Brave New World?

Recently a parent started a campaign to have Aldous Huxley's Brave New World banned in Seattle Public Schools (high school).  According to the parent, the book's use of the word "savage" to describe a community that bears a striking resemblance to a Native American community is insulting and hurtful.  I thought it interesting because the whole point of the book is to ridicule/critique a contemporary society (in particular, according to Huxley, American society) in which individuals are consumed with their own pleasure and are removed from natural living processes.  The "savage" in the book is actually not a Native American but a man who was the product of a live birth between two lovers.  Ironically, the "contemporary" society has in fact banned books.  In any case, the word savage is used satirically.  I wasn't sure if this point was missed by the parent or not.  Certainly the word savage has a lot of historical baggage.  That said, can that not be used to stimulate a discussion rather than serve as a reason for banning a book?  I think if we avoid what is uncomfortable we cease to understand history and that, in my opinion, is a dangerous precedent.  Banning books is a slippery slope.  Who gets to decide which books should be banned?  Some people find Harry Potter offensive (and, indeed, have attempted to ban it in many places).  I know we have talked about books that are a product of their time, or, as in the case of the Skippy John Jones books, simply perpetuate stereotypes.  I think there is a time and place for certain books.  For others, as informed and thoughtful teachers, we can just substitute better choices.  

"Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics"

In class this week we looked at the Gapminder website which allows people to manipulate data to look at "relationships" between different variables.  I enjoyed playing with the data and the site has a big "ooh" and "ahh" factor.  The main issue is having enough of an understanding of how statistics works to be able to critically appraise the data you are seeing.  I like Mark Twain's quote  "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics."  In research (and, lets not forget, politics), it is pretty well known that you can find a relationship between any two sets of data if you look hard enough.  This is why, in general, researchers start out with a specific hypothesis that they are seeking to prove or disprove based on a (hopefully) carefully structured study design.  Starting out with a question should preclude a researcher from randomly searching through the data they have collected to find a relationship.  A good design should try and control for potential confounding factors or at the very least acknowledge their potential existence.  Additionally, the availability of data and the quality of that data from any one country or source needs to be considered as well.  Certainly, some of the relationships that can be shown and discussed would be perfectly valid. Some, less so.  It is also true that we are all bombarded with data and statistics every day so the ability to evaluate this type of information is critical.  With all of this in mind, I am trying to figure out ways that this type of site can be best used in a classroom.