Censorship: The Case Of Counts Vs. Cedarville School District

Counts v Cedarville School District is a case that happened in 2002, in Cedarville Arkansas. This case is an example of a school board trying to censor a certain book in the school’s library. A parent complained about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, saying that the book teaches children that parents, teachers and rules are “stupid” and to be ignored. She also argued that the book teaches children such things as “good witches” and “good magic” (Grogan). The library committee voted unanimously to keep the book and series in the library but the school board overturned the ruling and voted 3-2 in favor of removing the series off of the libraries shelves. They decided that the series can be checked out only if the students get a permission

It begins with her first experience with censorship. She was twelve years old and she tried to check out a book at the public library. The librarian told her that she needed a permission slip signed in order to check it out. She was furious and didn’t understand why. That brought her to the question “what is censorship?” The definition she found stated “The official restriction of any expression believed to threaten the political, social or moral order.” Her first book she wrote was in her twenties and it was titles Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. The book was about her own experiences growing up but controversy never crossed her mind. “If someone had told me I would become one of the most banned writers in America, I’d have laughed. She gave 3 copies to her children’s school but they never made it to the shelves. The principle thought it was in the school’s best interest not to put the book in the library because it talked about “menstruation.” After that book she went on to write thirteen other books: eleven for young readers, one for teenagers and one for adults (Blume). When the presidential election came in the 80s, the censors came with them. A decade that Judy Blume will never forget and something that changed censorship forever. Parents were going into schools demanding books be taken off the shelves because of language, sexuality and “lack of moral.” Book banning satisfied their need to feel in control of their kids lives. I found myself at the center of the storm, said Judy. Her books were being challenged daily, often put on restricted shelves. She was receiving hate letters from parents saying she ruin Christmas because of a line in Superfudge called “Santa