Censorship Controversy: The Banning of Persepolis

In 2013, Lane Technical High School students flooded the school grounds chanting things like “No more banned books!” and “Let us read!” under the freezing rain. Their principal was told by his supervisor to remove all copies of Persepolis (by: Marjane Satrapi), a graphic novel depicting one woman’s childhood during the Islāmic revolution in Iran, from all classrooms and the school’s library. The resulting protest against the book’s removal has earned the students the Illinois Library Association’s 2013 Intellectual Freedom Award. Despite the student’s effort against banning the book however, The Chicago Public School district claimed to have the right to ban Persepolis from their library considering the fact that the book contains questionable language and depicts scenes of torture...but are they really “protecting” children from the evils of the world?
From literary

classics like The Diary of Anne Frank and Huckleberry Finn, to books that are literary “magical”, like Harry Potter, these books appeal to children around the world, bringing exciting adventure and discovery to their readers. However, all of these books have been banned at one point for simple things like the anatomy, vernacular language and supposed “witchcraft promotion”. By finding ridiculous objections to get books out of the library, school’s are shielding students from the real world and teaching them that everything has a happy ending. Just like what author Shandy L. Kurth said, “Bring on the controversy. I write real life. It’s harsh and sometimes gritty, but it’s real. Why should we tip toe around that?”
Schools around the world have banned incredible books from skilled authors like Judy Blume, who has sold over 82 million copies and are translated into over 32 languages. Judy Blume books weren't just banned however, she received dozens of hate mail a day, warning her with things like-- “We know where you are going to be and we'll be there waiting for you.” If that’s not bad enough, Judy Blume had to even hire her own body guard because she was so scared that people were going to come after her. But, why did these absurd things happen to Blume? Simply because she wrote about sexuality and puberty, things everyone must endure when they get older. This would have never happened if Blume’s books were just accepted into schools instead of banned out of them.
Indeed banning a book for puberty and for “witchcraft promotion” must sound insane, but what if I told you that Menifee Union School district in California went as far as to ban the dictionary? Menifee, which is composed of 9,000 students between kindergarten and 8th grade, yanked all copies of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary from its shelves and is investigating the classic American text for containing "age-inappropriate" words. While some parents have praised the move, Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition said "If a public school were to remove every book because it contains one word deemed objectionable to some parent, then there would be no books at all in our public libraries.” This quote couldn’t be any more true when it comes to the school getting worked up over what they call necessary and beneficial censorship.
Finally, while most schools have their very own banned books list, is it even legal to ban books under the first amendment?

Not necessarily. “Local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books…” said the U.S. Supreme Court in Board of Education, Island Trees School District. The Court has recognized that the First Amendment rights of students are “directly and sharply implicated” when a book is removed from a school library. Therefore, the option to remove books from school libraries is limited. The law requires that if a book is to be removed, a question must be made as to the motivation and intention of the party calling for its removal. If the party’s intention is to deny students access to ideas with which the party disagrees, it is a violation of the First Amendment. Not only have schools ignored student’s pleas for the freedom of their favorite books, but they may have also disobeyed the first amendment. In conclusion, books shouldn’t be banned, because words are how we live—and for some of us, they’re why we

live.