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 …show more content…
According to the American Library Association, the most common group of people, challenging a book being read in schools, was the parents of the students. Parents have a right to be in charge of what is put into the minds of their students, however just because one parent objects does not mean that the whole school should ban the book from the list. A solution for this book would be to enforce parental consent for books to be read in the classroom. If a parent does not want a book to be read in the classroom, then there should be other options for the student to read. The school and teacher should not trespass on a parent’s rights of raising their child. I believe that if a parent has a concern, they should go and discuss the problem with the teacher so that the teacher will be able to defend their reasoning for choosing the book to be read in the classroom.
If a controversial book will be read in the classroom, it is the teacher’s responsibility to prepare the student for it. The teacher must ensure that the book is age-appropriate for the student, and is appropriate for the subject matter that the teacher is covering. Reading books such as Catcher in The Rye without discussion can be more harmful than helpful to a student. The Catcher in The Rye has obscene language, violence, occult practices, and sexual references (Doyle 2010). This book should only be read by a mature age group with a
The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.
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 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
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
Many schools throughout the United States have banned The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger from their curriculums. There has been much debate on whether or not teachers should be able to include it as a part of their lesson, and if copies should be allowed in libraries. However, without a doubt, The Catcher in the Rye should be apart of schools’ curriculums for anyone above elementary school. There are very few inappropriate themes, banning the novel would be neglecting the First Amendment, and would also ignore a good chance for teens to relate to a character their age.
Parents should have the right to decide what their child reads, but should not have the right to decide what is right for other children to read because not all parents have the same view on what is appropriate for their child to learn in school; as Jones stated, we must all respect each other’s differences. Educators should also be able to freely decide on what they feel is appropriate for their students to read. If a teacher chooses a book that has caused concerns in the past, they should alert the student’s parents of
The school board has made these decisions themselves (about banning books), because it is the schools library and should only have books that are approrpriate and have the proper material inside.
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?
How many of you have heard of the book The Lord of the Rings? Or how about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone? Did you know that at one point in time for some reason or another these books were banned? They even banned a childhood classic Where The Wild things Are (TeenVogue.com). Even here in Pasco county Books like Looking for Alaska and Perks Of Being A Wallflower were banned from all school library shelves. The fact is since nineteen eighty two eleven thousand three hundred books have been banned due to violence, negativity or political bias. In my opinion banning books is detrimental to the education process. Schools should not be allowed to ban books because this takes great works of literature away from young adults. There are many
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
In the case of Counts V. Cedarville School District, 2003, the Harry Potter series was ban at school for the students to read unless a guardian signed a permission slip. The school board claimed the books “ promoted disobedience and disrespect for authority” and made their resting against the books. They sentenced all books to be returned to the library and not to be given out without parent permission. In the decision the student first amendment was violated, not allowing them to read what they wish and gain new information. As the idea of kids reading this and overriding the school are a slim chance of actually happening, the school should never had a prohibited the books at all. Books are given to student like me all the time to read and
These books do not need to be left out for access by kids. Parents dont understand what kinds of books are in the libraries. Parents would not accept what the school is doing and wouldcomplain immediately. For example, the reason its not an issue is because parents are unaware. They need to take these books out of underage school libraries. Parents do not want there underaged kids checking out books that will contain language, and graphic views. Leaving this issue unsloved is going to cause more and more issues involving parents and schools. Schools are supposed to be a peaceful place but with some of the things contained in these books you will very quickly understand thats not what it is
As a congregation of pupils from different age groups, the school is responsible for teaching and giving students the right information. There had been debates about whether specific books should be banned from the school library. Certain books shouldn't be prohibited from the school library because it has strong legal support (source 1), book banning censors information (source 2), and students will be tempted to access the banned information.
Have you ever wondered why some of the most popular young adolescent books have been banned from school districts? Many novels such as Harry Potter, The Giver, The Diary of Anne Frank, Huckleberry Finn, and so many others have been taken away from the children because they hold controversy. These novels have had references to promoting witchcraft, religion, sex, insulting other races, and so on. What many people do not see is that all of these books hold great importance. All of these controversial books have been able to teach the children about world affairs, and educate their minds on classic themes. Something with controversy contains a “disagreement, typically when prolonged, public, and heated.” Controversy takes place all over the world, whether it be in politics, religion, philosophy, science, media and so much more! It is very difficult to avoid controversial topics, not only because they occur all over the world, but because they are interesting as well. Over the years, people have debated whether or not controversial books should be permitted in school settings. Students should be open to read whatever books they please, and then be allowed to form an opinion on the world after they have read. Yes, parents can monitor and decide what their children can and cannot read, but that should not affect everyone else in the school district by taking these novels away as a whole. Controversial books should definitely be permitted in classrooms because it is beneficial for