Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Censorship in schools cons
Censorship in schools cons
Censorship in schools cons
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Censorship in schools cons
Our society has tried to protect the young minds of children over the years by banning certain books from school systems. This is occurring due to many people challenging books that obtain strong materials such as racism, sexual content, explicit language, religious affiliations, etc. The people testing books feel that certain books containing strong materials are not appropriate for young students to read. Some people feel the banning of books containing explicit materials prevents students from learning valuable life lessons. I feel that we should keep these banned books in school systems and allow students to start reading them once they reach a certain level of maturity. First off, there are a variety of reasons why it would be great to keep certain books in the school systems. Many books that are being put to the test are classics that contain valuable life lessons that deserve to be in schools forever (Shupe). People are trying to take these away just because they take offense to certain materials in these books, but our world is a cruel place and students need to learn the truth. Another reason why banning books is not necessary is because it goes against the Constitution of the United States of America. The First Amendment protects, “the students’ right to know and the teachers’ right to academic freedom.” Censors seem to have zero respect for the rights of students and teachers. They all just set bad examples by contesting the rights from the First Amendment (Shupe). Pat Scales a South Carolina librarian quoted, “Censors want to control the minds of the young. Students who read learn to think. Thinkers learn to see. Those we see often question. And young people who question often threaten the ‘blind’ and the... ... middle of paper ... ..., but teenagers are exposed to these situations everyday. Therefore, they should be allowed to read them that have been banned so they can learn many new things. Banned books truly do deserve to be inside of school systems. They are classics that should never have been taken away from the schools. Students should have the privilege and right to be allowed to read them once they reach a certain maturity level around their middle school years. It is absolutely wrong to hold students back and not let them learn the valuable life lessons that lie within the pages of every banned book. Works Cited Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. 1-214. Print. Shupe, Jaclyn. "Censoring the English Curriculum ." http://www.cedu.niu.edu/%7Eshumow/itt/CensoringEnglishCurriculum.pdf. Ed. Stephanie Kummerer. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
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.
J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye depicts a short span in the life of a
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
Teachers and parents are very protective of children. That is okay for the most part, but at some point the children are going to have to grow up. It is fine for some censorship in books for schools, but maybe just for the actual children. In high school, every student is referred to as a “young adult.” Let these kids be young adults by reading some adult language. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye should be banned for elementary and middle school but allowed in high schools.
Trelease, Jim. "Book Banning Violates Children and Young Adult Freedoms." Book Banning. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. At Issue. Rpt. from "Censorship and Children's Books." Trelease-on-Reading.com. 2006.Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
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.
Book banning is a prime target for censorship. Censorship in print media, notably book banning, occurs across homes, schools, stores, and other facilities daily. Censorship in the schools is the most widespread and exposed place for book banning. Do administrators and school boards have the right to ban books? Are we taking away the rights of children to read? In case of Island Trees Schools District V. Pico in New York, the Supreme Court gave the school board broad discretion to frame curriculum and teach civic and moral values. This case resulted in the school board removing ten books from the school library for being "anti-american, anti-christian, anti-semitic, and just plain filthy." Another case involving book banning was Hazelwood School District V. Kuhlmeier. In this case the Supreme Court again gave school officials the broad discretion to control curriculum. This time the court left open the question if this affects the school libraries. In Olathe, Kansas, the district's superintendent made the decision to remove all copies of Nancy Gardner's Annie On My Mind because of it imposing views for gay actions. This standpoint resulted in a public book burning by a homophobic community group. At Hempfield High School in Western Penn...
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...
When presented with a list of such book titles as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lord of the Flies, and Of Mice and Men, educated and book-loving individuals alike are often reminded fondly of timeless American classics. These novels are frequently taught in advanced literature classes throughout U.S. schools, by highly respectable teachers. However, shift the focus of the matter to an alternate group of people, and you will find these brilliant literary works in a much different category: Banned lists (Kelly). Censorship is defined as “deleting parts of publications or correspondence or theatrical performances” (Wolfram Alpha). Needless to say, the practice of banning books easily fits that description.
Lastly, there is censorship that involves someone who is part of an organized campaign, whether of a local or national group, and who goes in ready for a fight and wants to make a broader political point” (Miner 1998). Although there are many other ways that a piece of literature could get censored, most censored works are asked to be removed from classrooms and school libraries. There are four motivational factors that may lie behind a censor’s actions. Those factors include family values, religion, political views, and minority rights.... ... middle of paper ... ...2003.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.
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 ...
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.
Especially considering America’s wide access to information through technology, the attempt to restrict “inappropriate” information from children is an infeasible and somewhat malicious task. First of all, children are not “protected” when unable to read books that contain adult material. Kids need to be exposed to things like sex and violence because if they are unfamiliar with these “adult” topics, when they come upon them in the uncensored, real world, their reactions will be unpredictable. Censoring reading material about murder, for example, may seem like a good solution to preventing violence among the future adult generation. But if a child did not understand the concept of taking another per...
The most debatable and controversial form of censorship today is the banning of books in school libraries. Banning books that educate students is wrong and selfish. Censorship of books in school libraries is neither uncommon nor an issue of the past. Books with artistic and cultural worth are still challenged constantly by those who want to control what others read. The roots of bigotry and illiteracy that fuel efforts to censor books and free expression are unacceptable and unconditional. 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 cases. To be told what is permissible reading material and what is not is a direct violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.