The Controversy Of Banning Books In Young Adult Literature

Books are made for people to enjoy and learn from. Then why are people deciding that a book can’t be available to certain people based on certain parts of their content? This is happening all around the world and this is called book banning or censorship. Many books have been challenged and said to be too gruesome or too dark for readers and one very controversial section of censorship is the young adult section. People are saying that young adults should not be exposed to some topics and so they take the ‘dangerous’ books away. For example, a novel called Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, has been banned in libraries all across America. However, the novel Of Mice and Men should not be censored from teens because it gives information about history, it challenges readers to think in many different ways, and includes complex themes that can teach a lot to young adults.

Parents who support the banning of books in public and school libraries bring up points that some of the more mature themes in books such as drugs, violence, and racism are too much for middle and high schoolers, and even young children if these books are found at the public library. But, what these adults seemingly fail to realize is that their children, at one point or another in their lives, they are going to be exposed to it. If anything, reading about them in a book with the opportunity to understand it is 1000 times better than experiencing it first hand later in life for the first time. And to address the issue about young children finding books with such themes, there are many ways, all simple, to fix this. Some more simple way such as labelling the spine with an “M” sticker for books that contain mature themes is a great way to distinguish between books. One could also just put these books into a section for teenagers so that small children can not get to them.

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

Some might claim the YA genre has grown to be too dark for its target audience. Meghan Gurdon, a firm believer of this idea, explains why she believes this in her article, “Darkness Too Visible”. Gurdon describes the experience of a mother of three in a bookstore looking to purchase a YA novel for one of her children, when she found herself leaving the bookstore empty-handed due to the content of the teen books. While teen books decades ago contained less violent/corrupted material, times have changed along with the genre. She is concerned that these books could have an effect on these young readers’ brains as they are merely transferring from childhood to adulthood. Gurdon still has faith that YA books would sell just as well and connect with young readers today without all of the dark subject matters discussed in them these days.

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

Books are a part of our society that entertain us through literature by showing us new experiences and characters that we may relate to or easily might despise due to how they are written, these are usually found in teen novels, comic books, manga, and many more. Books have also usually taught us through traditional means by teaching us about history and other things about society and overall morals we learn at a young age. However, some people have actually taken offense to certain books due to the content inside the book being “too offensive to them and have asked that these books be banned while other people want these books to stay. It’s a consistent debate of whether certain books should be banned or not and there are different viewpoints

Meghan Cox Gurdon’s article has many varying points of attack, while Sherman focuses all of his resources on one point; young adult (YA) literature isn’t detrimental. Gurdon contends the argument that youths being exposed to darker themes makes the themes less effective and ultimately undermines the intensity of the subjects, as well as spread them. She states this as “Self-destructive adolescent behaviors are observably infectious and have periods of vogue. That is not to discount the real suffering that some young people endure; it is an argument for taking care” (par. 13). Gurdon says young adult literature takes away a child’s innocence and negatively affects moral development (par. 6). In contrast, Sherman believes that YA books help people dealing with those troubles to overcome and accept them. He states, “... Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow schock a teenage

Public schools are becoming more laid back about what they teach in each subject to make it less uncomfortable for individuals to talk about; for example, sex education is taught in schools more in depth and at an earlier age today than in the past to make it easier for people to talk about sex in a more mature manner. Banning books that contain sexual content, vulgarity, and violence give children and young adults a reason to snicker about these topics when discussed in class because we are taught that these topics are not appropriate to talk about publicly. There are many factors that play a major role in how an individual perceives certain topics in books. If taught at an earlier age that these topics are suitable for mature

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 subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable. The censorship of books is a division of censorship that, apart from Internet censorship, receives the most publicity. Banning books is the most popular form of such censorship. Many banned books are literary classics, such as The Catcher in

Book bannings is censorship. It prevents the spread of ideas among the student populace. And while one can understand keeping more mature books away from middle schoolers and younger, since they have years before they have to be an adult, there is no valid argument for banning books for high schoolers. They have between 0 and 4 years until they have to start being an adult, outside of school, and if we keep new and more mature ideas away from them, that keeps them from being the best adult they can be. New concepts in books may be scary, but we still can’t keep them from it, they have their right to read what they wish. Even if alternate solutions have to be used on certain students, humanity is not going to become savage, and immature from

I understand why schools would want to remove these books because some contain inappropriate language or graphic details, but there isn't anything in those books that children nowadays have not already heard or seen before in movies or on the internet. My mom was always trying to prevent me from learning bad words, or the difference between a female or a male, but as a parent, she should have sat down with me and explained to me about the content that I was curious about. The material that is in banned books are only the opinions, thoughts, or explanations that covers issues that many people are too afraid to talk about. Unfortunately, it is also the material that people are sensitive about. These books are controversial issues that contain ideas that others are not willing to express for themselves.

Banning books and only allowing children to know specific information, instead of them learning about everything, they are only learning certain topics and that is harmful to society because not everyone knows all of the dangers of hiding certain things from themselves and others. In Source C, “Judy Blume” discusses with a News Reporter, that she believes that “her commitment to children’s intellectual freedom and their right to read a variety of books,” (West) is a good thing because she does not want her books to be banned from children’s imagination and their interest of knowledge. She also supports the idea of her books, not being banned because in her books, she put good knowledge and facts. If society takes that away, then our future generations are not going to be as intelligent r

It is my belief that since by the time the child is required to read such literature in school, they are at an age where they can distinguish between things that should and should not be said and it is the job of the parents to educate the child that just because they say it in a book does not mean he or she should.Another subject common to banned and censored books is sexuality.

Young adults are reading more than ever these days, and with the young adult literature expanding there are many options for this age group. Parents should be thrilled, but some are horrified with what their children are reading. Some are concerned that the mature topics and profanity in novels makes them too inappropriate for certain young adults. To know the content in the books their children are reading they suggest a rating system similar to movies and video games. Others believe that the rating system would be too constricting to young adult authors and is a form of censorship. Anti-rating system people believe books can help young adults understand the world and themselves. There should be a middle ground to make both groups happy. Both