Censorship: The Importance Of Banning Books In Schools

For nine years, from 2000 to 2009 the top challenged book included the entire Harry Potter series. Books have been banned by schools, governments, and libraries since the beginning of time in different places all around the world. Starting in 1982, Book Banning Week was created to try to bring up the importance of this form of censorship. Books are unjustly banned when in reality, students should self-censor their reading, the First Amendment should protect books against this, and these books are important teaching materials.

Students should make their own choices and should be able to self-censor their reading. Older-aged students are exposed to most of the controversial topics discussed in these books that are commonly banned. The students

around high school age are accustomed to the swearing and can handle the controversial topics included. Another key point is that for each of the banned books, individuals disagree with it, but that does not give them the right to take the option to take it away from everyone. An example of the protection against this is in the court case of West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S., at 642, “Local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to ‘prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.’” Also, according to the Library Bill of Rights, it is the responsibility of the library to provide books for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people, and should present all the points of view on current or historical issues. IMportant to realize, even with the bans on books in schools, students can still get the books from other sources like public libraries and book stores. There are always other options, so the very point of banning is unnecessary. Students making their own choices on their own reading materials is part of what the First Amendment protects.
The First Amendment protects book titles against being banned by the matter of personal opinion. 9 out of 10 books are banned by parents. This means that parents are the ones to bring up the initial complaints on books to the school board. The First Amendment guarantees the right not only to speak freely, but also to read and write any style of novels that the author wishes to create. Many court cases have enforced this cause. In the First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 783 (1978), it explains, “The First Amendment rights of students may be directly and sharply implicated by the removal of books from the shelves of a school library. Our precedents have focused ‘not only on the role of the First Amendment in fostering individual self-expression, but also on its role in affording the public access to discussion, debate, and the dissemination of information and ideas.’” Other cases include similar thoughts like, “A school library, no less than any other public library, is ‘a place dedicated to quiet, to knowledge, and to beauty.’” according to the Brown v. Louisiana, 383 U.S. 131, 142 (1966) (opinion of Fortas, J.). The Keyishian v. Board of Regents,385 U.S. 589 (1967) case also states that, “Students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding.” The personal opinions of these few people cause learning materials to be taken away from classrooms and lesson plans.
The books are learning materials for classes that teach important lessons.

Books are written with the purpose of pushing the boundaries and common ways of thinking. In addition, classic books are banned frequently, because the reason they are made into classics is that they challenge the common thought of the time. Examples of these banned books include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ulysses, The Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird --all wonderful teachers of valuable life lessons. More compelling evidence says that teachers have been fired for teaching about books that are banned in particular schools. According to the National Council of Teachers of English, teachers purposefully choose books by many factors including literary quality, appropriateness, usefulness, uniqueness, and breadth of coverage. Teachers are aware of what the books messages are, and help students see the different perspectives presented--it is the student's decision to accept or reject the ideas the book looks at. These important lessons and morals taught in books are still challenged and cause some truly brilliant books to be banned.

Even with these reasons, some reasons to ban books still exist; for example, the books are inappropriate for young children, they can teach children bad habits, and they can go against religious groups. While these points may be true, the reasons for not banning books is stronger as they are educational tools that are beneficial to the learning experiences that students need. Also, these books do not necessarily teach children bad habits, because they can teach students of all ages to learn from mistakes others made and do not repeat

them.
Student self-censoring, the First Amendment, and being important teaching materials should prevent books from becoming banned, but this still is a problem waiting to be solved today. The reality is that books are banned and challenged all the time, and the only way to help stop this is to read the books and decide for yourself. Try participating in Banned Books Week next time, and support the freedom to read.