Why Is To Kill A Mockingbird Be Banned

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Around 259–210 B.C., Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti burned all the books in his kingdom because he believed by burning the books, history could be said to begin with him. In 1931, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was banned by the governor of Hunan province in China because ‘animals should not use human language and it was disastrous to put animals and humans on the same level’. In the 1980s, Beatrix Potter’s children’s classic The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny was banned in all London schools because it only portrayed ‘middle-class rabbits’. And recently, in 2023, The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman was challenged for being “non-educational” and containing indirect “hate messages.” Since the beginning of history, books all over …show more content…

from the ninth-grade curriculum at the request of staff members. Their objections included arguments that the novel marginalized characters of color, celebrated ‘white saviorhood’ and used racial slurs dozens of times without addressing their derogatory nature.” (The New York Times). The ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ holds valuable lessons about life, if taught correctly. However, knowing that the book is banned will cause students to feel as if the topics in the book are prohibited and not meant to be acknowledged. So, students would just dismiss these issues and make fun of them, causing people who are struggling with these issues to feel bad and hurt. Additionally, a network of educational activists known as Ed Post writes, “Banning books only encourages students to seek out the banned material on their own, potentially leading to a lack of understanding and misinterpretation of the material” (The Northern Star). If students go out to seek the material that is banned, they will learn about the books in the wrong way. They will miss the important lessons in the book and instead, try to find the banned information and focus on …show more content…

But the truth is, book banning is always unjustified since the parents and politicians who ban these books are restricting other children from getting the knowledge they need to learn about life. To explain, the National Coalition Against Censorship writes, “Even books or materials that many find ‘objectionable’ may have educational value, and the decision about what to use in the classroom should be based on professional judgments and standards, not individual preferences” (ProCon). It is admirable that parents would like to protect other children, but the decision on whether a book should be removed from other students should be based on professional opinions, not just a parent’s perspective on the book. Even then, these professionals could judge the books in the wrong way, causing the book to be banned and not serve its purpose. Therefore, since children are our future, books shouldn’t be banned, so children can be educated on important issues and lead the world out of hate and pain. When looking at whether book banning is justified, the answer is

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