The Pros And Cons Of Banned Books

The books To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, and Fahrenheit 451 are staples in American literature education, but how would schools across the nation look if these books were suddenly banned? Unfortunately, this question has been all too familiar for many academic institutions in the United States of America due to a growing concern for a child’s exposure to “sensitive” materials. The issues raised with each book depend on personal standpoints on particular subjects and are widespread including religious viewpoints, encouraging disobedience, race, and LGBTQ+ themes. Despite wanting to protect children from certain topics, book banning infringes on the rights of others, limits knowledge of important perspectives

Approximately 1,977 banned books fall into this category, which leaves only 16% of banned books to be challenged due to another reason. Approximately 141 of the initial 1,977 banned books in this category are autobiographies, biographies, or memoirs. Within these 141 are educational books such as Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, I Am Jazz, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. All of these books are informative due to their unique perspectives and experiences during their time. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl was censored due to "teenage sexuality and discussions of puberty,” but this is her diary which gives insight into her experience hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust. She was eventually arrested and taken to a concentration camp where she died shortly thereafter. The diary was not published to influence children to explore their sexuality or to inform them of puberty, but to show the horrible treatment Jewish people had to endure during the Holocaust. The tragedy described in this diary can only come from a first-person source, and cannot be conveyed through the eyes of an outsider. Next, I Am Jazz is a short story about the author, Jazz Jennings, and her experience growing up knowing she was transgender with the struggles accompanied by this realization. The book is banned because it contains LGBTQ+ content, has a transgender character, is controversial, and is “politically charged.” Jazz comments on this ban saying, “Legislators ban the book out of fear that it will recruit or brainwash kids into being LGBTQ+. It does not. The book is about identity.” I Am Jazz does not indoctrinate children, but shares the perspective of transgender people growing up in a transphobic society. This book can be very helpful in recognizing the humanity of LGBTQ+ people and making LGBTQ+ students feel less alone. The final two autobiographies