Banned Books On The American School System

The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.

The novel “To Kill a MockingBird“ is Challenged in the Waukegan, IL School District (1984) because the novel uses the word "nigger”. In 1961, “To Kill a Mockingbird” won the Pulitzer Prize, but More than 14 school districts have banned this book for the use of bad language and racism.Protecting people from the reality is not the correct thing to do .People have the right to read banned books! They shall not be restricted from them.

It is understood why somebody may think that books should not be banned at schools because by doing this parents are hurting their children by restrain their knowledge. When a quality book is banned, the children lose the opportunity to learn from that book. It is better supported that, some books should be banned from schools because they can introduce students to unacceptable topics and teach them bad or useless

There has recently been a renewed interest and passion in the issue of censorship. In the realm of the censorship of books in schools alone, several hundred cases have surfaced each year for nearly the past decade. Controversies over which books to include in the high school English curriculum present a clash of values between teachers, school systems, and parents over what is appropriate for and meaningful to students. It is important to strike a balance between English that is meaningful to students by relating to their lives and representing diversity and satisfying worries about the appropriateness of what is read. This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss

First, the author argues, “When engaging in critical literacy, readers question reality and entertain multiple perspectives about particular topics, attitudes, and behaviors” (Graff). Challenged and banned books are beneficial to readers. These banned books help students evaluate more difficult pieces of literature, which could be used in the future. Jennifer Graff states, “...Book censorship helps us think critically about the power of the written word as well as the relationships between individuals, texts, and contexts, to paraphrase Lawrence Sipe (1999)” (Graff). Banned and challenged books allow readers to see the truth--from the past, future, or present--written by the author. Readers can apply these ideas to real-life situations successfully. In the article, On Reading and Sharing Banned Books, the topic of “...heightened sensitivity about what and how we say things,” and needing, “ongoing conversations about how literature can be part of our lives without undue stress and controversy” is exposed (Graff). Books are written for many reasons, to inform persuade, entertain, and relax; however, with books censorship, finding relaxing or entertaining books is extremely difficult. Without censorship, readers could easily discuss these now controversial topics without worry. The purpose of the book, good moral, and potentially

Banning or challenging books is an occurrence that has been taking place for years in America’s school systems, but often parents and teachers are not in agreement concerning censorship. The National Council of Teachers of English position statement is “We can safely make two statements about censorship: first, any work is potentially open to attack by someone, somewhere, sometime, for some reason; second, censorship is often arbitrary and irrational.” One such challenged book is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, which was “banned from an eighth-grade classroom in Arizona due to profanity, sexual content, and rape theme” (Lesesne and Chance 48). Even though it presents difficult topics, Speak could be a benefit to students in a

Board of Education v. Pico is a Supreme Court case that was argued from March 2, 1892 to June 25, 1982 (Island Trees…). This case presents the issue of banning “vulgar and immoral” books from school libraries (Board of Education, Island).

School boards, principals, and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of their students by covering grade and age appropriate material in the classroom. However, does this given responsibility cover the act of banning books from their classrooms? As an advocate for each student, does the teacher not have a duty to introduce the students to a these words issues in order to help the student cope with the different problems in the world? How does a school decide which books should be banned and how much say does the teacher have what should be left up to the teacher? Some say that banning books from the classroom, we prevent them from learning about different controversial topics in a safe and secure environment. In this paper I reflect on my research question: Why do schools ban books in the classroom?

Even though our world is getting more and more connected, censorship still remains one of the top issues that separate people from reading books. Books are the spreader of both bad and good knowledge and I believe that we should no longer contain or ban books just because they are offensive to certain groups in America. The debate on challenged books is a hot topic in America because the country is founded on a basis of freedom of speech.

The practice of the censorship of books in schools has been prevalent due to the explicit content of them. Parents have been complaining to schools about books that count as required reading because they disapprove with the points made in the book. If a book consists of offensive or sexually explicit material, then parents would challenge the schools about them in order to prevent their children from reading them. Censorship in general has been an intensely debated issue because it is considered an infringement to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution while others argue it is used to conceal inappropriate things (Aliprandini and Sprague). The banning of books in school curriculum has also been debated since parents see

Reasons for the ban of books have previously been that it prevents young children from reading inappropriate material for their age and during school. These young students should not be exposed to any violence, sex, drugs, etc. This is true because of their age level, however it is the school administration’s job to provide books for the appropriate age groups. The solution to this is not to just take the books away, it is to be proactive in understanding the reading and maturity level of the students. The parents also play an important role in that of teaching their children to learn and grow from the issues presented in the books, not to be afraid of

In 1982, the Board of Education of Island Trees School District made an executive decision to try to remove eleven books from the district’s school libraries on the grounds of being "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy". Out of these eleven, nine were successfully removed. Aside from the supposed debauchery of the eleven titles, the board stated that the reason why they were so determined to go forward with banning these books is that the board needed to “protect the children in our schools from this moral danger”. Interestingly, the one who ultimately brought the case to court and gave it the name of “Island Trees Sch. Dist. v. Pico” was Steven Pico, a high school student. While the initial ruling at the federal court level was in favor of the protection the board

Is it necessary for schools to ban books just because some parents don’t like what their child is reading in English class? The topic of banned books has generated a lot of argument for both the viewpoint of schools not banning books because of the harmful content, and the opposing viewpoint of schools banning books because they have harmful or offensive content. The viewpoint of not banning books in schools because of the content is stronger, because banning some books that might have some hurtful content in them, the ability to learn a valuable lesson. Banning books also takes away children’s freedom of reading what they want. While there are many other main ideas to support the viewpoint of not banning books in schools, by banning the books that have potentially hurtful content, the chance to learn important lessons is lost. This is the reason found to be the most effective.

Book Banning in Schools Books are banned in school libraries every year. They are pointed out for having inappropriate content, which some believe should not be allowed to be read by students. Unlike in the past, people are allowed to argue against the banning of books as well as fight for it. There are many arguments for the banning of books, such as: it protects family values, parents must protect children from the offensive material that can be found in them, and there are legal standards for the removal of books. On the other hand, there are some that believe that students need bold books to further grow and mature.

Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (also called The Island Trees Union Free School District vs. Pico). In this case, the Court had to rule whether the decision of the Board of Education at the Island Trees Union Free School District had acted in violation of the Constitution by censoring some books they considered inappropriate. They disputed eleven publications that were considered offensive for having content the school named “anti-Semitic,” “anti-Christian,” “anti-American,” and “filthy” (Legal Information Institute). In his ruling, Justice Brennan stated that students had the right to read whatever they wanted because joining a school did not amount to a legal curtailment of their constitutional rights. Justice Blackmun concurred with Brennan’s sentiments stating that it would be a curtailment of the First Amendment if school administrators were allowed to pull off books from libraries simply because they were opposed to the ideas in them.