When we classify books, we put them into genres such as fiction, non-fiction, historical fiction, biography, etc.. We don't classify them as appropriate or inappropriate, suitable to be read in school, or not. For most people when picking a book they might pick it depending on a few different things. They might pick it based off of the author, the type of book, or maybe even because a got a certain award. Rarely do people pick it for what the content has to offer.
However, this situation is different in schools. The books picked to be read in schools are picked for certain reason such as the type of book, the content, or so that they match up with the curriculum being taught. Each grade level has books that will read and a reason for reading them. Although most people seem to agree that the books being read in classrooms are acceptable, there are those select people out there who would disagree and would challenge that the book should not be read and be banned from the reading list due to certain topics that appear throughout the book. Most times these people are parents who are very sensitive and want to protect their kids of what the real world is like.
Most often these books are challenged due to the content and the overall theme of the book. Most would like to argue that its not appropriate for young audiences to be reading because the content is not suitable for this time and age, so why should we be deceiving our children and teaching them about things that happened in history which were way wrong? Now this maybe seem acceptable because yes, there are many events that happened in our history, like the mistreatment of the blacks or even Hitler, that we should not be proud of, but at the same time we should look back onto those times and see it as what is different now, why or how it has changed, and what caused the change. We only learn from our past, so why should we be banning books that explain and give an account of what happened or what it was like?
A certain group or person may want to ban their child(ren) from reading a certain book because of the content again, or it could possibly contradict what they believe, it could be a sensitive subject that they wish to not talk about with their kid(s), or they do feel it is not necessary for their child(ren) to be reading such controversial matters, therefore they want the book banned from being allowed to be read in school.
On one hand it could be deemed acceptable to possibly ban a book, but on the other hand these is going to be a time when these issues appear again, so why not learn about it now then later. There comes a point in a young adults life when certain things become apparent and should be known about. Its important to talk about these sensitive and controversial matters at a younger age, particularly in a school setting like a classroom where everyone can feel safe, when they are still developing opinions and understandings, rather than later when opinions are already formed and they feel like they already understand everything and won't try to understand a different point of view. In books, the author writes the way they do for a reason. They address a particular problem and create a story line around it to show the problem and share experiences of those times. Sometimes it can be a real sensitive problem or a serious problem but students should be able to explore those matters. If they learn why it was wrong, chances are that they aren't going to be doing it.
Also, reading books with sensitive matters or controversial problems, certain issues such as racism, stereotyping, and and poor choices could be broken and really looked at. Reading those certain books, could lead to discussion which in the end would have a positive outcome or affect and let kids see the issue, but also learn from it.
So should books be banned? My answer is no. There are to many negative effects from banning books that far outweigh the positive effects of banning books. I personally think if a parent does not want their child(ren) reading a particular book because of the content, that the child should have to read the book but the parent could be the one having the discussion with them about the certain issues that they feel are unacceptable.
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