All American Boys Research Paper

Controversy is an important issue in school districts that causes challenges and bans because it concerns individuals about what they can teach to high school students. In the novel All American Boys, written by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, they demonstrate the presentation of vulgar language and police brutality. Many books contain vulgar language and have resulted in being banned; All American Boys, being one of them because of their use of profanity and was believed to promote anti- police views. To start off, vulgar language is a sensitive topic to many around the world, they think it’s not appropriate for young adults to start thinking of police differently “See? This is that bullshit! I’m so sick of them treating us like we animals. Like America’s disobedient dogs” (Reynolds and Kiely 52). To put it another way, the

“I’m not kidding,” he said. You guys need to have a mind meld or something. If you keep bitching at each other like this into the season, you aren’t going to play well. You're going to get stuck. So strap on a pair and get your shit together” (Reynolds and Kiely 111 & 112). In other words, people using harsh words against others proves to show dominance and the ability to bring down one’s confidence. As well as the reader being able to relate if someone has used the harsh language towards them and feeling overwhelmed. As a result, vulgar language is considered not appropriate for young adults to read because it is able to change their perspectives and is able to bring down their confidence. Another reason why the novel was banned in many school districts was due to the demonstration of police brutality and how it changed the young minds to think differently about police. For instance, everyone believes there are two sides of the story, but chooses to pick one side due to fear or being