The Loss of Literary Gold

Censorship in the form of banning books is becoming a bigger issue every year. More books are being banned from school classrooms and libraries with less reasoning. In Melissa Kelly's article “Censorship and Book Banning in America: Taking Stock”, she discusses how the banning of books in schools is becoming more frequent and could have a negative effect on education. She states that education is not to be feared, and gives ideas on how to change curriculum instead of going extreme and banning a book. She poses the question, “Where does it stop?” This is a legitimate question. Book banning is censorship, and it is detrimental to education and society for it to continue skyrocketing as it is now.

The list of banned books is growing, and the reasoning behind certain books is growing in silliness. Kelly gives a short list of books and their reasons for being banned: some of the reasons are good, but it is all in the way a book is understood by an individual. Some have valuable lessons, and are an asset to education. Kelly gives many links to lists and articles on being banned, showing that a wider group of people are seeing it as an issue. There are processes to go through before banning a book, and most books that are banned don’t get this consideration. As Kelly states in her article, “Our county has a group which reads the questionable book and determines whether its educational value exceeds the weight of the objections against it.” This is quite a good idea, and more books should get this consideration. It should not be left up to one parent or school faculty member to decide what books go into curriculum or are banned from the school completely.

How does society know when to stop banning books? It can definitely put a damper on education. Many of the books that are used in curriculum have some sort of lesson or literary importance that is essential to learning. Kelly states, “There are enough hurdles in teaching with which we must deal.” This underlines that book banning is just an extra problem that is deterring students from literary excellence. Just because a book contains what could be touchy material for some, doesn’t mean it should be completely discounted. There are ways around controversial subjects, such as what Kelly suggests in her article, Discuss the controversial issues in the book with the students.” This shows that every book need not be banned because it is controversial to some, and that there are ways around banning a book. Banning books can also be detrimental to society in itself. Censorship is just the start to slowly pulling away free speech and thought. Being able to freely read and enjoy books is necessary to a persons well being, as is shown by Kelly when she says, “But one thing remains certain, I am better for that which I have learned in life.” This underlines the need for education and knowledge, whether it comes from a controversial source or not.

Censoring and banning books is an issue for education and society in general. Education needs the ideas of books, as is stated by Kelly in her article “Censorship and Book Banning in America: Taking Stock.” There are ways around actually banning a book, and it would be better if these procedures are followed. Most books banned have good morals and are crucial to attaining high literacy skills. In the links to articles and lists Kelly gives in her article, it is easy to see that book banning and censorship can not continue to grow and become a larger issue. Nothing will be approved by everyone; but books should not be controlled in such a manner.

Sources:
Censorship and Book Banning in America: Taking Stock