Banning Book

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Nowadays, books are being banned from schools, left and right. It is understandable that some situations may be tough to read about, but they are daily occurrences in some places. People are banning books because of the discomfort that comes from them, not thinking about the potential consequences of their actions. There are many reasons to read painful literature, and by banning books, we are restricting our future generations from potentially crucial knowledge. Although uncomfortable, the topics talked about in these books are very real and reading about them is beneficial in many ways. While controversial ideas may be challenging to read about, they are very real and happen everywhere. One example that many books are being banned for is …show more content…

But parents tell them all of the time. Author Kurt Vonnegut had some of his books banned by a school, and in response, he states “It is true that some of the characters speak coarsely. That is because people speak coarsely in real life” (Vonnegut). While children may not be allowed to use hash language, it is still used around them, so banning books for the authors choice of words would not be helpful at all, as children are already exposed to the curses used. Another example of this is books about bullies and troubled children. Although the actions of such people are frowned upon, all people have bad thoughts sometimes, as said by poet Jalaluddin Rumi, “The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them all at the door laughing, invite them in” (Rumi). Similar to the swear words, children are already exposed to this type of thing, and banning books with them can only hurt children by not teaching them how to cope …show more content…

One of the main areas that can help with this is judgment and decision making. All things taught in school somehow tie back to these two very important aspects of life. In fact, education is commonly viewed as “an effort to improve the quality of choices open to all students” (NCTE). What this means is that by reading more books and being exposed to more situations, students and adults can make more intelligent decisions because they have experienced these problems while reading books. Not only can books improve one's ability to make decisions, it can also help people through tough situations. This can be seen with Scott Sanders’ situation, his alcoholic father making him extremely depressed. He believed that his father drank because his son was a failure. But, after learning about other people's experiences, he says, “I comfort myself with such knowledge as an ice pack against a bruise” (Sanders). Simply put, the knowledge that he is not alone helps ease his depression. He now has a son, and his son told him that when the father is sad, he feels responsible. All the father wants is for his son to be happy, and he believes that his son can be happy once he learns that he too is not alone. He says, “I write, therefore, to drag into the light what eats at me — the fear, the guilt, the shame” (Sanders). He says that if other people can realize that their

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