Book Banning and First Amendment Right

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 First Amendment states that "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 to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" (First Amendment Oct. 20, 2013). But "the First Amendment does not protect all speech from government censorship, and it does not prevent private non-government entities from censoring. Years of US Supreme Court decisions have identified exceptions to the general rule that the governments in the United States cannot censor" (Censorship Copyright © 2002). American citizen's right of freedom of speech should be held in the highest integrity and any kind of censorship of free speech should not be allowed because it take away those rights. However, censorship has been going on for centuries. Censorship can be traced back as early as 399 BCE. it originated in Rome. When Socrates was executed because the Roman people believed his teachings were impious. Even though he didn't have any writings the government wanted to censor his teachings because they were afraid of the effects his ideas had on the children (E.L. p.1). There are many stories on how The Great Library of Alexandria was des... ... middle of paper ... ...dren today are exposed to video games, movies, songs and television that have the same or more inappropriate materials than books. But do you see them being taken off the shelves? Instead of people trying to challenge or ban books they parents should keep an eye on what their kids are reading. Parents will be able to help answer their child's questions on what they are read if they have any. This will also help them gain new knowledge in the world we live in. People ban or challenge books because they don't want other to read them because of their content, even thought we see most of it in our everyday life. To stop book banning and to keep books on the shelves; if a book has inappropriate content and someone wants to buy it or get it from the library or store they have to get the parents consent. This will also keep parents informed on what their child is reading.