Banned books are a form of censorship and can impact the education curriculum, school systems, students, and teachers. As a future English teacher, this is a topic that I see to be an issue within schools. There is also a high probability that throughout my teaching career I will be dealing with sensitive topics or banned books within a school’s curriculum. Literature is important because it can lead to new ideas, enjoyment, and educated discussions. When literature becomes censored in a classroom, it can deter students away from formulating their own thoughts and the possibility of finding themselves in a book. Education & Literature
Young Adult (YA) literature is a growing genre and if implemented correctly in classrooms, young readers can work on their reading skills and literature appreciation with topics they can relate to and enjoy reading about. YA literature also deals with more relevant issues and makes it easier for students to connect to the text and characters. This however can cause major problems as most topics discussed in YA novels are “sensitive”. Topics such as LGBTQ+, sex, drugs, and racism are most often the causes for banning books (Rossuck 1997).
Since the curriculum is left up to the
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By limiting a student’s opportunity by banning specific books or ideas can eventually hinder that goal. Censorship within education gives more control to a dominant demographic and can shape beliefs in order to obtain a political agenda (Lycke & Lucey, 2018). If schools want their students to become good citizens in society, they need to be exposed to uncomfortable topics. Literature can help explain and demonstrate difficult scenarios or themes that the main character has to go through. Students then can evaluate and learn from such scenarios, and if they have questions, they can ask their