Banning Books Essay Sample

Due to the negative effect, Book Bans have recently become a prominent topic in America. Every book tells a story in a different way and opens a whole new perspective to people. Growth is essential for children and books help them achieve that. However, many individuals look to ban books because they may offend them or they think that it's too graphic for children. In my opinion, banning books is a ban on children's education and their chance to expand their knowledge. Books like The Great Gatsby,  To Kill a Mockingbird, and many more were banned due to racism, language, offense to someone, or sexuality. 

Throughout history, books have been an influential part of education. They give different varieties of cultures, events, and experiences to readers and are an important part of both society and education.  Book Bans spread through a wide variety of reasons they're banned; racism, sexism, offensive language, or even sexually explicit scenes.  In Thanh Nguyen's “My young mind was disturbed by a book. It changed my life,” Nguyen experienced a scenario where he felt discrimination towards Vietnamese in a book titled Close Quarters by U.S. Combat Veteran Harry Heinemann. In response, Nguyen wrote his own book titled The Sympathizer only for him to learn the true meaning behind Heinemann’s book. Nguyen realized the book was intending the changes that war can do to a person. In the article, Thanh Nguyen stated, “A book can open doors and show the possibility of new experiences, even new identities, and futures.” Every book has a meaning behind it, and it just takes the reader to find it. Most books have something in it that can offend someone, and looking to ban them closes the doors of a new opportunity for someone else. Thanh Nguyen stated, “If we oppose banning some books, we should oppose banning any book.” Nguyen's article shows how something can be a misconception.  His article shows how one can think something is offensive or can cause problems for others but in reality, the writer has no intentions of offending anyone. 

Americans Nationwide have opinions on book bans and the effect they have. Most reasons books are banned come from the concern of children from parents. Parents are one of the main causes for books being banned and that comes from what they believe. The New York Times article “Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S.” talks about the recent records that have been placed to prohibit books from public schools and libraries. The primary bills being passed focus on preventing books that focus on sexual activities, identities, and gender identity from being in local libraries and schools. Students are shown taking their sides with protests at school board meetings to speak out on Book Bans. 17-year-old Jack Petocz stated “Banning books is harmful to students” as he held an organized protest against book bans. The restriction of books blocks students from being able to open themselves up. However, many polls show that a majority of Americans overwhelmingly reject the idea of banning books. According to CBS News/YouGov poll, “A large majority of people say that teaching about the history of race in America makes students understand what others went through.” Some parents don't want their kids to learn about other cultures because they think it may make kids uncomfortable, but the large majority believe that it is good for students to learn about this. Reading and learning about uncomfortable topics help students get an understanding of what happened and overall helps them grow. According to this article from the School Libary Journal, “A majority of Americans don't think books that discuss race, criticize America's history of slavery, or share different political views should be banned from school libraries or classrooms.” This pool gives additions to the fact that parents are open-minded to their children being exposed to what happened in the world and what they will face. 

A commonly banned book is The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini for its offensive language, sexually explicit material, and being unsuited to certain age groups. The book has very graphic scenes that can be seen as disruptive to kids, but the book gives an example and detail into Afghanistan culture. It tells the reader about a whole nother world that they haven't experienced. In the New York Times “What students are saying about banning books from libraries” High school teacher Alex Reeths states “Banning books is an overall loss for a school or library, it only limits human growth.” The Kite Runner is a great book for teaching about forgiveness as Amir learns to forgive himself and accept what he has done throughout his life. The book follows the main character Amir and the events that happen in Afghanistan. The book gives insight into Afgan culture like clothing, special events, and even the social roles with Pashtun people typically being in power and Hazaras being mostly peasants. The book shows the major societal class difference between the two groups as Pashtuns were upper class and Hazaras were viewed as much lower than Pashtuns. The main character Amir is shown to take things for granted, as he constantly takes his best friend Hassan for granted. Amir always saw Hassan as competition for his father's love and he would continuously pick on Hassan. The Kite Runner is a great book to receive insight on Afghanistan culturally and witness the rise of the Taliban.

Book Bans have become one of the most widespread forms of censorship in the United States. Despite the efforts of students, teachers, and parents, books continue to be banned by schools and public libraries across the United States. The American Library Association has made vigorous attempts to prevent the banning of books but havent had any recent luck. Books play an essental role in students lives as they allow them to increase their knowledge, imagination, speaking, reading and writing skills. Books are an important part of of our society erroneous that they get banned.