“Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.” This quote was said by Stephen Chbosky, an American film director and screenwriter who fights against banning books, speaking out in bookstores, libraries, and at events. In the novel ‘ relentlessly violent’, society struggled with the exact issue that Stephen Chbosky was speaking out on. The Society in the novel wasn’t permitted to read books and was trained to believe that books were bad and should be burned or destroyed in any way possible. Restricting all books gave the people silence, they weren’t able to think for themselves, making the people oblivious to the world. Believing everything they saw on their …show more content…
For example, “Advocates for banning a book or certain book fear that children will be swayed by its contents, which they regard will be dangerous.” (Firstamendment.mtsu.edu) Advocates may fear that the children will be swayed by the content of books, yet not online content. Which is completely illogical, since according to many online polls and research sites it seems that Gen Z and the new gen alpha have been raised on social media. Where they have much more access to controversial articles or news. That can also be regarded as ‘dangerous’, yet there aren’t any restrictions on that. While books may have contents that aren’t suitable for kids, that’s why there are warning labels on novels. There are three reasons why a book may get banned, as reported by the Office of Intellectual Freedom. They can get banned for being “sexually explicit”, the material contained “offensive language”, or material that was “unsuited to any age group”. These are reasonable reasons why they shouldn’t belong in the school, but not off the face of the earth. It’s reasonable for schools to ban them from their libraries, but it’s completely unreasonable for advocates to try to fully ban the book from publishing. Some groups may like the style of writing or the storyline of the novel. In conclusion, there is no need to ban or restrict books, when certain measures can be taken to prevent these books from appearing in a school
...etter than ignorance. Book censorship should not limit the amount of knowledge a child can receive, instead, books should be used to benefit children in their education and future career.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowlings, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hossenini, what do these books have in common? They are books on the American Library Association’s list of top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009. For various reasons, these books were found unsuitable for public audiences, and an attempt was made to ban them. From profanity to sexual content to homosexuality, groups have found reasons to challenge the books. Banning books that some people deem inappropriate from high school libraries underrates youthful intelligence, clouds history and dilutes our culture to fit a mold of conformity. Schools, even religiously affiliated ones, should focus on education and actually encouraging their students to read rather than inhibiting them from using their
Censorship is a concept with several different meanings. To each individual censorship has its own meaning. Is it a violation of our rights or is it a protection for our well being? Censorship in the generic sense refers to the suppression of information, ideas, or opinions. It occurs in all forms of communication from technological media to print media. Each society, culture, or individual's belief is violated by the codes of censorship that our society instills.
Banning books from public schools and public libraries is wrong. It’s irrational to have a parent or school board member’s opinion determine what a school district should be reading. Books including and not limited to, The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm all have one thing in common. They have all at one time or another been subject to banishment. These literary classics have been around for a long time and proved to be vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents. These novels teach values and educate children about world affairs that can not come from an everyday experience. These controversial novels encompass the materials that ultimately boost our educational wealth. Banning books infringe
Literature has long been an important part of human life. We express our feelings with ink and paper; we spill out our souls on dried wood pulp. Writing has been form of release and enjoyment since the beginning of written language. You can tell a story, make yourself a hero. You can live out all your fantasies. You can explore all of your thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and share them with the outside world. But just because you can write, don't think you are uninhibited!
Imagine you have a child. This child loves to read books on their own. They read so much you finally tell them to get their books from the library. Then, one day, your child asks you what does this word mean, you are horrified to see that the child is pointing to a curse word. From that point on the child gets in trouble with teachers and other adults for saying that word. This is why book banning is necessary to keep children from finding themselves in that situation and others. Book banning is required because a child may be taught bad habits, lose the magical innocence of childhood, and because children may not be mature enough to decide what materials to read.
There has been censorship since the times of the early Catholic Church with it dictating what you could and could not do. The people of the United States have looked back upon what was being done, and have expressed that it was wrong for the church to such a thing. However, the leaders of today seem to be hypocritical in the subject. They say that it was bad once, but today it is okay. Censorship is most prominent in books today, and the most common to be thrown out are the ones that have obscene language and sexual references. There are many examples of this; however, the few that are best known are: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. The banning of books, such as these, blocks the meanings that these mature and experienced authors are putting forth to the world.
Has your school ever banned any books due to them having inappropriate content for your age group? How did it affect you or your peers? Many schools and public libraries have started banning books because of it having unsuitable content in them. I believe that certain books should be banned from libraries because some include racial slurs, others contain a blasphemous dialogue in them and usually kids shouldn’t be exposed to these types of books because of their age, lastly other books encourage children of unsuitable lifestyles that are considered dangerous or inappropriate in this world and it’s unacceptable for many parents to have their child read such topics at such a young and innocent age.
What is the difference between challenging and banning a book? To challenge a book is part of the process to ban the book which means to remove the materials. But why do people banned and challenged books? People, and or groups, have good intentions when they challenge a book. They are doing it to protect children of harsh information and difficult ideas, but shouldn’t everyone have the right to read whatever they please? In my opinion, they should! By examining sexuality explicit, offensive langauge, and unsuited for certain ages it is clear that some books have been banned, or challenged.
Censorship is the practice of concealing parts of a book, movie, show, or any other form of media. Media can be censored in many ways; one of these is to block out the offensive sections of the content. This is generally done when the content of said media is not considered overall offensive or inappropriate but has derogatory and/or blasphemous language. Another way Media can be censored is to have it banned completely. For a book to be banned, it must first be challenged. According the American Library Association, a challenge “is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group.” The question over censorship has been debated for years: Should we be allowed to ban Medias we deem unfit and/or inappropriate from our children?
Should public libraries allow children under the age of 18 to check out censored material? Censorship has and will always be a debatable topic in America and other countries. America in particular has always had a difficult time with the issue of censorship because of the extreme importance the constitution places on freedom of speech. A boundary must be drawn between freedom of speech and the well-being of the public, and that is where censorship must come into play. I feel that public libraries should not allow patrons under 18 to check out books, movies, or music that are considered unacceptable for the following reasons: They include sexually explicit material; display graphic violence; and lastly, they include the use of questionable language.
The novel “ relentlessly violent” by Ray Bradbury introduces a futuristic society where all books are banned. This society, however, is disrupted when Guy Montag, a fireman who burns books for a living, is drawn towards a book. Ray Bradbury argues that a society prioritizing gratification and suppression of critical thinking eventually has to pay a price. This is persuasive as the text stresses the consequences of sacrificing subjective meaning and responsibilities for dehumanizing entertainment. As we progress through the book.
What is censorship? According the American Civil Liberties Union, censorship is defined as “the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive."” This is a very broad definition because any part of anything put out for the world, while you may not be offended by it, someone around you may. Instead of just ignoring the words or the images, many people try to force their ideas and beliefs on others. This falls into the “If I don’t like what I see, then no one can see it” category. This is the same for books. Certain people found the Harry Potter books, for example, offensive and wanted them banned because they allegedly promoted witchcraft and the devil. They were unsuccessful in getting them banned, but it just shows how groups of people wish to stifle creativity and art simply because they do not like it for whatever reason. (Index On Censorship) Many people think censorship currently is a good thing because it stifles others as to not offend the status quo. I would like to enlighten others by showing that having free flowing of ideas and opinions is what makes our country great.
Censorship is detrimental to society. People can’t learn from their mistakes if we hide them. People can’t decide the best option if we say there are no options. People can’t understand each other if they don’t know what anyone is thinking. People can’t mature when they are “protected” from mean words. People can’t be themselves when they are being censored.
Censorship in American society is inconsistent and biased toward things that affect adults. American censorship may help control the bitter world of television, video games, and music, but what about the literary documents? Literature is defined as the body of written works of a language, period, or culture. This can include newspapers, magazines, textbooks, or even the novels and books that are considered classics. These items are not always put under the microscope and censored. Literary “Classics”, like Huckleberry Finn, have violent, racial, and strong adult language. These items in books, to some, may be deemed inappropriate for younger readers. Most of the information in these literary items are available to most teenagers and younger children at libraries and schools.