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American freedom of speech
American freedom of speech
Freedom of speech in america
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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.
Imagine if your life story got banned because it was too graphic and contained excessive coarse language. Well this is the exact situation Jaycee Lee Dugard found herself in with her novel A Stolen Life. Although most believe Dugard should not be in this situation due to the fact that her novel reiterates the ‘stranger danger’ concept, she has a right to tell her story, and the ban keeps her kidnapper’s crime a secret. This novel should be free to read without challenge because it demonstrates the danger of interacting with strangers, it allows Jaycee to reveal her what happened in captivity, and banning it only protects the kidnapper. Censorship is the practice of limiting access to information, ideas or books in order to prevent knowledge or freedom of thought as well
The first amendment states that the government can not pass any law abridging the freedom of speech. Schools and libraries, being government supported buildings, should not be able to completely ban books. Also, a book may be banned if the author of the book recognizes it may not be appropriate and allows the school or library to ban the book. However, in the case of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury had said on the topic of censorship of his books, “Do not insult me with the beheadings, finger-choppings or the lung-deflations you plan for my works.” When he says this he clearly is talking about how censorship in his books is borderline offensive to
(www.bannedlibrary.com/podcast/2015/5/11/killing-mr-griffin). Parents here try to prevent certain publications from their children’s schools, so they can apply their right to decide what their children
Books are an essential way to gain knowledge whether they are controversial or not. Thousands of books have been banned from public libraries and schools due to being deemed ‘inappropriate’ by parents, administrators, or religious leaders. Whether Americans should ban books in public libraries and schools is an often debated topic. This censorship of books is dangerous, as it restricts the American people's’ ability to access information, leaving Americans ignorant. Historically, banning books is not a new practice.
Shatoni Madison February 3.2016 Writing Wednesday Recently, several English teachers have decided to teach a certain book to their classes that contains questionable material normally not allowed in schools, including poor language, sexuality, and violence. They claim that the book has many redeeming qualities about it, and also is a great tool for teaching students reading and analytical skills. In my opinion, teachers should be permitted to teach these questionable book to their students. If an author's work was to be tampered with I feel as if many books will lose their value and or the meaning the author was trying to convey.
People argue that local libraries are not overwhelmed by the censorship caused by the people of the US (Graham, 1). Students, librarians, teachers and parents are who keep books from being banned although sometimes they are unsuccessful (Banned, 1). Politicians in Florida are seeking redemption in censorship (Maxwell, 1). In Florida legislators are trying to pass a bill so that it would be easier for people to banned text books and other reading assignments that people find offensive.
In a TIMES magazine article Banned Books: A School Librarian’s Perspective, written by Sharon Coatney, a librarian, Coatney, talks about her past experience with censorship while she worked at a small rural high school. Coatney says that “censorship or banning isn’t a new concept for any library, all of which have certain policies that have to be adhered to while selecting books for their collection” (Coatney, 2000). During her time at the high school, she says that the school’s library was practically a metal box that was locked for security reasons. Part of Coatney’s job as a librarian required her to keep all viewpoints balanced and to know what to do when an individual parent requests that a book from their ‘library’ be banned. “The removal of books didn’t take place often, but when it did it was because the book didn’t meet the criteria of the library policies instituted by the administration” (Coatney, 2000).
The First Amendment states many of the freedoms a US citizen posses, banning/censorship of books however has violated this idea of freedom. Some authors dislike the idea of censorship of books, such as Ellen Hopkins. Hopkins is a successful writer who wrote a bestselling book called, Crank. She also wrote the poem Manifesto which was adopted as the official manifesto of the American Library Association banned books week back in 2009. Crank was a book that was banned and censored, which Hopkins disliked.
“American citizens who care about the improvement of education are urged to join students, teachers, librarians, administrators, boards of education, and professional and scholarly organizations in support of the students’ right to read” (The Students Right to Read). Citizens should be allowed to stand up if they believe books should not be banned. It is important that writers should be able to have their books out to the public without getting banned. “Challengers often employ a definition that maintains that banning materials is the only true form of censorship,”(Knox 740). Censorship of books is common and a real problem.
You cant tell others what they can and can not read. You cant limit peoples knowledge. You cant force people to read things they don’t want. Cant banned books just because
Censorship Censorship in schools may not be the best choice for enriching the future minds of the United States of America. Children of the United States of America should have the right to learn about anything for it is there amended right. Taking knowledge away from them and censoring it should not be the answer to keeping our Children pure it should be what we teach our kids. We need to teach them right and wrong that is what will keep our child’s mind pure. Many books are being taken off shelves every day in student libraries because a couple people do not think that the book is suitable for children.
“American citizens who care about the improvement of education are urged to join students, teachers, librarians, administrators, boards of education, and professional and scholarly organizations in support of the students’ right to read” (The Students Right to Read). Citizens should be allowed to stand up if they believe books should not be banned. It is important that writers should be able to have their books out to the public without getting banned. “Challengers often employ a definition that maintains that banning materials is the only true form of censorship,”(Knox 740). Censorship of books is common and a real problem.
Intro 1: What if your young child is looking through a book at your public library and comes across a topic that was way too mature for their mind set. Would you be okay with it? A big controversial issue that has been going on in the past year is if books should be banned. Now, no one is trying to banish libraries across the globe but people have requested to ban books that are inappropriate. This matter has grown to be worse because everyone has an opinion.
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.