Arguments Against Censorship Research

The American Library Association has always opposed censorship in libraries, and actively protests the banning of books (“ALA”). The ALA sponsor “Banned Books Week” every year, in an attempt to bring attention to the censorship of books across the United States. The ALA is firmly against the practice of banning, as Barbara Jones, the director of ALA’s office for Intellectual Freedom, said in this statement ‘Using threats to books to wage war on ideas that some may disagree with is offensive to the ALA, which embraces the diversity of our nation as one of our greatest strengths.”

Essentially, Schools should not conduct censorship unless it is a school that holds younger students. Heres the reasoning behind that; most students will be subjected to all of those properties that are being censored in one way or another and even at some point in there life. It is not our duty to hide away the real world. It is the saying ¨the more you know the more you grow¨ that is when pretaining to knowledge. If we were to censor everything bad thing, we would be putting off, and procrastinating the fact that they will learn and see these things anyway. Isn´t important to fill children and students up with as much knowledge as possible? Yes because the more they know the smarter they are, as well as being more equiped when facing life towards there future. Some may say, well students don´t need to be hearing or even reading vuglar language? But have we stopped to ask ourselves; is it perhaps that our children, students, children are already being subjected to these kids of things? At school there is a plentiful amount of students that already know and show the things that society is trying to mask. Therefore showing that not matter how much you censor something it will always still be there and seen in one way or another.

On the other hand, some people argue that book censorship is a violation of their constitutional right to freedom of speech, and the right to self expression. One article puts its effects this way, “Permitting restraints on literature sets the stage for attacks on all expression that is artistically or politically controversial or that portray unpleasant realities of life.” This,

“A word to the unwise. Torch every book. Char every page. Burn every word to ash. Ideas are incombustible. And therein lies your real fear.” Ellen Hopkins. The government in this society is burning all of the knowledge. The books may be burnt but ideas and your imagination are unretrievable, that can be passed down through generations. The government has the real fear. Censorship is bad and takes away from your imagination and creativity.

Book censorship today in America isn’t quite as drastic as that, but still is reflecting the same concepts. I remember in junior high school when we would have banned book week. This was where the school celebrated having the right to read censored and banned books. Written word is one of the most important aspects of free speech. In no circumstance whatsoever, should any piece of writing be censored. Writing thoughts and ideas and whatever else comes into someone’s mind has been a practice of humans ever since historians know that man existed. Telling people what they can and cannot read is an invasion of not only the reader’s rights, but the author’s as well. If someone doesn’t like what an author of a piece of literature has to say then that person has a right not to read it, or better yet form their own opinion and write about that. Book banning is and ungodly practice and the people of this world should learn from the mistakes of the past and not allow the censorship of written material. The only opposition that I can find to the censorship of books would be taking the same mindset on the topic as the Nazis did when they burned all of the Jew’s books. Trying to wipe out an entire race or group of people’s ideas and beliefs should never be done anywhere for any reason.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank was banned in Wise County, Virginia because of “objections to sexually offensive passages” (American Library Assiciation). The natural changes that women go through in life were belligerent to these people, even though it was only the honest opinion of a young girl. In cities in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Virginia and Texas banned Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain because it was considered “dangerous with its objectionable language and ‘racist’ terms and content” (American Library Association). That all happened at one point or another and to move on we must learn to accept the racism of the past not hide it from children. The same with another classic banned from cities in New York, Illinois, Missouri, and in Warren Township Schools, Indiana, this book is one of my favorite books in the world, and to think that it could be banned because of because of “profanity and [the] undermining of race relations” is depressing (American Library Association). This book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Without these books much of the children would be ignorant of the past, only learning what history sees

Many books have been challenged or censored during different places and time periods. For example, the earliest book censorship in America was done by the Puritans in the 1600s. Seven decades ago, the Nazi Regime censored and modified The Bible in order to create a version that suited their ideologies. Today, “10 percent of all books” are removed from the public view (“2016 Book”). Nearly “ninety-nine percent” of the books that are challenged are pulled, or essentially banned, from three locations that need it the most: “the public library, school, and school library” (“2016 Book”). These are the places where people obtain knowledge from and it would be a loss to libraries to have a book removed from their shelves. Right now, the two largest demographics that support censorship are “parents and patrons” (”2016 Book”). In the past, they have had an upper hand due to financial backing from patrons, people or organizations that commit to a cause. These supporters believe that censorship must exist to prevent harm towards readers. On the other

While many believe censorship to be a necessity in certain contexts, the idea of censorship is at fault in its attempt to control and stop the advance knowledge of the world today.There is fear of

Books have been banned throughout history by rulers who want to control their subjects. In the famous novel Fahrenheit 451, books were illegal and any books that were found were to be immediately burned. Basic human rights of these imaginary citizens seemed to have been violated, but these key examples are nothing like book banning in schools. Books are banned in school libraries every year; they are singled out for having inappropriate content, which some believe should not be allowed to be read by students. Content that should not be read by students includes profanity, racial slurs, violence, and sexual situations. Unlike in the past, people are allowed to argue against the banning of books

Kristol (I 972) claims that "very few words of real merit ever were suppressed" (p. 649). This is a difficult statement- to agree with because among the literary giants that have been repeatedly censored are Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl, and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn has been frequently attacked on the basis of racial prejudice. J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the coming-of-age novel loaded with profanity, leads all of these as far as censorship votes are concerned (Donelson, 1997). ) While these and hundreds of other books continue to show up on ban lists in libraries across the country, activists like Kristol (1972) have asserted that "in the U.S., censorship has to all intents and purposes ceased to exist" (p.645).

Banning books has been an age long controversy since the early 15th century. Beginning in 1455 with the invention of the Guttenberg printing press, this became a much harder situation to control due to the large processes of books being printed out. (Smolla) Since the 15th century, opponents have regularly been enforcing the banning of books due to society’s idea of debatable content. This includes the aspects of sexual content, racism, and sacrilegious content. However, proponents have the stronger argument. Many object that these books are a result of Freedom of Speech, they provide historical documentation, or simply that a person should freely be able to read whatever he or she may enjoy.

For example, the novel Of Mice and Men has been banned, because of racism and profanity. This can be seen when the characters in the book refer to the only African-American ranch hand as a “stable buck” or refer to him using the n-word (Steinbeck, J/ Of Mice and Men/ 1937). It is understandable to want to keep children protected, and to not repeat the behaviors of the characters in the book, but it is the ugly truth. It is an accurate depiction of the 1930’s and Great Depression era. In Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds, Author Dawn Sova gives a brief overview of the book, From Here to Eternity. She said that it is about “American soldiers stationed in Hawaii in WWII,” and that it has been banned for its vibrant descriptions of when the soldiers took “trips to bars, to meet with women so they could temporarily quell their loneliness” (Sova, D,B/Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds/ 1998). This is another example that illustrates the type of uncomfortable history that people may want to suppress, but it’s accurate historical fact and one of many stories about what took place during WWII. To censor this is wrong because others should have the right to learn from the

Book banning has been used throughout history as a way to control the ideas of a society. It is “a form of censorship that attempts to control the dissemination of thoughts and ideas that some groups in society believe to be harmful”(“Book Banning”). Governments and religious bodies have tried to ban books with differing or revolutionary views. Today, the top reasons books are banned are because of sexual content, objectionable language, violence, homosexual themes, racism, and religion (Whelan). The argument of book banning is seen in communities, school boards, public libraries, and state legislature, and can involve governments, corporations, book publishers, and private citizens (“Introduction To Book Banning: At Issue”). Book banning

In society, it is an essential requirement to make all knowledge publicly accessible. The burning of books was used in ancient China to prevent new idea's and additional intelligence, known to cause rebellions. Nowadays many countries are blocking webpages which offer non-patriotic content, exempli gratia China blocking content provided by Google. This form of censorship not only limits public knowledge, but also deteriorates access to great

Some people do not realize that they affect the education of their children by banning certain books. The banning of books is banning the author's right to free speech which can hinder the education of Americans. In schools teachers have to worry about what readings they present to their students because they could have any parent coming after them for exposing their children to “heinous” or “bad” things when all it truly is, is literature used to broaden