Book Banning

In the United States, the issue of book banning has become a burning issue since the colonial era; it was the first time when the governing bodies and royal governors endorsed laws against blasphemy and rebellious libel. In the Early American Republic, the governing bodies used to pass laws, in order to fight with obscenity. Despite the growth and flourishing of the mass media, especially in the twentieth century, the issues of book banning and associated forms of censorship have gained momentum. These clamp restrictions appeared as a response to rising worries about outrage of cultural, political, ethical, and spiritual norms. In the contemporary society, most topics of books are usually linked to drugs, sex, bad language, and other destructive practices. As a result, students all over the world are subjected to all these matters in their day-to-day life. In the United States, for a long time, this situation has caused heated debates on whether to ban books or not.

On one side, some destructive books can have an extremely negative influence on the readers. On the other hand, these very books can assist students in recognizing more circumstances, with which they will have to deal in real life. At times, there are topics that are hard to discuss with parents; some parents, in turn, usually fail to raise or talk about some issues that are essential for their future life development. Under these circumstances, such books can serve as outlets for teens all over the United States. The issue of book banning in the United States is by no means about concerns of whether the content of a book is suitable for the reader or not, whether it is well-written or presents the right position on prohibited events. Book banning is usually about control over the person reading the particular information; considering the fact that the United States is a democratic country, books should not be banned under any circumstances.

Books should never be banned in the United States or any other part of the world. In a democratic country, people should be free to decide what to read on their own, taking into consideration personal standards and moral principles. The subjective point of view of one person or group of people should not be the distinctive factor in limitation of freedom of any reader. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins ought to convince a critical reader that the act of books banning is not a positive aspect for the development of any society. The Capitol maintained power over its districts by denying them the right of communicating with each other, and controlling all things that people saw and read. The author of the book states that, when Katniss gets over the communication barrier by giving Rue a fine burial, the Capitol’s authority over the districts gets weak. This happens because the people of the country are given the independence to converse (Darnton 70).

Among the chief reasons of why the governing bodies in the United States and other countries all over the world ban some books is that banning is an implication power of the particular government. Banning some kinds of books is unprincipled, but still continues, this is because of some people in power, who go by either their political, social, or economic interests. A good instance of this type of book that has faced banning restrictions in the United States is a girl’s diary Go, Ask Alice. In this book, the anonymous teenage girl presents her fight with drug and sex addictions. Even though she shared her story as a call for help and support, ultimately, she died in a result of a drug overdose. This book would be of a great help to teenagers as the word of the author could help young individuals think twice about their actions and life; however, they can by no means receive this message as it is banned because of its sexual and drug abuse topics (Banning 100).

Annually, almost all libraries in the United States report hundreds of challenging issue with the book contents. The chief causes for challenging a book are contents that are sexually overt, or they use offensive language and talk about subjects, improper for young readers. Only some requests to ban the book results in retrieving all examples from the particular library. While filling the shelves, librarians do not critic the content of a book according to its appropriateness for some readers. As libraries are communal institutions, they may not distinguish information based on sex, age, or race issues; therefore, citizens can check all materials they want on their own. Library management in the United States requests parents and guardians of minors to watch what they select for reading (Walsh 456).

Parents and teachers are the ones who hold the right to decide what their easily influenced children should read at school and outside the classroom. Book restriction in learning institutions can limit the education possibilities of students. The more complicated the book, the more students try to read it under coaching and assistance of a teacher. In order for a nation to develop into a modern society, where science and logical thinking are appreciated over fallacy and faith, people have to fight against book banning and make all efforts to protect knowledge. I personally do not agree with the entire idea of book banning in the United States; promoting reading of all books has more sound reasons than questionable banning. In my opinion, the book has to be an authority in the lives of children and other readers who are also learners.