Essay On Book Banning

Brian Kha

Mrs. Crego

English 10H (Period 4,6 BD)

24 May 2023

Book Banning All America

Book banning is an epidemic that continues to spread throughout society. Book banning is when people in a community decide that specific work is unacceptable to be read in their educational system or libraries. This can be decided by numerous types of people, such as government officials, organizations, and even parents or family members. Book banning is an issue because it allows even the smallest amount of people to censor a topic that they would not want to be seen in their society through the form of literature. Certain topics could include LGBTQ, racism, violence, and alcohol or drug abuse. Most of the time, these subjects are banned to protect and shield

Depending on the information within the book, it may receive more or less banning and challenges. Organizations like the American Library Association keep track of the continuous trend of books being banned and can list the books that are most banned and challenged in the country. On this list is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie, which is placed eighth. The book is about an Indian student who transfers schools and details the people he has met and his experiences. Libraries and schools have banned the book because of the violence, language, and sexual content (Machronicle.com). Another popularly banned book would be All American Boys, which was banned for similar reasons to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, but also for similarities to the recent George Floyd incident. All American Boys and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian are both banned books due to their content not being appropriate for younger

Some adults and parents may believe that banning books is a method to protect their children’s innocence. This is done by banning books that contain sensitive or explicit topics, such as LGBTQ, alcoholism, violence, and drug abuse. In general, younger children should not be reading and taking in information that contains such suggestive themes, for it could lead to “corruption,” as a parent would say. One grandparent states that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian “portrays bestiality and is pornographic,” (Marshall.edu). Some parts of information within books may be easily misinterpreted or taken too significantly, causing challenges from people such as grandparents who believe that a story can be seen as outright pornographic. As parents stay cautious, they are weary of the fact that children can be exposed to material that contains inappropriate information, and by banning books, they can prevent their children from viewing this type of