Schools across the country are banning books. Some parents say that there a few books that are just too obscene for their children to read, and have decided to stand up against the school boards and take action to have these books removed from the curriculum. Although they may contain some vulgarity, it is important to keep these books in schools. Removing them is not only a violation of every student’s first amendment rights, but these books are also just trying to remain realistic by using language and portraying images that stay true to what the author is describing. While some students may choose not to read a story that they are uncomfortable with, other students should still have the opportunity to read the books and learn from. All in …show more content…
When books are not allowed in a school library the ability to choose what is right for each individual student is taken from them. Some organizations, like the American Library Association, go as far to say the restriction of books is a “threat to the freedom of speech and choice” (Sloan). When a book is banned it is no longer a student’s personal choice to read or not read what they feel comfortable with, they have lost a small freedom, and many view that as unconstitutional. In addition, even the supreme court of the United States has sided against banning books in the past. In 1982 during the case of Island Tree School District v. Pico, the court decided that “local school boards may not remove books from the school library shelves because they dislike the ideas contained in those books” (Somanader). In other words, one of the highest courts in the land has said that banning books is a violation of human rights. Removing books from school libraries not only limits students’ choices, but also undermines their freedom of speech and their ability to decide what they feel comfortable with on their
In the article How Banning Books Marginalizes Children, the author, Paul Ringel, states that approximately fifty-two percent of the books banned in the last ten years illustrate “diverse content”, such as race, religion, gender identity, etc. Ringel believes that attitudes about which books are “appropriate” for kids to read have too often suppressed stories about different cultures and life experiences. He basis his argument around the pretext that when libraries stop the banning it will allow kids to learn how to navigate imaginary worlds filled with differences and apply those lessons to their own lives.
Books are banned for many reasons but more times than not it is because of the sensitive information found within the novel that agitates the reader. As long as people have been able to develop their own opinions, others have sought to prevent them from sharing. At some point in time, every idea has ultimately become objectionable to someone. The most frequently challenged and most visible targets of such objection are the very books found in classrooms and public libraries. These controversial novels teach lessons that sometimes can be very sensitive to some but there is much more to challenged books than a controversial topic. What lies within these pages is a wealth of knowledge, such as new perspectives for readers, twisting plots, and expressions that are found nowhere else. For example, To Kill A Mockingbird, contains references to rape, racial content, and profanity that have caused many to challenge the novel in the first place. The book was banned from countless
In order to understand how banning books in schools affect student learning, it is important to understand why books are banned in the first place. If parents describe a book as inappropriate or offensive for children, they can complain about it to the school district to have it banned. If the school district agrees with the parents, they will ban the book from the school curriculum and forbid teachers from teaching the book to students. Parents might think that the book goes against religious or moral...
School boards and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of their students and covering age appropriate material. However, does this responsibility cover the extreme act of banning books from school classrooms? Does not the teacher have a duty to introduce to their students world issues in order to better the students ability to cope with problems in the world? How does a school decide which books should be banned from the classroom, and should it be left up to the teacher to decide what is decided in his/her classroom. By banning books from the classroom, we prevent our students from learning about controversial topics in a safe environment, and we also encroach upon the student’s freedom of reading what they want in school.
We live in an overprotective society, where people try to control other people’s lives from things that they find explicit. Many parents believe that by sheltering their kids from offensive things it will keep them safe. But, trying to live life as if there is always sunshine and no rain turns out to be a big disappointment. The banning of books has a negative effect on children and adults alike, as it can shelter children from real life situations, and revokes the rights of the people. Although people believe in banning books that contain vulgar language and profanity to help their children, it can actually hurt the child and can be considered unconstitutional.
Literature has long been an important part of human life. We express our feelings with ink and paper; we spill out our souls on dried wood pulp. Writing has been form of release and enjoyment since the beginning of written language. You can tell a story, make yourself a hero. You can live out all your fantasies. You can explore all of your thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and share them with the outside world. But just because you can write, don't think you are uninhibited!
... press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” When it comes to the issue of book banning, the First Amendment states that the government cannot make any laws that interfere with the freedom of the press. The Supreme Court has commonly upheld this right. The denial of this right, according to Micah Issitt and Ames Cushman’s article, is a sign of a totalitarian government. Therefore, any form of book banning is a flagrant violation of the freedom of the press, one of America’s most cherished rights. Controlling what society can and cannot read goes against the founding principles of this nation.
Issues of censorship in public schools are contests between the exercise of discretion and the exercise of a Constitutional right. The law must reconcile conflicting claims of liberty and authority, as expressed by Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter in Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 1940 in “Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries” by Herbert N. Foerstel (23).
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.
The censoring of books and other literatures in schools by parents is a common thing, even in the United States, where the freedom within the law protects the educator’s judgment of their professional standards, meaning schools should be trusted to practice their rights to choose which materials may or may not be used in children’s learning environment. Schools already censor materials that are deemed not suitable for young students; school books should not be used to push ideological positions, they should be used to teach children the truth and expose them to ideas that will expand their knowledge, not by influencing them, but by making them understand.
Objectionable content found in challenged books across the country can range from some vulgar language, to rape and incest, and even to explicit sex scenes. However objectionable these topics may be, high schoolers are already exposed to them in some way, whether it be through listening to popular music on the radio, watching television, or browsing the internet. Many parents, and even board members of some schools, object certain books for a variety of reasons. What they have failed to realize is this: if they are so concerned about what their children read in school, are they as concerned about monitoring what they hear on the radio, see on television, and search online? Many schools across the country are now taking the technological route when it comes to teaching. This often means students can have access to the internet while in their classroom. This point goes back to the prior statement of ...
The Houston Chronicle, pp. C14. Retrieved December 2, 2002 from Lexis-Nexis/Academic database. This article emphasizes the point that censors go too far when they attempt to not only ban a book for their own children but want to remove it altogether from a school library, so that other students cannot read it.
Censoring school books in libraries can often lead to censorship of our basic freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. In some cases, a minority ends up dictating the majority in censorship
This literature study shows that the purpose of the censorship of books in American schools is to protect children from ideas and values that are in conflict with the ideas and values of the censor. In order to resolve the problem of censorship, and to offer students the freedom to choose what they prefer to read, it is necessary for schools to balance the right for freedom and the right to protect children. Legal scholar Mark Yudof notes that indoctrination is a large part of education and therefore schools are not “value neutral”. Instead, it is necessary to devise a system which “prepare[s] children for adult life without simultaneously sacrificing their ability to reflect upon the ends for which they are being prepared” (Yudof, qtd. in Reichman 4).
Book banning has a long history and has made both positive and negative impact on readers. People have been trying to stop books from being banned, but there are also people that are trying to ban books to protect their children. Many books have been challenged and even banned because of the “inappropriate” content the books contain such as profanity. Books have started to get censored since the 1500’s and has threatened many cultures. The people who ban and censor books think that they are protecting the readers from the information, but it is secluding the readers from getting more ideas. This creates a negative impact on the readers, especially high school students. People don’t realize that book censorship limits the way they view the world. Many books have been banned in American high schools because of political, religious, sexual, and social reasons. Book banners and parents should be more lenient in what the book expresses because it teaches readers, such as high school students, many lessons that will help them in life.