Argumentative Essay: The Banned Books Debate

Education was always thought to be a vital tool to all people, but in today’s world many consider it a way for the evils of the world to tant the young. This of course is known as the “Banned Books” debate. One side that believes books should be limited to prevent the children to be exposed to information that they believe to be inappropriate. And the other that believes in the total opposite and continues to point out the importance of the primary focus of literature, in which is education. Overall what makes this debate so difficult is the fact of what makes literature so valuable to the future generations, in being: at the end of the day education is a natural right given to every American citizen, they provide valuable lessons, and of course

allow the future generations to expand their knowledge with the help of current interests.
In how American rights seem to operate, it doesn’t seem very constitutional for books that hold information that potentially could be highly educational for minors could be banned from the public eye.

In other words this isn’t a simple public safety issue it’s more of a public educational issue. The balance of protecting the young from educating the young is very unbalanced, and maybe actually damaging. Fear seems to be the driving force in the pro-book banning group and that isn’t always a bad thing but in this case it is. The population cannot continuous allow fear to control their decisions, especially when it comes to the younger group, the future.

There isn’t a better way to teach a child an extremely valuable life lesson than through a small sweet story of literature. And there isn’t a better example than “The Three Little Pigs” by Joseph Jacobs. As everyone knows, the premise of the story is about three little pigs trying to survive from a wolf who is trying to eat them. As Carol, from Carol’s Notebook states,

“So, out of the four characters, only one makes it to the happily ever after. In this fairy tale, we have the weaker, smaller creature winning by outwitting the stronger, more powerful one, a common theme in fairy

tales.”
Carol was indeed correct about the theme of the story when writing that the lesser character won by outwitting his foe rather than fighting. But what makes this story so special is that there are numerous themes included in the story, but many believe that the story’s true theme is about preparedness. In which supported by the fact of the lone survivor, the pig who made the brick house. And it’s true in real life, who properly prepares is who previvors in life. What is sad about this is, “The Three Little Pigs” is an example of a banned book, a book that might never see the bookshelf of a public library for the future generations to enjoy and more importantly learn from. A great story might be lost forever, because of an overprotected generation, causing the young to potentially lose out in important life lessons and themes.
What makes reading so popular is its accessibility and diversity. There everywhere, written in every genre, and are made with every moral and theme. By giving the books so much individualism, it indirectly gives off this feeling that there is a book made specifically for every single person in the world. When a person finds their book, there isn’t a more special feeling while the reader consumes it. This is because when a person reads a book that contains subjects and or topics they enjoy, it will enhance their interest in reading. While looking back it’s a relatively simple concept, if a person is doing something they enjoy their more than likely to put more effort into the task. As Janelle Cox, in the article, “How to Motivate Students By Letting Them Choose Books”, states,
“Research has shown that letting children choose their own books could in fact make them better readers. When you think back to your own classroom experience, being assigned one book to read as a class was often a dreadful experience. Teachers would assign students to read a classic like ‘Tom Sawyer’ and, instead of being enamored with this classic tale, students were often less than thrilled.”
The claim in the quote from Janelle Cox is correct, and supports the claim that was previously stated in the paragraph, if the readers do enjoy the subject they have a higher chance of excelling. While the method that Janelle Cox expresses in the quote is correct, it’s now in danger, because of the current pro-book banning movement. The future readers might face a situation in where all the books that interest them will be gone forever. And with that, their future potential interest of enjoying reading might vanish also. Potentially a world where the joy of reading may become extinct, all because of a world where a pro-book banning made possible.
Overall, allowing books to stay ban free should become a top priority after all they teach valuable lessons through mostly an entertaining narrative, they provide a source of knowledge, and finally in America education is a natural right. In order to truly convince the young that reading is a great activity to do, the adults need to understand they cannot hold the library hostage, isn’t the saying “Give and take”. Meaning the adults need to compromise with the young if they are truly going to see the minors express more interest in reading. If the population constantly reminds the future that knowledge is power, why constantly contain the amount of power they can receive? Even more so, isn’t the whole point of the pro-book banning movement to protect the children, if so then why take away a tool that could allow the children to learn powerful life lessons without really going through the pain and struggle themselves. After all they will learn these lessons some day rather it be a harmless novel than a real life situation.

Work Cited
Carol. “Friday's Tale: The Story of the Three Little Pigs by Joseph Jacobs – Carol's Notebook.” Carol's Notebook, 4 Mar. 2011, carolsnotebook.com/2011/02/04/the-story-of-the-three-little-pigs-by-joseph-jacobs/.
Cox, Janelle. “How to Motivate Students By Letting Them Choose Books.” TeachHUB, www.teachhub.com/how-motivate-students-letting-them-choose-books.