Book Banning In Schools

Book banning in public schools should cease in existence, for the reason that controlling what students should or should not read violates the first amendment right of freedom of speech, some students to feel left out or treated as burdens when they are not allowed to read a book for an assignment, leaving minority students misrepresented or not represented at all, and preconditions the mindsets of students to formulate a preconceived idea rather than students formulating their own opinions. To form their own opinions students need to be exposed to all avenues in a safe, controlled environment, such as schools, in order to truly find out who they are, and who or what they want to represent. If parents have an issue with the topics discussed

Students that are of a different race feel left out, or miss represented by some of the whitewashed books they read in school. Students are all different and want to be recognized in society. Today there are more and more people in the LGBTQ community and identify within that range. The people who identify as such do not choose to be this way more than someone chooses to be of a particular race, therefore they need to feel represented too. Children need to know that there are people like them, so they can fit in or relate to an issue and know they are not alone in this world. The world is ever changing, and traditional mindsets must learn to adapt to the changes in society. Two Boys Kissing written by David Levithan is on a banned books list based on the cover being sexually explicit for the sole reason of the cover image being two male teenagers kissing, while a book None of the Regular Rules by Erin Downing pictures a heterosexual couple kissing, but is curiously not on the banned list of books. Students should have the option to read a novel they can relate to, because everyone is different, therefore students need access to all demographics they identify to(Top Ten Most Challenged Books Lists). Excluding a novel because of its alternative character choices limits the creative outlet of writers and therefore limiting students idea of the normal

The idea that students and young children have to learn about this is repulsive. Not for the fact that book makes them repulsive, but that these horrible things happen in the real world. The sooner that children identify the problem in these topics at an early age, the sooner they can be addressed, and therefore hopefully prevented. Some parents may argue that they want to prolong their child’s exposure to these ideas to keep their youths; in contradiction reading about these controversial issues do not differ from the state regulated programs such as the D.A.R.E program that teaches students about drug and violence awareness with the same idea that the sooner society teaches children the difference between right from wrong the better their chances. As long as the reading material is being taught, the instructor should identify the problem with a solution on how to fix it, just like in the war against drug and violence in schools. One specific example of a controversial book is “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. This novel was brought into question for its “pornographic” material, however like Graham pointed out parents “confused gynecology with pornography” and this seems to be a reoccurring trend with parents. It seems to be a misunderstanding between the reader and the text itself. This novel is an informative biography of