Books are banned based on religious, political, moral, or commercial reasons. Banned books are book that free access is not permitted. While banning books is somewhat understand able, I don’t believe that there is any benefit to banning books. Whether it contains witchcraft, sexual content, drugs, etc., I believe that banning these books just promotes the want to read them. Harry Potter is one example of books that have been challenged based on the presence of witchcraft. Many books have been banned because they contain witchcraft or because of some sort of religious affiliation and I believe that this promotes religious discrimination. It should not concern people if there is magic of witchcraft in a book because the First Amendment includes the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. And banning books based on the presence of witchcraft goes against the amendment. …show more content…
While I don’t think that kids should be reading books that contain cursing or nudity, banning them just makes them want to read it more. Kids will eventually grow up and experience profanity and nudity or inappropriate themes throughout their daily lives. So banning a books based on these reasons is only prolonging the inevitable of them experiencing these things. I also believe that banning a book based on nudity promotes body shaming. Telling people that the human body and seeing it naked is wrong promotes the idea that seeing a naked body and being naked is a sin. When in reality, the human body is a beautiful thing and should, in my opinion, be glorified. It also promotes ideas of homophobia. Banning a book based on its homosexual content promotes the idea that homosexuality is wrong and is something to look down
The Constitution states: "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; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Even though books may influence young minds with negative thinking, society shouldn’t ban books because it prohibits learning and it violates the First Amendment in the Constitution. Banning books takes away the author’s right, some books can be very educational, and it takes away the children’s choice of what they get to read.
Banning books from public schools and public libraries is wrong. It’s irrational to have a parent or school board member’s opinion determine what a school district should be reading. Books including and not limited to, The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm all have one thing in common. They have all at one time or another been subject to banishment. These literary classics have been around for a long time and proved to be vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents. These novels teach values and educate children about world affairs that can not come from an everyday experience. These controversial novels encompass the materials that ultimately boost our educational wealth. Banning books infringe
Countries worldwide actively call for the banning of books that are found to be politically inconvenient, religiously awkward, or embarrassing in one form or another. But for writers like Russia's Vasily Grossman, a book's ban means far more than just a dip in sales. In 1961, he pleaded with the Soviet censors, "I am physically free, but the book to which I have dedicated my life is in jail." (Merkelson). A book represents an idea, thus limiting access to a book is banning the representation of an idea. The banning of books in American schools should not be allowed, because banning books will prevent students from learning the reason for the controversy and alternate viewpoints they can come to on their own.
The practice of the censorship of books in schools has been prevalent due to the explicit content of them. Parents have been complaining to schools about books that count as required reading because they disapprove with the points made in the book. If a book consists of offensive or sexually explicit material, then parents would challenge the schools about them in order to prevent their children from reading them. Censorship in general has been an intensely debated issue because it is considered an infringement to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution while others argue it is used to conceal inappropriate things (Aliprandini and Sprague). The banning of books in school curriculum has also been debated since parents see certain books as inappropriate while others argue that banning them hinders student learning. Against the censorship of books in schools, Fenice Boyd and Nancy Bailey, authors of Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, believe that banning books creates a barrier between students and intellectual development (Boyd and Bailey, 655). Banning books from schools and removing them from the curriculum prevents students from exploring different ideas and developing creativity and critical thinking skills.
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.
When a book is banned, reasoning should be backed up with many facts and teachers should be able to agree or disagree. Teachers are the ones who have graduated from colleges and have earned this right. Though the opinions of parents matter, their opinion does not necessarily take into account all that the book has to give. Parents may not see the potential of the book as a whole. They may just see the racist language or cruel behavior in a book. What their opinions are mostly based on is the information that will keep everyone the most comfortable instead of the importance behind the basics for students to learn (Hills). Some books may include opposing ideas like this, but that does not mean that they do not have something to teach us. Many teachers take it on themselves to determine what is appropriate. They take on a certain level of self-imposed censorship to make sure that they are teaching appropriate material. Along with this, books being bought with school funds have to go through a process of approval (Zimmerman). This should eliminate any problem areas that parents may have. Besides just having the school board approving the books, many teachers have the same basic outline of what a book should include and be like. They ag...
A variety of books are challenged and banned simply because it's just unsuited for certain age groups. But, no matter what age, shouldn't people be allowed to read whatever they desire? We has human beings have that individual right. On the other hand, if a parent does not want their kid reading a book they have a right as their guardian to tell them what books are and are not suitable for their age. It's not really fair for someone irrelevant in a child's life to tell them they can't read a book that may be appealing to them.
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 Books “It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written, the books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers” (Blume 1999). Judy Blume can not explain the problem of book censorship any clearer.
...by the school board and library, as well as teachers that have their overall judgment on what can be appropriate, interesting, engaging and useful for the students, and that controversial issues are not something to be afraid of, but instead, a useful learning tool that will prepare children not only for college, but for life as well. Students are a lot more mature than they are given credit for, and when a material that involves subjects such as language or violence is introduced well to a class by the teacher, the class will be interested and motivated to discuss maturely, and not be impressed by the subject or start acting out of influence by it. If we ban every book that deals with considered “explicit,” or “uncomfortable” content, then we are denying students a great opportunity of being informed on real issues, and forming their own ideas of right and wrong.
Books are written for the pleasures of people and came from the hard work and efforts of writers. A writer’s story is mostly based off of themselves and it is known that you will know a person much better once you have read their writings. So why are some books banned?
People ban books for dumb reasons that make absolutely no sense. Another is dumb religious reasons. Ministers and educators challenged it (it being the wonderful wizard of oz) for its “ungodly” influence and for depicting women in strong leadership roles They banned the wizard of oz because it showed girls in a leadership role (what?).This is really important because they are banning a classic book because the princess was a thing that people got really people got upset with it. “Others accuse the novel of attacks on religion, the disabled and women.” Lord of the flies (“http://www.banned-books.org.uk/sections/corrosive”). Once again PC police have come again to shut down another book that is actually pretty good.Also once again imagination is not encouraged. Don’t ban books for religious reasons that are not valid. Finally racism (that is not racism). “"A review of the book in question shows it to include pervasive vulgarity and racially insensitive language,"(The Hate you Give) Hindt said.” The story is about the struggles of a black girl in a racist environment (wouldn’t this be considered anti-racist). They can basically just ban whatever book they want.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark
The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable.
The minds of children are the most impressionable. Children are not born with any predetermined judgments or ideas about controversial subjects. They do not know what racism, homophobia, or discrimination are, or how to practice them. They are not born knowing what religion they will practice, or even what religion is. This fact about children is among the reasons that children's literature is as important as it is. For as long as humans have been creating them, there have been books that have been considered controversial. Children's books are no different. There have been children's books that have been banned from various places or groups, such as religious groups, schools, and even entire countries. The reasons behind the banning of these books vary, and the criticism of censorship as a practice is an issue that is widely debated. One modern book series that has been censored in varies outlets is the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling.