
“Living in a RainbowlandThe skies are blue and things are grandWouldn’t it be nice to live in paradise?Where we’re free to be exactly who we areLet’s all dig down deep insideBrush the judgment and fear asideMake wrong things rightAnd end the fight‘Cause I promise ain’t nobody gonna win (come on)”
The song has additional lyrics, but the ones above are apparently the most offensive.
You can listen to the song below or read the lyrics for yourself, but I think that even irrational people would agree there is nothing wrong with this song.
Except for irrational people in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Even more concerning is this:
I’m becoming concerned for the children of these parents and politicians who ban books (and now songs) with greater regularity.
Either these parents and politicians are incredibly stupid and naive, or their children are freakishly fragile, emotionally underdeveloped, and intellectually stunted human beings.
As a teacher and fan of children everywhere, I really hope it’s the former. Of course, I don’t wish stupid and naive parents on anyone, but if it has to be one or the other, I choose stupid parents.
Children can rise above their stupid, bigoted parents to become better people. It happens all the time.
But to be born so fragile as to be threatened by a song like “Rainbowland?”
That level of fragility would be hard to overcome.
As my storytelling friend, Dan Kennedy, once said:
“Every kid throughout time has figured this out on their own, but: Read the books they fight to ban, listen to the music they want to destroy, and see the art they try to burn.”
Happily, in the age of the internet, this could not be easier.
