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.
the content of the non-fiction novel, which detail the brutal murder of a prosperous Kansas farmer and his family are apparently too macabre for some…” (latimes.com). In Savannah, Georgia parents also were the cause for the book to be banned in an English Advanced Placement class, “... a parent complained that it contained sex, violence, and profanity” (weebly.com). This book was mainly challenged by parents because they believed their children were not yet mature enough to handle the book’s
but, it never got as malicious as when the diagram was displayed, “circulating a book to the students about making a bomb would be the wrong thing to do” (Saslow 2). Children of all ages turn to books for guidance, inspiration, and an escape, the board was also worried if they approved the book, it could result in violent repercussions. The Board and parents did not want to take that risk or
These days if you tell a high school student not to do something they often do it anyways because they do not want to be told what to do and not do. For example, Conroy says, “Because you banned my books, every kid in that county will read them, every single one of them.” These provides more evidence to his message by saying banning the book will do no good since the students will end up reading it anyways. You cannot keep these books from the students for the rest of their lives you’re only making them wait a semester before they get it from that same teacher. The student could also go to a library and check this book out, or even some cases they could look out the window and acknowledge an event occurred like the ones in these books.
Toni Morrison effectively analyzed The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, covering different perspectives and ways to interpret the novel that displays a higher level understanding of a “challenging” text. Good writing and analysis skills are crucial for a variety of different tasks students will have to perform beyond school. Additionally, challenging literature offers a great opportunity for students to learn about censorship. As many books read in schools today are being censored, any opportunity for students to directly learn more about the issue is beneficial. In the article “Schools Can’t Ban Books Because of Complaints, Court Says,” Mark Walsh addresses a woman who wishes to discard of controversial works, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that provoke racial harassment in the school system (Source B).
Therefore, considering Looking for Alaska as a sum and not in its parts, the novel cannot be banned under the first amendment and the right to free speech. John Green also had a comment on this. In a video, later included in an article published by the Guardian, he states, “Text is meaningless without context. What usually happens with Looking for Alaska is that a parent chooses one page of the novel to send to an administrator and then the book gets banned without anyone who objects to it having read more than that one particular page” (Coles, 2). What happens with Looking for Alaska, as John Green said, is that people take it at face value on a few pages instead of delving deeper into the book.
This would also further play into the fear that a child would have due to the mature themes that they would not understand. To conclude, many kids would not understand the material presented in the book and start to have incorrect thoughts in their
Books can create portals to different life experiences and encourage reading. A few schools and libraries have challenged the educational value of some books, however, therefore leading them to eventually be prohibited in a particular place. Each reason may be different depending on the book and the location of the exclusions. Books are icons of literature and their value should outshine the occasionally offensive topic. Be that as it may, there are multiple reasons why books should be taught and included in a curriculum.
Just as Anne Frank's Book, exposes students to the situation she was in. All of these books are being censored in schools today, taking away from the reality of the past. Chen asserts that, "By exposing students to a myriad of confusing and troubling topics, teachers are guiding students into the reality of the complex adult and social world. Each text is chosen for a specific grade and age group; therefore, the books serve as a scaffold to slowly guide students to build upon more complicated ideas and realities(7). " Having students read these books allows for safe discussions on not just the literature, but also these topics.
“Using profanity was against school policy and having the book in the library made newly elected school board member, Larry McDonald, feel uncomfortable.”
Also, some say that you should not be exposing bad behavior or language to students but in reality they hear and see these things everyday, and by banning a book, that is not protecting them. Writers have the freedom to write whatever they want and that is a part of the First Amendment, so why banned their book? “The First Amendment allows individuals to speak, publish, read and view what they wish, worship (or not worship) as they wish, associate with
Also, some say that you should not be exposing bad behavior or language to students but in reality they hear and see these things everyday, and by banning a book, that is not protecting them. Writers have the freedom to write whatever they want and that is a part of the First Amendment, so why banned their book? “The First Amendment allows individuals to speak, publish, read and view what they wish, worship (or not worship) as they wish, associate with
In some cases books were banned from schools because parents believed there kids should not be opened to certain topic in the stories. Another issue is students have been sent home to read books for certain classes that talk about touchy subjects. For example, religion and magic. Parents
At one point in time, over 7,220 books have been challenged to be banned. Though these books have been removed for the safety of children, not all books should be banned for many reasons. These include the fact that banning books is infringing on the First Amendment, keeping children from understanding the real world, and, even though there are many reasons for book banning, not banning books could help a student’s education and can even work against itself. Banning a book from a school or public library could go against a person’s First Amendment of the freedom of press.
Contemplating the arguments of Aristotle and Parmenides on the topic of change is interesting because, even though Aristotle is clearly being nitpicky about the way Parmenides’ argument is presented and obviously doesn’t agree with what Parmenides is saying fully, Aristotle still finds aspects of Parmenides’ argument to be true to what he believes. This is shown in their arguments as Parmenides arguing against any form of change (because it doesn’t make sense) and Aristotle arguing for certain types of change. At the base of Parmenides’ argument against change is that: 1. It is impossible to think of what is-not. 2.
