The Importance Of Censorship Of Written Books

“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.

Book censorship today in America isn’t quite as drastic as that, but still is reflecting the same concepts. I remember in junior high school when we would have banned book week. This was where the school celebrated having the right to read censored and banned books. Written word is one of the most important aspects of free speech. In no circumstance whatsoever, should any piece of writing be censored. Writing thoughts and ideas and whatever else comes into someone’s mind has been a practice of humans ever since historians know that man existed. Telling people what they can and cannot read is an invasion of not only the reader’s rights, but the author’s as well. If someone doesn’t like what an author of a piece of literature has to say then that person has a right not to read it, or better yet form their own opinion and write about that. Book banning is and ungodly practice and the people of this world should learn from the mistakes of the past and not allow the censorship of written material. The only opposition that I can find to the censorship of books would be taking the same mindset on the topic as the Nazis did when they burned all of the Jew’s books. Trying to wipe out an entire race or group of people’s ideas and beliefs should never be done anywhere for any reason.

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

What is the true cost of knowledge? Throughout history, books have been banned for an array of reasons ranging from inappropriate content, offensive language, and sexually explicit material. When proposing a challenge in hopes of banning a specific book from schools and libraries, those in favor claim children’s’ innocence should be preserved and that children should not be exposed to inappropriate material found within some books simply because it is part of a school’s required curriculum. In defense of these challenged books, many say the ethics of free speech and the important life lessons gained from reading books should be considered. Several books are banned within schools and libraries because of their potentially offensive or sensitive content; however,

I believe that books play a key role in school so they shouldn’t be banned.

Censorship is a concept with several different meanings. To each individual censorship has its own meaning. Is it a violation of our rights or is it a protection for our well being? Censorship in the generic sense refers to the suppression of information, ideas, or opinions. It occurs in all forms of communication from technological media to print media. Each society, culture, or individual's belief is violated by the codes of censorship that our society instills.

An author’s job is to express ideas and stir conversations through words. If their content is considered to be unfit to hear, then their content is censored, and that just limits them from doing their rightful job. Books of any sort should not be censored, “So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life” (Faber 79). This is what makes books great. They show the pores in the face of life. Faber had to quit being an author because society did not believe in the meaning of books, which was wrong. Books provide opinion and meaning,“... books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them.” (Vonnegut). Kurt Vonnegut faced having his book banned from school libraries because of his “mature” content. In Vonnegut’s case, he was able to speak out and defend himself. He regained his right to speak freely. Every human must have the right to express themselves without having to be censored because it is inhumane and unconstitutional.

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

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

How can one person's decision impact others? Every time i'm reading a book i have my own opinion of what i just read not everyone has the same opinion of it. I could read a book that contains drug dealers and love like the book Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles and think that it was a great book but another person can think that it is to inappropriate. If that person decided that the book should not be in their school library a decides to challenge and it gets banned other people that might have wanted to read it can no longer do that because of that ONE person. It takes only one person to change or bring something to the attention of others. What if someone banned the book you have wanted to read for so long? You would probably not like it, so why do it to others? If you didn't like the book then don't read it, that simple, don't ruin it for everyone else.

Books have been banned throughout history by rulers who want to control their subjects. In the famous novel Fahrenheit 451, books were illegal and any books that were found were to be immediately burned. Basic human rights of these imaginary citizens seemed to have been violated, but these key examples are nothing like book banning in schools. Books are banned in school libraries every year; they are singled out for having inappropriate content, which some believe should not be allowed to be read by students. Content that should not be read by students includes profanity, racial slurs, violence, and sexual situations. Unlike in the past, people are allowed to argue against the banning of books

The American Library Association promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular, and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them. Free thought and expression are rights protected by the first amendment of the United States constitution however there are people that continue to fight to censor and ban materials that they find offensive. Banning books robs people from learning and forming their own opinions people who challenge books usually have good intentions claiming that they want to protect children from suggestive content, dangerous opinions and profanity. The Office of Intellectual Freedom reports the top three reasons for books to be challenged are that material is sexually explicit, contains offensive language or is unsuitable to any age group. Although we need to be aware of what we choose to expose our children and ourselves to banning and censoring does more harm than good. It is wrong to ban books, everyone deserves access and exposure to different perspectives so that they can expand their thinking and form their own opinions.

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

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.

What would you do if you went to your child's school and saw that they were looking at inappropriate material on the internet? Would you react the same way if they were in a public library? Who decides what is okay for your children to view? Who decides where they can view it? What can you do about them being able to view these things? Are there any laws that can prevent this from happening? What are some schools and libraries doing to help prevent children form looking at such material? These are all issues that will be discussed in the next few paragraphs, along with my opinions on the matter.