Should Banning Books Be Banned?

Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit

As United States citizens, we have the right of freedom of expression; the First Amendment of the United States constitution 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…" (First Amendment Oct. 20, 2013). As this concerns books, people should have the freedom to choose what they want to read and what they don't want to read. By banning books, our basic rights as US citizens are abused. Book banning affects many different people, from the people who read books to the people who write them. Why do

Book banning is something that was been around for almost as long as books have, but why? Book banning started because certain books made different people or different groups of people feeling challenged, uncomforted, offended, etc. In other words, these books were engaging to the reader, pushed them to their limits, and really made them think about what they were reading. This is exactly what readers should want out of a book. Instead of embracing the books, many decide to get rid of it and do not want to be challenged or forced to step outside of their little, comfortable box they have for themselves. This issue of book banning is something that has gone on long enough and needs to end right now. Books are something that should be cherished and protected, not banned. Books are a very important part of today’s society and should not ever be banned.

Books are a gateway to a world of imagination, but some schools are trying to shut those gates off by banning them. Books are some of the best teachers left, it's not up to a school to decide what a child should or should not read. Banning books can deprive a child of the opportunity to think. Books should not be banned because of the lessons they can teach, the fact that a school should not even be able to ban them, and it can deprive a child of the opportunity to think.

Banning books is one of many ways that we are killing children's imagination. Taking books away from anyone is something that should never happen. When we take books away we are taking away a safe place for children and we are taking away knowledge of our past. We should be proud to put different books on a shelf and say that we can have our own opinions. Books should never be banned from a public library or school because we disagree with what is on the inside of one.

Although times are changing and society is learning to adapt to the free minds of the younger generations, much is still restricted from the public eye. For example, a list of “banned books” exists containing hundreds of novels that have been removed from libraries and classrooms. Before the books become banned, they are challenged by a group of people who feel strongly that the book is not appropriate for today’s curriculum. Among these books is Looking for Alaska by John Green, which should not be banned because it implements the use of upper-level vocabulary, involves real-life problems and solutions, and causes readers to look at life from a new perspective.

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

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.

Banning books such as, The Catcher In the Rye infringes on the freedoms that America was founded upon. The Bill of Rights is one of the founding principles upon which America was established. The First Amendment clearly states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." (U.S. Constitution). Banning books undoubtedly contradicts the First Amendment.

Over two hundred years ago, the Constitution was signed giving citizens of a newly designed nation civil liberties that no man could ever confiscate. The first of many Amendments to said document included the freedoms to religion, the press, and most importantly freedom of speech. And with the freedom of speech, arose so many great works of literature. Schools of the past then decided on the context of their libraries and of their lesson plans. However, no one ever concerns themselves with what happens to all of those other textbooks and classics that mysteriously disappear from shelves and are no longer taught in the classroom. Withholding knowledge from any student, who will soon be a full-fledged societal

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

The freedom to read and express ourselves means that we shouldn’t allow the banning of books due to inappropriate material. I have gone to a private school all of my life and I have never experienced books being banned or taken away during school. I am thankful for that, but yet it is highly unfortunate knowing that some public school students did not have the opportunity to read some of the best books ever written. Amazing books such as Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Catcher in the Rye were banned from public schools and these are books that I love and would definitely recommend. I believe the banning of books is unconstitutional and deprives people of learning about the world around them; they also help us learn new ways of thinking and social skills that can be applied to real life.

Additionally, “The Supreme Court and other courts have held conclusively that there is a First Amendment right to receive information; the right to receive information is a corollary to the right to speak.” (¨First Amendment and Censorship¨). So, by banning books and restricting the information that you can receive from the book it violates the first amendment. Since the right to receive information is the right to speak the government cannot restrict the information that books offer or the book itself. Lastly, “When the Supreme Court considered whether a local school board violated the Constitution by removing books from a school library, it held that “the right to receive ideas is a necessary predicate to the recipient’s meaningful exercise of his own rights of speech, press, and political freedom.” (¨First Amendment and Censorship¨). The ideas held in books are valuable and can provide many useful insights. By banning books you take these ideas away and they are extinguished. Banning books is unconstitutional and violates the rights of United States

Text one lines 1-3 “Most Americans agree that the First Amendment right to freedom of expression is one of the most sacred provisions of the US Constitution, a cornerstone of American democratic values.” Book banning is something that is so unnecessary it does nothing but away the rights of the people if the book is “to sexual” or “violent” to read then you as a US citizen have the right to not read it you aren't forced upon it. In the beginning of text 4 one school

Certain schools around the United States have researched many books that could be disruptive to students’ overall learning environment and negatively impact teen’s transitions into adulthood. A banned book or challenged book is book that the government thinks the contents inside are wrong for the minds of the person. Some books are banned by the government or school systems due to what students are able to read. Books can be banned due to sexual reference, controversial religious viewpoints, and the use of drugs. For these reasons, schools are banning many books. Even though themes presented in books are not relative to what schools actually teach, schools may still decide to ban certain books. Stories in some banned books can show students great adventures, such as Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, and motivate readers to live their lives while they can, which is especially relevant in today’s society where technology can run people’s lives. Even though Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is considered too controversial of a book because of its anti-authority and adult themes; but, the story it tells should still be taught to students because it is a valuable coming of age book for teens.