Just because history is harsh and not always the most pleasant thing to learn about, does not mean that we can ignore it. Kenya Down with PBS said, “Being uncomfortable with history is not means to change it; people need to figure out how to confront issues.” Down also mentioned how Lee’s book is one of the most banned books
Books are an essential way to gain knowledge whether they are controversial or not. Thousands of books have been banned from public libraries and schools due to being deemed ‘inappropriate’ by parents, administrators, or religious leaders. Whether Americans should ban books in public libraries and schools is an often debated topic. This censorship of books is dangerous, as it restricts the American people's’ ability to access information, leaving Americans ignorant. Historically, banning books is not a new practice.
Books are just that, books, that everyone has the choice to read or not to. Concern is understandable, as parents are still the guardian which is why permission slips to read said banned books will be put into place. Though banned books will not be entirely removed. Removal of one banned book would lead to the removal of all banned books. As almost every book has an opinion that somebody will not agree with.
“If free religious expression in the form of prayer is prohibited, school officials are, at the very least, teaching children that public acknowledgment of God is not as important as the things the schools can discuss” (MacLeod). Eliminating religion from schools not only hampers students’ freedom, but also the richness of their
If someone thinks that they might get triggered by an event that takes place in a book, then maybe they shouldn’t be in an environment like this. I’m not saying that there aren’t tragic events that occur in the books we read such as Things Fall Apart, I’m saying that I don’t believe in censoring or warning people about a book because the world we live in is much crueler than any book. I don’t want my learning experience to be altered. If a person went through a traumatic event in the past it should be on them to notify the professor before the semester starts so that way things can be handled on a more individual and personal level. College is supposed to be challenging, so I believe that it is necessary to read books that will challenge us as a reader, not only by the literary difficulty but by the content being explained.
Life does not have a “trigger warning.” Including warnings about course content that may evoke feelings of distress does not guard students from their emotions; rather, it guards students from reality. The addition of these aforementioned precautions at DePauw University would not adequately prepare students for their lives beyond college. Therefore, a policy that requires faculty to provide trigger warnings alongside potentially sensitive material should not be enforced.
However, there are people that argue against the idea of censoring books in schools. One counterpoint of the argument of the topic is that banning books hinders students from discovering new things and obtaining knowledge. According to the article, “Banning Books: An Overview”, Michael Aliprandini and Carolyn Sprague state, “The core arguments against the banning of books have been based on protecting the rights of individuals to free speech as well as to promote intellectual freedom – the rights protected by the First Amendment.” They are basically explaining how arguments of book banning connect to the idea of intellectual freedom and protecting individual rights, which are implied in the First Amendment. Censorship of books can be expressed as violating the rights and freedom of the individuals.
In the United States Constitution the First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” ("First Amendment.”) How is it in a country where freedom of speech is held so sacred, we are unable to read about it in books? Another question might be, why are we unable to protect our children from such harmful materials? These are questions asked by many as we experience censorship on a regular basis. Censorship is mainly focused on books that children and schools are reading in America.
In Shafter, California, the police officers say that this policy is already been helpful. However, if they do this, it could be an invasion of privacy. According to Maria Shepard, “If the device is not school-owned and is not being used on school campus, schools should not monitor a student’s online activity.” They should also have a search warrant to be able to go through your
Is cutting off that creativity with uniforms really a good idea? Even the Constitution encourages us to have freedom of choice as 1st Amendment guarantees no restrictions of freedom of speech of press. By enforcing uniforms, students are restricted from the freedom of choice in clothing therefore contradicting the 1st Amendment. Relating to the thesis, uniforms should not be in schools since it cuts off the imaginative spirit from students.
1984: An Unfortunate Banning What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist. Salman Rushdie, British-Indian author (1947-)
As John Stossel would say, “Wake up America!” Our rights are being taken from us every time we turn around and it’s up to us to realize this and make the change. People are becoming weak to words and just falling back with no fight, finding comfort in just conforming with the popular opinion. America’s youth is growing up in a completely controlled society with biased opinions and we need to wake up! Oversensitivity is a reoccurring problem with America today.
School administrators should not be allowed to ban books because it’s a fundamental right and books teach us the reality of the world. The first censoring happened in 1487 by Pope Innocent VIII. This has been a problem for a long time. Today, people censor books for a lot of things, so it’s hard to write a book within these guidelines.
One of the reasons why I chose to write about book banning is because of the book Fahrenheit 451. It has always been one of my favorites and the concept of not being able to gain knowledge from reading amazes me. Something that I have easy access to was completely denied to everyone in that society. I believe that there are arguable reasons as to why books should be banned and why they shouldn't, which is why I wanted to do further research on this topic.
No piece of literature should ever be ban : Of Mice and Men should not be ban from young adults and libraries. The literature classic promotes good life lessons for students to learn from such as friendship and motivation. Simply banning the book would contradict the right of free press under the first amendment of the constitutions. The book also provides a considerable amount of historical context. Even though the book contains a tremendous amount of racism , sexism , and vulgar language , in today’s media , we are exposed to a similar content.