The Reasons to Ban Books
Schools are meant to be a safe environment full of books and learning opportunities. If this is impaired by books that should be banned, students may feel displaced or uncomfortable. Even a high schooler is prone to this, if action is not taken. There are hundreds of books full of violence, explicit language, and drug references. Annenberg Classroom says it is “unsuitable for students” (AnnenbergClassroom.org). Students of all ages are strongly suggested to not partake of those things, and reading all about them can cause them to think it is acceptable. It is up to administrators and parents to decide what should be allowed in school libraries. Everybody has different beliefs, but most people would not want their
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Many school districts do not have “manga”or “anime” banned (Debate.org). This style of literature is often considered non educational. Books should at least have censorship when profanity or have sexually explicit content are used. Reading this content as a student is 100% unnecessary. In a study done in 2000-09 by the American Library Association, about 1,250 books were challenged because of offensive language. Around 1,600 books were challenged in that same study for being sexually explicit (Butler.edu). During this, almost all books that were banned were either in school libraries or schools. A common example of a banned book is Harry Potter by J.Kk. Rowling. This book has a “presence of witchcraft”’(Butler.edu). In many people's’ minds, witchcraft is extremely bad, and completely unnecessary to discuss those topics. Since many people are against witchcraft, if that was to be discussed in schools, awful consequences for teacher as well as student could result.
It is understood why somebody may think that books should not be banned at schools because by doing this parents are hurting their children by restrain their knowledge. When a quality book is banned, the children lose the opportunity to learn from that book. It is better supported that, some books should be banned from schools because they can introduce students to unacceptable topics and teach them bad or useless
The act of book banning could prove beneficial to the society because it could keep the students and youth of our culture away from books with a bad influence or things that would not help them in any way, shape, or form. “If a book is deemed offensive, some may argued, that it is promoting ideas which can have a detrimental influence on individuals (often children) and on society as a whole” (Aliprandini, Sprague 2016). This quote proves that those who believe that book banning is a good idea have valid reasons to believe so. Although books should not be banned, there is solid evidence that proves otherwise.
The idea to ban certain books from schools and libraries is preposterous due to the manner in which the people trying to enforce these bans try to do so in. Banning books doesn’t help with the already present problem that our youth’s intelligence levels are already declining, and neither does allowing the freedom to all books. Banning certain books due to their constant use of inappropriate language, sexually explicit nature, and all around mature content has a respectfully reasonable reason to be inaccessible to younger audiences such as minors and teens; not young adults. The banning of books in libraries is outright inexcusable, unless the material is directly racist, subjective religious content, and all around hatred for a certain race or ethnicity; not if it’s used for fictional writing, in a softer manner mid you, to express the conflict in a story and/or to show real world problems, same go for non-fictional writing that expresses ideals in a manner of which isn’t disrespectful to other ideals and that do so in a manner of which isn’t so subjectively and deliberately showing hate for a certain race or ethnicity, especially
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
Books are a gateway to a world of imagination, but some schools are trying to shut those gates off by banning them. Books are some of the best teachers left, it's not up to a school to decide what a child should or should not read. Banning books can deprive a child of the opportunity to think. Books should not be banned because of the lessons they can teach, the fact that a school should not even be able to ban them, and it can deprive a child of the opportunity to think.
Isn't banning books disobeying the freedom of speech, and infringing on the freedom of the press? First Amendment, states that "citizens must be free to seek out any media, regardless of content, that they deem appropriate for entertainment, information, or education. With said, banning books stunts the extension of education. In addition, Books containing “Racial Issues, Blasphemous Dialogue, and Sexual Situations” parents' supervision is indicated. So, if read by children; banning books will not be an antidote for bad parenting. But, Most opponents of book banning understand parental preferences regarding their own child’s reading material, but they refuse to grant them the right to make a decision on behalf of all parents about what is or isn’t appropriate. The disadvantages, books can teach you a negative habits and that’s why some books should be banned. Literature will fully-develop children for the real-world.
Although it is ridiculous to ban books, it is somewhat understandable. Some books are extremely heavy on the controversial side, and include a boat load of inappropriate content. “My corduroys. My boxers. Two layers. I could feel the warmth of her cheek on my thigh. There are times when it is appropriate, even preferable, to get an erection when someone’s face is in close proximity to your penis” (Green). It is easy to see why someone with a closed mind would take offense to this kind of content being in a book for young
Reason one; books should not be banned on the grounds of “they’re a bad influence”. The world is a bad influence and the people that inhabit the world are worse. In the cases of some books, some children have already lived through what has been banned. In other cases, it is just the parents being too over-proctective. They have already lived through some of the events, and do not want their kids to experience the same thing, which can also slow down how the child learns. In addition, if the students are desperate to find ideas for things because they don’t get the help from their parents, it means the parents are ignoring their kids
The main argument for why certain books are banned in schools is because the students need to be protected from the content within the books. For example, 13 Reasons Why, a novel about a teenager who commits suicide and leaves behind thirteen tapes containing her reasons has been banned from schools such as the Colorado School District, and some Canadian schools. The book was deemed as “negative portrayals of helping professionals.” and according to Lora Strum writer of the article “Banning books like ’13 Reasons Why’ makes it harder for teens to open up to adults, the author says”, “the book glamorized suicide”. As a whole, the school districts either took
Are school boards or administrators imposing their views of morality, politics, or religious beliefs? Who has the power to violate our freedom to read? We, as citizens of the United States, are guaranteed to the freedom to read in the U.S. Constitution. Are they attempting to take these rights away by banning books? There are activists, both private and public, that are trying to curtail our selection of books through demonstration, letters, and books of their own. If books such as One Hundred Questions and Answers About Aids by Michael Thomas Ford or The Bible are banned from stores across the country, how are we supposed to educate ourselves on real life issues like aids and religion outside classes? We need resources to find out facts we want to know and maybe are embarrassed to ask. Reading in Education, we've been taught that since day one in schools. It is not fair, or is it, to take away books which some people may find educational to their circumstances, if The Bible is abandoned,
School boards, principals, and teachers have a responsibility for protecting the minds of their students by covering grade and age appropriate material in the classroom. However, does this given responsibility cover the act of banning books from their classrooms? As an advocate for each student, does the teacher not have a duty to introduce the students to a these words issues in order to help the student cope with the different problems in the world? How does a school decide which books should be banned and how much say does the teacher have what should be left up to the teacher? Some say that banning books from the classroom, we prevent them from learning about different controversial topics in a safe and secure environment. In this paper I reflect on my research question: Why do schools ban books in the classroom?
Many books have been questioned and challenged. Even as far as to banning them. But what exactly is a banned book and why are they banned? A banned book is a book that has been censored by an authority, a government body, a library, or a even school system. A book that has been banned is actually removed from a library or school system. The actual contextual reasons as to banning them is use of explicit violence, gore, sexuality, explicit language, religion, or dark times in history. On the non-contextual side of the reason why they are banned books are usually because with the best intentions to protect people, frequently children, from difficult philosophies and information. Teachers, or even more common adults, often censor books from
One counterpoint of the argument of the topic is that banning books hinders students from discovering new things and obtaining knowledge. According to the article, “Banning Books: An Overview”, Michael Aliprandini and Carolyn Sprague state, “The core arguments against the banning of books have been based on protecting the rights of individuals to free speech as well as to promote intellectual freedom – the rights protected by the First Amendment.” They are basically explaining how arguments of book banning connect to the idea of intellectual freedom and protecting individual rights, which are implied in the First Amendment. Censorship of books can be expressed as violating the rights and freedom of the individuals. Boyd and Bailey support this idea of intellectual freedom by presenting how banning books in schools with the quote from their journal, “Censors evoke barriers to free thought and speech when they block knowledge acquisition, intellectual development, as well as creative and critical thinking…” (Boyd and Bailey, 655). In other words, students will not be able to develop the academic skills they need in order to succeed in school if books are banned for them. Previously, there have been books banned from the school curriculum because of the
It is my belief that since by the time the child is required to read such literature in school, they are at an age where they can distinguish between things that should and should not be said and it is the job of the parents to educate the child that just because they say it in a book does not mean he or she should.Another subject common to banned and censored books is sexuality.
Thru history books have been banned and america has a free society, meaning we can have any book we want but books are still banned in schools for example Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales. They are extremely bloody and is not allowed in middle schools in New York for promoting violence. In some cases even death as shown as in
Censorship is a threat to our intellectual freedom. However, many support the idea that books should be banned from schools. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech and press. The freedom of speech includes the freedom to have unrestricted access to information. Yet throughout history, the movement against banning books usually falls into three categories: political, moral, and religious.