Why The Book Should Not Be Banned In Schools

“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.

Books are like people, there is a wide variety and range of them, they can range from different types of vernacular to age appropriateness. Due to the wide range some books are eligible to be banned from a school district for any array of reasons. Books can be banned because of, profanity, societal issues or anything else that could possibly be thought of. The Secret Life of Bees should be taught in high school curriculum because it allows for readers to see how someone can overcome oppression of racism and various categories of abuse.

Growing up is a maze with many twists and turns. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch experiences many difficult situations as part of her coming of age. As Scout grows up in the rural Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, she faces problems with self-identity, racism, and her community. Harper Lee writes in a subtle yet impactful way about how Scout goes through this confusing stage, making her book a classic that every student should read. Recently To Kill a Mockingbird has been a controversial topic because a “school district in Mississippi announced that it was pulling the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic from its 8th-grade reading list” (Oprea 1). The school district worried that the book was uncomfortable for kids because of its use of explicit language. The school board stated that other books can convey the same lessons in more age-appropriate ways. The question is can these books convey the same lessons without using the language so vital in communicating the historical context of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is an important book that should not be banned in schools because it

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

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

“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.

My banned book is called The Color Purple written by Alice Walker. The book was published in 1982, and in 1983 it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. Many people loved it, but others weren’t fond the content, and because of all that inappropriate content, I believe that the book should be banned. Even though the book isn’t focused on the racism, rape, homosexuality, etc. it still should be banned because things that are inappropriate occur very often. I enjoyed reading the book, but I wouldn’t recommend it to a younger child, I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone younger than the age of sixteen or seventeen.

What is a banned book? A banned book is a book that has been removed from the shelves because of its content. There are many reasons a book can be banned, a few of those reasons are is it contains offensive language, promotion of a religious viewpoint, unsuited to an age group, and many more. Lots of people and organizations have and still attempt to ban books. Some organizations that have banned books are The Anti – Defamation league, The Christian Voters League, and The Central Intelligence Agency.

What is a banned book? A banned book is a book that has been removed from the shelves; it could be from a library, classroom, or even the bookstore because of its content. A book could be banned for many reasons, but it could be banned because it contains sex, violence, inappropriate language, religious viewpoints, witch craft, and many more things because other people deem it inappropriate. When someone bans a book they ban it for everyone else too.

Banning a book is when a person or group takes away a book from the public or a majority group (Wilson, 844). Books taken from the public are mostly banned for its materials or controversial topics, however, a handful of novels were able to avoid being taken off shelves. A novel that was able to avoid this is Slaughterhouse-Five, the book is banned in schools around the United States and the reason for this is sexual situations, violent content, and strong language within the story, but a majority of schools currently allow it (Paulson, 07A). However, this novel shouldn’t be banned because people have freedom to read, content shouldn’t be filtered or controlled and any topic should be free to the public.

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

There is a difference between banned books and challenged books. According to the American Library Association (ALA), “A challenge is an

What is a banned book? Well a banned book is a book that people have tried to get teens not to read, not only teens but also for younger children. This means that people don’t like what content may be in a book, they think it’s inappropriate or not meeting the standards for the age group. That’s when banning a book takes place. Before a book can be considered banned a person has to challenge the book. No,not like a like a fight with a book, but just “an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or a group.” says The American Library Association. Then after the book is challenge the library board will decide if the book shall be banned or not. A lot of books are banned and 13 reasons why is one of them. Teens should be allowed to read 13 reasons why because it teaches people that words truly do hurt, Choices that people make in life can affect others too, and it also teaches people to ask for help when it is needed.

Every year, hundreds of books are challenged, banned, and/or removed. According to American Library Association, more than 11, 300 books have been challenged, banned, or removed in schools and libraries across the country since 1982. The reasons why books are banned were discussed during an interview between Time For Kids and the director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, James LaRue. "Books are banned because they fall under one of these categories of controversy: Religion, Sexual Content, Profanity, or Race." (LaRue, 2016). Many books that have been banned, at one point in time, fall under one these categories. Some more well-known books included: The Holy Bible, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill

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.