Certain schools around the United States have researched many books that could be disruptive to students’ overall learning environment and negatively impact teen’s transitions into adulthood. A banned book or challenged book is book that the government thinks the contents inside are wrong for the minds of the person. Some books are banned by the government or school systems due to what students are able to read. Books can be banned due to sexual reference, controversial religious viewpoints, and the use of drugs. For these reasons, schools are banning many books. Even though themes presented in books are not relative to what schools actually teach, schools may still decide to ban certain books. Stories in some banned books can show students great adventures, such as Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, and motivate readers to live their lives while they can, which is especially relevant in today’s society where technology can run people’s lives. Even though Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is considered too controversial of a book because of its anti-authority and adult themes; but, the story it tells should still be taught to students because it is a valuable coming of age book for teens.
Jon Krakauer was born in 1954 in Brookline, Massachusetts, and then moved to Corvallis, Oregon, when he was two years old. He is known for writing in the genre of nonfiction, and some of his major works include: Into the Wild (1996), Into Thin Air (1997), Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of
Who is Jon Krakauer? He is a former best-selling author. Jon was born on April 12, 1954 in Brookline,
From the very beginnings of literature, the act of banning books has long been a heated controversy. While almost everyone can say that there are definitely books that they do not want their children reading, the line between what is acceptable and what is not is much harder to define, especially in today’s world. In “How Banning Books Marginalizes Children” (2016), Paul Ringel argues that the current policy of banning books has had a negative impact on children because it has conveyed a message that rebuffs diversity and has contradicted the fact that the power to ban books should be used to “curate children’s choices with the goals of inspiring rather than obscuring new ideas.”
“A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves of a library, bookstore, or classroom because of its controversial content...A book may be challenged or banned on political, religious, sexual, or social grounds” (Lombardi). According to Esther Lombardi, banned books are specific types of books that are not allowed to be read because they are considered dangerous or harmful in some way. Even though content such as depression, drugs, sexual activity, and violence in books is viewed as problematic or inappropriate, real life isn’t all fairy tales and unicorns. Life is hard, and there is bad in the world just like there is good in the world. Students should not be shielded from the bad of the real world. Instead, they should learn about those situations through books in the safety of schools. Crank is a book about a gifted junior in high school named Kristina Georgia Snow. Her parents are divorced, she lives in Reno with her mother, and for the first time in eight years she visits her father in New Mexico. However, this visit leads Kristina into many difficult life experiences. Students should be able to read Crank because it shows students how small decisions could impact people's lives, how drugs become a need, and how communication between a family is important.
Many significant novels have unfortunately been challenged/ banned at a certain point in time. Most of these literary classics face this because some contain sexual references, religious intolerance, and inappropriate language. In some cases, books are being pulled off shelves because people believe that they were “tangibles of instruction” or the reason being was as a precaution towards a possible public attack which took effect in Tucson for the Mexican American Studies (source:8). Another case is the Mozert v. Hawkins County Board of Education; Christian sewed the board because they believed that the required textbooks hurt their beliefs (Source:8).
Banning or challenging books is an occurrence that has been taking place for years in America’s school systems, but often parents and teachers are not in agreement concerning censorship. The National Council of Teachers of English position statement is “We can safely make two statements about censorship: first, any work is potentially open to attack by someone, somewhere, sometime, for some reason; second, censorship is often arbitrary and irrational.” One such challenged book is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, which was “banned from an eighth-grade classroom in Arizona due to profanity, sexual content, and rape theme” (Lesesne and Chance 48). Even though it presents difficult topics, Speak could be a benefit to students in a
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
“Looking for Alaska,” “Of Mice and Men,” ”Speak,” “Fahrenheit 451,” and “The Hunger Games” (“Banned”), are all titles of books that have banned or challenged. The titles of these books that have been listed taught people great lessons and have changed the way many see the world. Banning or challenging a book, in a nutshell, is filing a complaint in hopes of getting the book removed from school, libraries, or public places. The banning of books happens for a number of reasons, but it all really comes down to what is contained in the books, like: inappropriate language, graphic scenes, or racism. Book banning is not new, in fact, it has been around for quite a long time. This should no longer be a thing, it takes away from a person's ability
Every student deserves to be equipped with knowledge for life’s challenges. Schools can not expect their students to be prepared for life when they ban books. Book bans are argued predominately by parents concerned about violence and losing their child’s innocence. These parents argue that brutality in books promotes violence and negativity in children (Stevens). In some situations, this can be true.
The controversial act of banning books in the public school system is hindering children from growing in their intellect and identity. “Schools and Censorship: Banned Books” is an article released by People For the American Way, which explains that American’s were given one basic right and it is one that must be fought for and maintained daily. This is the freedom to express as each individual sees fit. Because of concepts that challenge the level of what is “appropriate” for students, millions are being deprived of powerful works of expression which possess the power to shape students in who they are and who they can become.
Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit
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?
Some books have a few that are “society's most taboo subjects: race and rape,”(Try to Ban Books) this shouldn’t be something that is in school regardless if in a book. School is a place where kids learn about life skills, not read books that have rape and racism present in them. In a few case parents have been “trying to prevent kids from reading about racism in World War II - era” (Try to Ban Books), this give the parents right to ban books that were made during or are about one of the most impacting wars in the world just because it contains something they don’t agree with. This is what parents have the right to decide what their kids read in school but don’t hinder the other kids because they don’t want theirs to read these
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Censors typically feel as though the subject material of controversial books in the high school English curriculum is too much for teenagers to handle (Shen, 2002).
Some people do not realize that they affect the education of their children by banning certain books. The banning of books is banning the author's right to free speech which can hinder the education of Americans. In schools teachers have to worry about what readings they present to their students because they could have any parent coming after them for exposing their children to “heinous” or “bad” things when all it truly is, is literature used to broaden