“When you're born in a burning house, you think the whole world is on fire. But it's not.” This quote by Richard Kadrey perfectly exemplifies how it would feel to live in a world that’s been censored—a world where knowledge of the past has been taken away from us, and but a shell of the truth has been built around us to satisfy questions whose answers have been concealed. As censoring books from children and teenagers becomes a growing debate in our world, we need to be reminded of the dangers that come with such a paramount decision. Nobody should have the ability to censor or ban books from teenagers, as this inhibits the opportunity for kids to form their own opinion on certain subjects, and possibly removes a vital support system from some …show more content…
As stated in an article by the Washington Post, “Banned books often deal with subjects that are realistic…Young people may find a character going through exactly what they are, which makes it a powerful reading experience and helps the reader sort out thorny issues”. This quote refers to subjects that are relatable for teens being in banned books, and this is a very important point as a lot of these “subjects” are characteristics or attributes which aren’t shared by the majority of people. A great sum of these topics discussed in books reflects real-life experiences and feelings that are shared not by all, but by some who can seek refuge in the shared ideas which are portrayed. By deciding as a society what topics we deem too sensitive to introduce to children, we are actually doing more harm than good. This is because many of these concepts are already a part of teenagers’ lives, and taking away these congenial types of media just takes away a source to which they can relate. They are instead having shortcomings when trying to find some sort of sympathy, rather than carrying out the initial goal of keeping these subject matters under wraps. In order to have kids be properly integrated with topics that are hard to discuss in our current day, they must be exposed to books and media that accurately represent those topics, instead of creating a stigma of silence around