Banning Books Argumentative Essay

Most who argue against censorship believe that it goes against a person’s right to freedom of speech. Within this argument, most people wonder “just when, and on what grounds, the state is justified in using its coercive powers to limit the freedom of individuals” (West). When thinking in this mindset, individuals tend to antagonize the government, because they come to believe that it suppresses their individuality and fail to consider the fact that it unites people who share its similar beliefs. As a result of the recent spike in technology and use of the Internet, the public must continually alter its definition of freedom of speech and expression. As the media offers more and more methods of communication, many of which are relatively self-regulated by users, more methods of expression develop, which may render other forms of expression obsolete, or even socially unacceptable (Qazi). Without understanding how much freedom of speech one is entitled to, one may never hope to defend that freedom if it ever comes under attack. Because technology develops so quickly that one definition will hardly suffice for a short period of time, people will find it increasingly difficult to understand how much right to expression they are allowed and will therefore fight for any and all that they may attain, never considering the benefits of censorship in the slightest. In America especially, people idealize the idea of democracy, the investigation of truth, and independence (Fieser). In

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.”

Harper Lee is a famous author who wrote the award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She grew up in the heart of Alabama and tied in many aspects of her southern childhood into the novel. There are historical and biological influences in the book To Kill a Mockingbird that reflect Lee’s life and the society around her during the 1930s.

By banning books, it shields children from what the real world is really like. Going through life without knowing what its really going to be like once you grow and are officially on their own can damage a child rather than helping them. Every parent tries to do what they think is right for their children and sometimes they can end up hurting them more. Books should not be banned from society. Even though some books have suggestive content or profanity does not mean that you should take out so-called negativity because your children gain knowledge of what’s right, wrong and how to act. Books shouldn’t be banned from society. Books are some peoples way to escape reality for just a single moment.While books shouldn’t be banned from society, some have a lot of profanity. Banning those books would be taking away citizens rights through the First Amendment.

Judy Blume once said, “Something will be offensive to someone in every book, so you’ve just got to fight it.” Over the past twenty years, public libraries have started to ban certain books due to certain themes that have been seen as “unfit” by the county board. But personally, i wonder who is really at liberty to say what is fit in our society. In a country where it is our very right to freedom of speech, banning books does not only go against it, but it’s almost an insult. The public library should not have any banned books because it promotes censorship, it is futile, and the books we read are some of our greatest teachers.

Schools are meant to be a safe environment full of books and learning opportunities. If this is impaired by books that should be banned, students may feel displaced or uncomfortable. Even a high schooler is prone to this, if action is not taken. There are hundreds of books full of violence, explicit language, and drug references. Annenberg Classroom says it is “unsuitable for students” (AnnenbergClassroom.org). Students of all ages are strongly suggested to not partake of those things, and reading all about them can cause them to think it is acceptable. It is up to administrators and parents to decide what should be allowed in school libraries. Everybody has different beliefs, but most people would not want their

School boards and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of their students and covering age appropriate material. However, does this responsibility cover the extreme act of banning books from school classrooms? Does not the teacher have a duty to introduce to their students world issues in order to better the students ability to cope with problems in the world? How does a school decide which books should be banned from the classroom, and should it be left up to the teacher to decide what is decided in his/her classroom. By banning books from the classroom, we prevent our students from learning about controversial topics in a safe environment, and we also encroach upon the student’s freedom of reading what they want in

The problems with banned books has been a controversial issue between parents as well as adults. The concerns that parents have are with the fact that these certain books are to be banned to keep their kids from being exposed to some of the ways of the world. Some of the concerns that these parents have are with usage of some derrogatory words or lanuguage not preferrred by some parents. The things that parents fail to realize is that by law, a librarian has the responsibility that they must uphold; including their responsibilty to the stocking of books on their shelves. I would take the side of the librarian because their position would be worthless because their rights would be useless, and their job would

The parents who want to ban books from libraries do not seem to trust their children to know what books they are ready for or not. If a child starts to read a book and does not like the content that is in it, then they can decide to stop reading it and choose a book that they like better. The people who ban books do not trust their children to be able make the right decisions for themselves, and thus do not respect them in their decisions. Additionally, banning books often has the opposite effect of what was planned, making more people interested in the book and want to read it.

Harper Lee is a famous writer who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird and won the Pulitzer prize for this book. While Lee was in high school, she was interested in English literature. Lee did attend college after high school to focus on her English and writing (Biography.com). She hasn’t written that many books, but she surprisingly has won several awards. After she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, she went kind of dormant. There has been many times Harper Lee has been in the spotlight.

Harper Lee was born in Alabama around 1930, her father was a lawyer, To Kill A Mocking Bird was developed my Harper Lee’s experience and made into a fiction book. The book was published in 1957 around the time of Civil rights movement and Martin Luther King. While Harper Lee was writing the novel, things like Rosa Parks not giving up the seat to a white man happened; this boosted the perspective, that Harper Lee wanted the people to see that’s why she used the innocence of a child to narrate her perspective. Scout is a perfect character for this, she is very intelligent you can see that when Mrs Caroline disapproves her ability to read better than other kids.

Imagine that you're going to check out a book but your blocked off to one section. You might see some good books in that other section but you can't read them because of book banning. This subject affects many people you're probably thinking no just bookworms. But that's where you're wrong book banning affects many people from different religions and races. Books shouldn't be banned because they can make you a more knowledgeable person, they can also help you learn about real-world problems, Books are also an escape from the world sometimes people just need a break and taking away books from people is just wrong.

Many times throughout our history things are said and sometimes they offend people. A lot of times they are in books and the music that we fill our head with. They can be filled with explicit conent that some people think will lead to corrupt our minds. So they try to get rid of them, especially in libarys. Personally I think explicit content in books should be allowed at any library for the purpose of history, character and to uphold the first amendment.

I’m sure that many of you have heard or read of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I’m sure that many you are either devoted followers of these vampire novels, or you know someone who is. Now, try to imagine how all these fans of Edward, Jacob, and Bella were to be told by the California Board of Education that due to the mature themes and sexual content of the books, they would be banned from schools, of grades twelve and below? I think it’s important to oppose book banning because many things can be learned from books as from life experiences

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist,” said Salman Rushdie, a novelist and essayist. People believe books should be banned because, of their content. If this is the case then does the freedom of expression mean anything at all? People can make their own choices and decide what they do and don’t read. If, we take away the advantage, we already have of being able to read books.