By Natalia Dithrich

In our constantly advancing world, the curriculum of US schools is a consistent debate throughout our nation. Book banning is one of those widely debated educational topics. But what exactly is book banning? Simply put, book banning or censorship is when an authority figure of any kind removes books from locally accessible schools, libraries, or businesses. Recently, parents and authority figures have brought to light the inappropriate content being taught to children in the form of literary works. They argue that banning books gives their children a more innocent education that allows them to lead well-mannered and productive lives. In turn, those against banning books make the point that censoring curriculum is a violation of rights that promotes ignorance. While both have valid claims, we have to recognize that the world is a growing, changing place. For children to keep up, they can’t be held back by restrictions such as book banning. When a child’s intellectual freedom is hindered in any way, shape, or form, they experience a setback on their road toward independence.

A majority of schools with reading restrictions are censored by choice, as most schools/districts have the ability to choose their restrictions, if any. One of the top ten most banned books in schools is a novel by Angie Thomas that depicts the life of a minority high school student who was witness to the death of her friend after he was shot by a police officer called The Hate U Give. This book is so widely challenged because it contains detailed descriptions of violence, obscene language, and is believed to send an anti-police message (“American Library Association”). Many think children should be sheltered from violence and hate to preserve their naive nature. There are others that claim a child’s education should immerse them in something more authentic to real life at an early age so as not to build unrealistic expectations and to prepare the adolescent for the future. Author Laurie Halse Anderson sides with those against the ban, stating that “By attacking these books, by attacking the authors, by attacking the subject matter, what they are doing is removing the possibility for conversation. You are laying the groundwork for increasing bullying, disrespect, violence and attacks” (Harris and Alter 2022). The two sides both share the desire to limit altercations, whether verbal or physical, between students. At the very least, there is a common goal between the two groups, they just have different ideas on how to go about achieving it.

Recently, the amount of banned and/or challenged books has skyrocketed. PEN America found that between June 2021 and March 2022, 2,899 schools in the US made the decision to censor and ban books (Friedman and Farid 2023). When the curriculum is being rapidly reestablished, and the rules change over short periods of time, it makes it difficult not only for students to keep up but also for teachers who have to instruct the students with the new limitations. Teaching in a boxed curriculum can prove nearly impossible for new educators (Chiesa 2023). Without classics like To Kill A Mockingbird and 1984, our new curriculums focus less on fictional works and more on factual novels. Some believe that this inhibits children’s creativity and ability to express themselves, which is particularly concerning for the next generation as they are the future of our world.

It’s also important to understand the ban from the student perspective, which is directly affected by book banning. To a student who has never been exposed to the world of literature outside of censorship, this form of teaching is normal and expected. Without the knowledge of controversial ideas found in banned books, a student only gets a piece of the picture. This can inhibit their intellectual development. It’s much harder for a student to have empathy for others when they do not understand the challenges that another person may be going through. Plus, the absence of other cultures and ideas can also affect a student’s tolerance of those different from them. When the world is made completely black and white for a student, they start to become unable to welcome others’ opinions and ideas (Chiesa 2023).

We also have to recognize where these bans are taking place and who is supporting them. Book banning is most prevalent in Texas (Pendharkar 2022). When we take a deeper look at the politicians behind the widespread book banning in Texas, the name Matt Krause comes up. This Republican state representative sent a list to Texas school districts containing the names of 850 books, requesting that the districts evaluate the works and subsequently report back the titles on the list that were found in their schools’ libraries. This put pressure on the districts to respond to Krause with satisfactory results. It’s also important to point out that Representative Krause has four children. This fact begs the question of whether this is the action of a conservative politician or the worries of a concerned parent. Following Representative Krause’s list was a mass ban of books from districts such as Granbury ISD and North East ISD, which each discarded over one hundred books from their schools. These schools justified this bold change by stating that the novels required further “investigation.” In North Carolina, a similar instance occurred. Fort Mill School District made a prompt decision to permanently ban a novel by M. Kobabe titled Gender Queer: A Memoir after receiving a letter sent by the state’s Superintendent of Education, Molly Spearman. The letter focused on the book, declaring it to be inappropriate and vulgar (Friedman and Farid 2023). None of this is to say that politicians are the sole cause for the ban, just that they wield a considerably large amount of influence in these decisions

Natalia is a sophomore at Chenango Valley High School. She participates in multiple clubs at CV such as Debate Club, Drama Club, Interact Club, Select Choir, Mathletes, Travel Club, Mentor Club and Valley Unveiled. She hopes to pursue a career in Psychology and likes to read and bake.

References

“American Library Association.” 1996. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/.

Chiesa. 2023. “The negative effects of book banning in the classroom.” Maryville Pawprint. https://www.maryvillepawprint.com/the-negative-effects-of-book-banning-in-the-classroom/.

Friedman, Jonathan, and Nadine Farid Johnson. 2023. “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Ban Books.” PEN America, January 3. https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/.

Harris, Elizabeth A. and Alexandra Alter. 2022. “Book ban efforts spread across the U.S.” The New York Times, January 30. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/books/book-ban-us-schools.html.

Pendharkar, Eesha. 2022. “How prevalent are book bans this year? New Data Show Impact.” Education Week, April 7. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/how-prevalent-are-book-bans-this-year-new-data-show-impact/2022/04.