To Ban or Support the Controversial Book, The book Looking for Alaska by John Green

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If you had the choice to challenge or ban a book over the language or the sexuality used in the book, what would you do? How does a person decide what to do about a book when people are complaining about the book? The book Looking for Alaska by John Green is a controversial book. Looking for Alaska has been challenged and banned. In Dephew, New York; Knox County, Tennessee; and Sumner County, Tennessee has either been challenged or banned.
In Dephew, New York the eleventh grade English class challenged the book in 2008 and 2009. The book was to be required to read in class, but the language and sexual content was to inappropriate. “Then lit a cigarette and handed it to me” (Green 16). The reading age of the book is fourteen and older. The school took the book off the reading list since parents were complaining. “Lara unbuttoned my pants and pulled out my penis” (Green 126). But the school decided to keep Looking for Alaska in libraries. According to Wicked Awesome Books, its a tragedy to keep this story from libraries and schools because it could inspire and change the lives of young people who read it...John Green is showing us what already exist, but more importantly, he’s showing us that there is always hope and life does go on.
In Knox County, Tennessee the tenth grade English class challenged the book in 2012. Parents of the tenth grade class wanted the book removed from the reading list. People think the book is pornographic, and fifteen year olds should not be able to read the book. “We ran with it to the TV room, closed the blinds, locked the door, and watched the movie...It opened with a women standing on a bridge with her legs spread while a guy knelt in front of her, giving her oral sex” (Green 87). The board of educat...

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...from doing those materials, but we still hear about them. It’s called life. Teens have the choice to say no to drugs and alcohol, whether they do or do not, is up to them. We think the book was handled in a reasonable way. Taking the book off the required list was good. If we had one thing to change, that would be the age to read the book. A fourteen year old is too young to read this book. We know fourteen year olds know about drinking, smoking, and having sex but I think that they are too immature. We believe the age should be sixteen or seventeen for the appropriate audience to read the book. If we were to resolve the conflict, we would have listened to what the parents had to say. With the result of listening, we would have taken Looking for Alaska off the required reading list. We would have kept the book in libraries so students have a chance to read the book.

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