Should To Kill a Mockingbird be taught in Chesterfield County?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been taught in the Chesterfield County school system for a countless number of years. Some say that exposing children to this type of derogatory language in this book is just unacceptable. This novel uses racial slurs that should never be said nor be written. But others argue that it would be good developmentally for a teenager to read this book. The people who think it should be taught think it would be good to expose this generation to this language and obscurity to show them how the real world is like. This book also shows friendship and character. This should be taught in Chesterfield County because it has been taught for years upon years and there is no reason it should be discontinued.

To start, here are some of the reasons why To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee should continue to be taught in Chesterfield County. First, some may say it is good to show kids what the real world is like without sugarcoating it, the truth and that's it. Also, hiding history and the image of how this country is, isn’t ideal for them growing up. What that means is that teens might grow up hiding stuff from other people and being very antisocial because they’re scared to share things and ideas. Lastly, giving the teens nothing to learn about the real world except a “family life” class that lasts for two weeks, and that just doesn’t cut it. 

To Kill a Mockingbird, in my opinion, is good for a teen to read because it shows what really happens in the world in the past and present. A girl lied and said that a black man raped her but had no evidence except her word. Its essential in a court case to have evidence. The man’s left hand was botched and couldn’t of matched the “bruises” that were on the “victim’s” skin. They were two good hand marks which just simply couldn't have been made by someone with a botched hand. A fake allegation can ruin someones life, just like it did that black man’s, causing him to run. Somebody shouldn’t have their life ruined by someone’s fake allegation, there needs to be evidence to back it up.

Some might say in a rebuttal or a counterargument that this book can be detrimental to teenagers whilst they read it. Learning about the real world and real problems can be a tough pill to swallow. Racism, rape, and murder are all not jokes and should be taken seriously. Especially if the child has a past with these traumas it could cause a trigger. Another counterargument can be that the type of friendship amongst the kids is misleading. But not every friendship is going to be the same. Friendships go through ups and downs and there is no ideal friendship. 

To sum up all that has been stated so far, To Kill a Mockingbird should be taught in Chesterfield County. For example, if they were to take this book away there would be nothing quite like this to teach what this book taught. This novel has been a token for what life was like in the past. Although this book has downsides, I think the moral of this book outweighs the negatives. Without this book, teachers would have to come up with a new novel to study and have to make new assignments for this new book.  This book has been in the county for a while and should continue to stay.