Should Books Be Banned Essay

Banned Books are books that are prohibited by law or to which free access is not permitted by other means. Banning books is against the writers right for freedom of speech, which is the first amendment. Students have the right to read, reading is not illegal, so why ban books? If a reader is mature enough to handle some curse words or bad behavior then they should be able to read banned books. Some people believe books should not be banned in schools/libraries but just because you do not like it does not mean it should be taken away, that is the authors freedom of speech.

Why are Books Being Banned? There are multiple books around the world being banned. One reason books should not be banned is because books can teach a lesson. Another reason is that every book is written and published for a reason, if the publisher did not think the book was worth something or could have taught something, they would not have taken the time to publish it. Also that books can be encouraging and inspirational.

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

Just because a book that was written many decades ago may have bad words in it, doesn’t mean that it should be withheld from the students. Additionally, the educational value of, The Catcher in the Rye would be totally lost if a book is banned just for containing “explicit” language. Sophomore students are at the age where they are old enough to know what is appropriate and what isn’t and they can read a book that has bad words in it. If a book is banned because of its explicit content, that overshadows the educational content and the moral lessons that the reader would take away from reading this book.

Banning books has always been a big debate if it’s acceptable or not in the field of language arts… most Americans believe people should have the freedom to choose what they want to read. By banning books, our basic rights as US citizens are kind of taken away. Book banning affects the people who read books to the people who write them. I feel that most people banned or try to ban books because they want to protect others from different ideas and information.   Banned books are basically books that are thought to be “unsuited” for their intended age group and are therefore challenged by parents to be removed from a school or any local library shelf.

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.

According to the article “The First Amendment: Censorship,” speech is routinely censored due to bias, or personal issues with the content (First Amendment, 3). Also, in the article “Censorship Goes to School,” Nancy Day discusses how advocates for removing “hurtful and dangerous” books believe that they are protecting children, and that is more important than access to free speech (Day, 4). Because integrity in education is important, teachers should stay within the bounds and follow the requirements of education (First Amendment, 2). Author Zibby O’Neal said “We try to teach young people the first amendment rights, but then deny them a book” about repeated efforts to ban The Chocolate War (Day, 3). You would think the people who educate would be open minded, they are actually the most critical (Censorship, 2).

If you really want a book not to be read by an adolescent, banning the book will often have an opposite effect. Although it contains sensitive topics and harsh language, The Secret Life of Bees should not be banned in high schools because students are not only mature enough to handle these issues but should, in fact, be exposed to them in an educational environment to help in the development of their maturing minds. Being exposed to course language at too early an age can often have negative effects on adolescent development. Profanity is inappropriate in a school setting so why should students be assigned to read a book that contains it? Most learn curse words at a very young age, and the foul language displayed is not used to promote vulgarity but rather to add a sense of realism to the narrative.

Elie Wiesel’s Night should not be banned from the book list for ninth grade because it is a book that teaches very important lessons despite the fact that it contains violent scenes. The book shows that we should treat people in a good way even if they are not like us. It reveals the horrible consequences of inhumanity, the meaningless suffering and unbearable pain of innocent people. These reasons show that the book is very important for the grown-ups because it deals with fundamental questions about humanity and moral values.

Teachers could have students read books that discuss the same thing as Fahrenheit 451 but doesn't use all the bad language and talk. Kassia Micek wrote an article called “Parent Criticizes book ‘Fahrenheit 451’. In the article parents state that this book talks about things students should not be encouraged to discuss in school. Alton Verm, a parent of a child reading the book made comments on the book like “its filled with all kinds of filth and how the words used in the book do not need to be brought out in class.”

Would you want anyone to ban books so you couldn’t further your education? School Board members should not ban certain books because students can get more of a challenge from certain books, you also can get many life lessons from a more mature book, and students also get more of a choice which means more books to read. One reason I believe school board members should not ban books is because it gives students more of a challenge. For example, teachers like to challenge kids to read above their grade level and reading more mature books will get them there. However, how will they get assigned harder or more challenging books if those kinds of books are banned from the school library.

Even though it censors inappropriate material that influences impressionable minds, we should not ban books books because it filters realism and limits our ability for an open mind. It would deprive students of an education about the world around them. Banning books would completely get rid of our freedom of expression and it would restrain our usually infinite imagination. If we allow for books to be banned, it would limit our ability to have imagination and have an open mind about the world around us.

One of the key principles that make the country great is our freedom to say, write, and read whatever we want. Despite this, countless public figures and schools have chosen to restrict access to certain books, whether it’s in order to protect political correctness or explicit sexual content and violence. Rarely do these people stop and consider the dire effects book banning might have on both students and society as a whole. An author does not write because they are looking to offend someone, they right because they have a story to share. The First Amendment of the Constitution not only works to protect this right to the fullest extent possible, but also serves to protect the rights of the people that choose to be offended by these stories.

Censorship The United States Government is finding new ways to censor citizen’s freedom. Are they taking it too far by removing online content and books that might be considered offensive to the general public. The government should not take away offensive reading content for three reasons. Firstly all citizens should not be limited to what books they are allowed to read considering we have been granted freedom from the government with the first Amendment. Secondly, books are people’s best teachers and provide real life knowledge for kids and adults who are trying to comprehend subjects that we not taught throughout the many years of education.

Book Banning I think that the root problem with the book banning/burning was the level of maturity in the certain individuals affected. Both of these books were not made for children. I think the people in charge that banned Mr Vonnegurt’s book could have done better with their solution and the people at the Biloxi school came up with an adequate solution to the problem. An example is the book by Kurt Vonnegut, but they were still taught in the classroom.