The Pros And Cons Of Banning Books In Schools

Although it is ridiculous to ban books, it is somewhat understandable. Some books are extremely heavy on the controversial side, and include a boat load of inappropriate content. “My corduroys. My boxers. Two layers. I could feel the warmth of her cheek on my thigh. There are times when it is appropriate, even preferable, to get an erection when someone’s face is in close proximity to your penis” (Green). It is easy to see why someone with a closed mind would take offense to this kind of content being in a book for young

According to the American Library Association, famous children books such as, Alice in Wonderland, The Giving Tree, Charlotte’s Web, and The Lorax were all banned in certain states in the country. These are not the only books that have been banned, countless numbers of a variety of books have been removed, erased, or trashed because of how people negatively perceived them. The banning of books has been a long controversial argument from the time they were created. All over the world, a book has been banned or challenged because it did not meet the criteria a book should have in that community. Whether it be parents, educators, or officials, people regard the contents of the certain books as inappropriate and socially insensitive.

Many significant novels have unfortunately been challenged/ banned at a certain point in time. Most of these literary classics face this because some contain sexual references, religious intolerance, and inappropriate language. In some cases, books are being pulled off shelves because people believe that they were “tangibles of instruction” or the reason being was as a precaution towards a possible public attack which took effect in Tucson for the Mexican American Studies (source:8). Another case is the Mozert v. Hawkins County Board of Education; Christian sewed the board because they believed that the required textbooks hurt their beliefs (Source:8).

The main argument for why certain books are banned in schools is because the students need to be protected from the content within the books. For example, 13 Reasons Why, a novel about a teenager who commits suicide and leaves behind thirteen tapes containing her reasons has been banned from schools such as the Colorado School District, and some Canadian schools. The book was deemed as “negative portrayals of helping professionals.” and according to Lora Strum writer of the article “Banning books like ’13 Reasons Why’ makes it harder for teens to open up to adults, the author says”, “the book glamorized suicide”. As a whole, the school districts either took

It's not right to censor the thought of some and boost the efforts of others. All members of society should have equal access to all books and . Several school districts, libraries and cities have banned books for different reasons including violence, sexual content, drug abuse, rape and content that is unsuitable for their age group. Several experts including Ana Agenjo have argued against banning any books. In her letter to the kern high

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

Alyssa D. Niccolini spoke on this matter in her article “Precious Knowledge: Using Banned Books to Engage in a Youth Lens,” stating through her experience as an educator, (Evidence 1) that exposure to controversial topics can provide adolescents an opportunity to think critically about the information they are presented with, therefore benefiting their development and acclimation to society. There has also been statistical evidence found in support of the previously discussed concept, as noted in an article by Christopher J. Ferguson. (Evidence 2) He discusses a relation between the consumption of banned books and heighten civic behavior, accompanied by a series of analyses that consider gender, age, previously present personality traits, external influence from others, alongside reading for pleasure tendencies. The conclusion in its most direct form was that engaging in banned book reading shared a relation with increased civic behavior, and had no correlation with the prediction of the child engaging in criminal or inappropriate activity. Moreover, certain material noted as controversial can be essential to the development and personal growth of marginalized youth. Among the list of reasons for a book being banned or challenged, homosexuality is one of the most common (Banned & Challenged Books). For LGBT+ identifying youth, a lack of support or feeling acceptance is a large issue. In a multi-authored article featured in the 12th volume of “Journal of LGBT Youth,” it was found that schools lacking LGBT+ inclusive curricula statistically present higher levels of victimization, isolationist mentalities, and absenteeism in relation to the LGBT+ identifying demographic. Additionally, in (Evidence 3)“Effects of “Safe School” Programs and Policies on the Social Climate for Sexual-Minority Youth: A Review of the Literature,” another piece from “Journal

In an attempt to “protect” children, schools tend to target certain topics in literature. Some commonly banned subjects include LGBTQ, racism, sexism, and evolution. Due to book bans, the ability to teach and discuss material is affected. In a study, over 58% of teachers report negative impacts on their classrooms and curricula as book bans are implemented (FirstBook). By not allowing sensitive topics to be read and discussed, there is a spread of whitewashed history and misinformation.

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).

Literary works are the foundation for education and are crucial for multiple reasons, some of which include that literature obtains a large variety of information that is at times not accessible to students by computers and teachers alone. Another advantage is adults and children alike improve their understanding and knowledge of certain topics whilst improving their intelligence of the language itself. Banning literary pieces of work is unjustifiable and proves to students that if something is not agreeable within a book, shielding its contents is the next honorary thing to do in order to prevent disruption. High schools should not ban books due to their excessive profanity, violence, sexual content and unagreeable topics because this restriction prevents young readers from developing a better understanding of the society they live in, and could counter act a new change and lessons to be learned.

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.

“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.

School boards, principals, and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of their students by covering grade and age appropriate material in the classroom. However, does this given responsibility cover the act of banning books from their classrooms? As an advocate for each student, does the teacher not have a duty to introduce the students to a these words issues in order to help the student cope with the different problems in the world? How does a school decide which books should be banned and how much say does the teacher have what should be left up to the teacher? Some say that banning books from the classroom, we prevent them from learning about different controversial topics in a safe and secure environment. In this paper I reflect on my research question: Why do schools ban books in the classroom?

Some books have a few that are “society's most taboo subjects: race and rape,”(Try to Ban Books) this shouldn’t be something that is in school regardless if in a book. School is a place where kids learn about life skills, not read books that have rape and racism present in them. In a few case parents have been “trying to prevent kids from reading about racism in World War II - era” (Try to Ban Books), this give the parents right to ban books that were made during or are about one of the most impacting wars in the world just because it contains something they don’t agree with. This is what parents have the right to decide what their kids read in school but don’t hinder the other kids because they don’t want theirs to read these

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.