I understand some things should be banned from the public eye, including damaging drugs to explicit x-rated films, but books? When we stumbled onto the banned books display in the library, cross country runner Travis Lang exclaimed, “What are banned books?”
Banned books are books that are challenged and taken off the shelf due to their “explicit” nature. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982, and many more continue to be pried away from our hands. I was shocked when I found one of my favorite childhood novels, Bone, sitting in the challenged section. It suddenly came to my mind, that this is wrong.
How can a pillar of education such as books be banned from school libraries? The banning of literature is wrong and is synonymous to book burning, except for the fact that it’s hidden under the guise of protection. Senior PR Student Michael Yoo agrees that “Writing is writing, and it shouldn’t be hidden from the world.”
From what I can gather of the people asked, only parents support the banning of books. When I talked to PR librarian Mrs. Bland about the banned books display, she suggested parents don’t want their children “to lose their innocence.” As a librarian, Mrs. Bland in no way supports censorship, but as a new parent, she understands parents’ concerns about age-appropriate content. However, what I believe is that parents just don’t want to get confronted with awkward questions like, “Sex? What is it?”
Bone, an unforgettable graphic novel, was challenged last year for its content containing images of drinking, gambling, and smoking. But Bone is an exceptional adventure and in no way deserves to be banned, let alone challenged.
It’s inevitable for children to avoid human nature as they go on living their lives. Material that is banned will appear before their very own eyes sooner or later, and it’s debatable whether or not it’s best to know of it through pages first, as opposed to learning of it in person.
Books are there to teach. You immerse yourself into the stories and take in the lessons, so you don’t have to learn them yourself the hard way. Books set examples for you and deliver loaded messages in a creative manner.
By banning books, you ban America. You ban freedom of speech, liberty, and the way for individuals to express themselves artistically through words.