Why Is The Perks Of Being A Wallflower 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

The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.

I, Riley Rutland, am writing this letter to each of you to express my concerns about the recent book choices that Easley High has permitted to let my freshman honor’s class to read. The book that I feel strongly should be banned from all school libraries is called The Glass Castle. My main objective is to clearly explain why I along with many parents agree to the removal of this book. The main reasons it should be banned is because of the inappropriate language used, its sexual content, the use of no rules shown, and the censorship that should be taking place.

Why do certain people rule over what each child can and cannot read? Is that not the parents’ job to determine whether or not is it appropriate for their child? When a book is considered banned, parents, teachers, and librarians are discouraged from providing the book to their children. Many of these adults then disapprove of the book without even reading it. Junie B. Jones is thrown from the realm of possibility for many children just because the loveable character has some flaws.

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

“A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves of a library, bookstore, or classroom because of its controversial content...A book may be challenged or banned on political, religious, sexual, or social grounds” (Lombardi). According to Esther Lombardi, banned books are specific types of books that are not allowed to be read because they are considered dangerous or harmful in some way. Even though content such as depression, drugs, sexual activity, and violence in books is viewed as problematic or inappropriate, real life isn’t all fairy tales and unicorns. Life is hard, and there is bad in the world just like there is good in the world. Students should not be shielded from the bad of the real world. Instead, they should learn about those situations through books in the safety of schools. Crank is a book about a gifted junior in high school named Kristina Georgia Snow. Her parents are divorced, she lives in Reno with her mother, and for the first time in eight years she visits her father in New Mexico. However, this visit leads Kristina into many difficult life experiences. Students should be able to read Crank because it shows students how small decisions could impact people's lives, how drugs become a need, and how communication between a family is important.

From the very beginnings of literature, the act of banning books has long been a heated controversy. While almost everyone can say that there are definitely books that they do not want their children reading, the line between what is acceptable and what is not is much harder to define, especially in today’s world. In “How Banning Books Marginalizes Children” (2016), Paul Ringel argues that the current policy of banning books has had a negative impact on children because it has conveyed a message that rebuffs diversity and has contradicted the fact that the power to ban books should be used to “curate children’s choices with the goals of inspiring rather than obscuring new ideas.”

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story which is told through a series of letters written by Charlie, a freshman in high school. (Chbosky, 2012) In the letters he tells about what his day was like, his feelings and his thoughts about his life. Charlie does not know the person he is writing to, and the person’s identity is never revealed. At school, Charlie finds it hard to make friends and he does not feel like he fits in. This is mostly because of his troubled past and he is still trying to cope with the recent suicide of his best friend, Michael. In addition, his beloved Aunt Helen died at his seventh birthday when she went out to buy Charlie a birthday present and he constantly

Laura Murphy is a member of the Lake Braddock Secondary School Parent-Teacher-Student Association in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Murphy is advocating for students at the high school to not read a particular novel. The novel that she is challenging happens to be the Pulitzer Prize winner Beloved by Toni Morrison. Murphy is not only challenging the book, but is also wanting to ban Beloved. In regards to future literature, “new polices are adopted for books assigned” that might have objectionable content.

possibilities, is firmly rooted in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press” (Doyle). People in America should have the right to read whatever and whenever they want to. Although, there is many books that are banned or/and challenged, from libraries to schools. An example of a banned book is a novel for young adults that was published in 1999, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The book is about a young teenage boy named Charlie who is a freshman in high school and goes through a lot in his first year in high school. The book was banned because it deals with sex, porn, drug

Reasons for the ban of books have previously been that it prevents young children from reading inappropriate material for their age and during school. These young students should not be exposed to any violence, sex, drugs, etc. This is true because of their age level, however it is the school administration’s job to provide books for the appropriate age groups. The solution to this is not to just take the books away, it is to be proactive in understanding the reading and maturity level of the students. The parents also play an important role in that of teaching their children to learn and grow from the issues presented in the books, not to be afraid of

Books are censored in public schools for many reasons. Sometimes because of language, themes and religious viewpoints that the school district may not want to teach or expose their students to. The NCAC (National Coalition Against Censorship) talks about how “ individual sensitivities and concerns, restricts the world of knowledge available to students . . .” (“First Amendment in Schools”). Without necessary information about what is happening in the world students will be left bewildered about other ways of life. Crystal

Ellen Hopkins, the author if of the "Crank" series for young adult readers have has hise books pulled from middle school libraries in the district of Norman, Oklahoma and was also prohibited to speak to any school in the district even the one he was invited to.

Chboksy, S. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Great Britain: Simon & Schuster, 1999. back cover.

Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of being a Wallflower is an explicit coming of age novel that gives teenagers a sense of relation with the 16 year old protagonist, Charlie. This book was a bestseller in the year 1999. This book definitely has a more mature content and is very straight to the point, it includes drug usage from parties, sex, and violence. Although this book has explicit content, definitely do not let that distract you from the story.