Banning Books Should Be Banned In Schools Essay

What is a banned book? A banned book is a book that has been removed from the shelves; it could be from a library, classroom, or even the bookstore because of its content. A book could be banned for many reasons, but it could be banned because it contains sex, violence, inappropriate language, religious viewpoints, witch craft, and many more things because other people deem it inappropriate. When someone bans a book they ban it for everyone else too.

Most of the books that are banned are usually challenged in school and libary. In 2015, nine out of ten most challenged books were diverse. The site We Need Diverse Books explains their and ALA’s defention of diversity:

“Book Banning” may seem like an issue of the past, but, in fact, it is still a very pertinent issue in the U.S. today. These classic books have been banned at one time or another: Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, The Harry Potter series. You’re probably wondering how these, extremely famous, books can be so censored in America today. There are many reasons that are given in regards to book censorship. For instance, language or profanity, violence, sexual explicitness, or “uncomfortable” topics, such as rape and race relations. Christian groups have requested that a countless number of books, with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ+) themes, be taken out of schools and libraries The banning and censorship of books can happen in many places and ways; taking them off school reading lists, or even out of libraries and bookstores.

The idea to ban certain books from schools and libraries is preposterous due to the manner in which the people trying to enforce these bans try to do so in. Banning books doesn’t help with the already present problem that our youth’s intelligence levels are already declining, and neither does allowing the freedom to all books. Banning certain books due to their constant use of inappropriate language, sexually explicit nature, and all around mature content has a respectfully reasonable reason to be inaccessible to younger audiences such as minors and teens; not young adults. The banning of books in libraries is outright inexcusable, unless the material is directly racist, subjective religious content, and all around hatred for a certain race or ethnicity; not if it’s used for fictional writing, in a softer manner mid you, to express the conflict in a story and/or to show real world problems, same go for non-fictional writing that expresses ideals in a manner of which isn’t disrespectful to other ideals and that do so in a manner of which isn’t so subjectively and deliberately showing hate for a certain race or ethnicity, especially

According to the American Library Association, the most common group of people, challenging a book being read in schools, was the parents of the students. Parents have a right to be in charge of what is put into the minds of their students, however just because one parent objects does not mean that the whole school should ban the book from the list. A solution for this book would be to enforce parental consent for books to be read in the classroom. If a parent does not want a book to be read in the classroom, then there should be other options for the student to read. The school and teacher should not trespass on a parent’s rights of raising their child. I believe that if a parent has a concern, they should go and discuss the problem with the teacher so that the teacher will be able to defend their reasoning for choosing the book to be read in the classroom.

There is a book out there that talks about a topic that you do not agree with. While you may find the book offensive, others may find it inspiring or a reflection of their life. These varying points of view are what often lead to people calling for a ban of a certain book in a school or public library. This brings to light a topic that impacts all of us in one way or another, censorship in the form of book bans. This leads to a topic that can be the center of debate for many, whether or not we should allow the censorship of books, or other forms of media, in our libraries. And by censoring books, we are referring to taking them off of the shelves. Of course, many people have strong opinions on this. Coincidentally, I also have an opinion. My opinion is that we should not censor books, while making you understand why the idea of censorship in our school and public libraries goes against the fundamental values and freedoms that we hold dearly as citizens of the United States.

Isn't banning books disobeying the freedom of speech, and infringing on the freedom of the press? First Amendment, states that "citizens must be free to seek out any media, regardless of content, that they deem appropriate for entertainment, information, or education. With said, banning books stunts the extension of education. In addition, Books containing “Racial Issues, Blasphemous Dialogue, and Sexual Situations” parents' supervision is indicated. So, if read by children; banning books will not be an antidote for bad parenting. But, Most opponents of book banning understand parental preferences regarding their own child’s reading material, but they refuse to grant them the right to make a decision on behalf of all parents about what is or isn’t appropriate. The disadvantages, books can teach you a negative habits and that’s why some books should be banned. Literature will fully-develop children for the real-world.

Even though we have the right to the First Amendment, many books have been banned or challenged in the U.S. Books have been banned for many reasons including profanity, sex, violence, religion, etc. The First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a

All it takes to challenge a book is for a parent or other citizens to file a complain against a teacher, library, school, or bookseller, for that reason many teachers and librarians choose to remove the books from the curriculum or shelves before an issue is brought up (Pitner). The fear of a lawsuit keeps many people from expressing their belief that banning books is unnecessary (Kennedy, Banned Children’s Books).

When being assigned this project, I immediately went to this issue of banning books in the classroom. I remember growing up reading some of these books on the banned list. But not remembering them for being racist or indecent, but rather them depicting a time period and a glips of society back them. I wanted to get down to the reason why and who has the power of banning books. I wanted to dig deeper into the reasons why books were becoming banned and reach out to the community of educators for their opinion on this topic.

Many books have been questioned and challenged. Even as far as to banning them. But what exactly is a banned book and why are they banned? A banned book is a book that has been censored by an authority, a government body, a library, or a even school system. A book that has been banned is actually removed from a library or school system. The actual contextual reasons as to banning them is use of explicit violence, gore, sexuality, explicit language, religion, or dark times in history. On the non-contextual side of the reason why they are banned books are usually because with the best intentions to protect people, frequently children, from difficult philosophies and information. Teachers, or even more common adults, often censor books from

One counterpoint of the argument of the topic is that banning books hinders students from discovering new things and obtaining knowledge. According to the article, “Banning Books: An Overview”, Michael Aliprandini and Carolyn Sprague state, “The core arguments against the banning of books have been based on protecting the rights of individuals to free speech as well as to promote intellectual freedom – the rights protected by the First Amendment.” They are basically explaining how arguments of book banning connect to the idea of intellectual freedom and protecting individual rights, which are implied in the First Amendment. Censorship of books can be expressed as violating the rights and freedom of the individuals. Boyd and Bailey support this idea of intellectual freedom by presenting how banning books in schools with the quote from their journal, “Censors evoke barriers to free thought and speech when they block knowledge acquisition, intellectual development, as well as creative and critical thinking…” (Boyd and Bailey, 655). In other words, students will not be able to develop the academic skills they need in order to succeed in school if books are banned for them. Previously, there have been books banned from the school curriculum because of the

Author of The Perks of a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky, mentions an important point when he says, “Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.” Banning books has been a practice since 443 BC in Rome when Socrates was to drink poison because of “his corruption of youth and his acknowledgement of unorthodox divinities,” says Beacon for Freedom of Expression. Before a book can get to the point of being banned, it undergoes a process of being challenged. This is when a group of people or a person tries to restrict certain materials. When a challenge ends up being victorious, the book gets banned and removed. Some people believe that certain books are not ethically

Banning Books go way back to burning of books and writings. The first know banned book is The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption by William Pynchon in the

The Banning of books has affected the world greatly. People have been banning books since they first started being written and are still getting banned today. Under the United States Constitution, people have freedom of speech and of the press. People argue that the government is violating citizens’ rights by banning books. It has been going on basically forever because governments feel the need to ban some things that are found in books (Zorea). The reasons for banning books are usually in one of four categories. These include religious, political, social, and sexual reasons (Dell 11). Books were censored greatly during World War I, World War II, and the Great Depression. The United States banned any criticism or opposition to the war or government. Governments and other organizations feared some books might endanger the country or government (Hanyok). “During a war, battle plans, troop movement schedules, weapons data, and other information could help the enemy.” Because of this, militaries often censor books and ban any that might help the enemy (Rupp). Many books that are popular with readers have been banned multiple