The Controversy Around Banning Books Essay Research free essay sample

The Controversy Around Banning Books Essay, Research Paper The topic of censoring is a really controversial one, particularly the forbiddance of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the # 8220 ; evils # 8221 ; of many authoritative books and plants of art because they can be deemed # 8220 ; indecent # 8221 ; in one manner or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censoring in its current signifier is a misdemeanor of our First Amendment right to liberate address. Personally, I align myself with the latter, nevertheless I do experience there are occasions where censoring is justifiable. The censoring of books is a division of censoring that, apart from Internet censoring, receives the most promotion. Banning books is the most popular signifier of such censoring. Many banned books are literary classics, such as The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, which was listed as the figure 6 most challenged or banned book in a list compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1997. We will write a custom essay sample on The Controversy Around Banning Books Essay Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This book has been banned from school libraries all over the state because of the chief character # 8217 ; s teenage angst, which many feel is excessively in writing for adolescents, and its profanity. Profanity, whether it be frequent or a rare happening, is a characteristic of many literary classics, as is the usage of racial epithets.In the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ( ranking figure 2 on the list ) , an name is use many times over to depict the people of colour in the book. Now since the book was published in 1885 and such linguistic communication was common at the clip, I do non believe that censoring such a book is necessary. An alibi normally used by advocators of censoring books that use in writing linguistic communication or racial names is that they do non desire kids exposed to it. It is my belief that since by the clip the kid is required to read such literature in school, they are at an age where they can separate between things that should and should non be s aid and it is the occupation of the parents to educate the kid that merely because they say it in a book does non intend he or she should.Another capable common to banned and censored books is gender. An first-class illustration of a book in inquiry incorporating sexual content is The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, which ranked figure 5 on the ACLU # 8217 ; s list. Now sing the fact that this often banned book is written for immature grownups of center and high school age, I # 8217 ; m sure the writer included this content, and the frequently in writing linguistic communication associated with such content, because it made the book more realistic and possibly because it made the novel more appealing to the age bracket. Fiction is not the only genre faced with banning and censorship. Educational books such as the sex education text It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris and The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsmanare under attack because they discuss sex-related topics. All I have to say about this is sexuality is a fact of life, not some forbidden subject. Adolescents need to know this information so they don’t go off an ruin their life by having a baby while they are in their teens or catching a disease because they didn’t have the information to protect them. Sometimes books are banned or censored for unusual and often ridiculous reasons. An example of such is the banning of Little Red Riding Hood in two California school districts in 1989. In the story, Little Red Riding Hood is bringing a cake and a bottle of wine to her grandmother’s hou se. The districts claimed they were concerned because of the use of alcohol in the story. Even the popular children’s’ book series Goosebumps, by R.L. Stine, has been challenged across the country by parents and school officials. They say that the book is â€Å"too scary for kids.† I am curious as to why they say this, because I remember reading the books in elementary school, and to my peers and I, they were comedic rather than scary. By the time a child can read these books, I feel, they are old enough to know that it is just a story and the Goosebumps books are all about getting kids into the fun of reading.As I have said before, there are certainly occasions where censorship is justified. For example, the Kenneth Starr report on President Clinton’s affairs with Monica Lewinsky and the attempts to cover it up is certainly not for kids. Due to its graphic sexual content, I would not be surprised if it was censored extensively or even removed from the In ternet sites it is currently on. I do believe when censorship is used, it must be used with common sense. Instead of banning classic literary works and educational from school libraries and classrooms, classes could possibly discuss why the authors use such language and content in their books. Why ban a good book because it has a few profanities? If censorship must be used to control inappropriate content, it should be used to prevent children from gaining access to materials such as pornography on the Internet rather than the sex-ed book in the school library.