why books should not be banned in schools essay

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Books Should not Be Banned

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The freedom to read and access information is a fundamental right that should be protected and upheld in any democratic society, censorship undermines critical thinking, limiting access to valuable and diverse knowledge, inhibiting the development of empathy and understanding.

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16 Major Pros and Cons of Banning Books in Schools

Banning books is one of the most common forms of censorship that exists in the world today. Banned Books Week began in 1982 to highlight the issues that surround this issue. Since the start of this event, there have been over 11,000 different titles challenged. The vast majority of the reading materials that receive challenges come from parents who disagree with a title’s inclusion on a curriculum list.

Public libraries, universities, K-12 schools, and businesses all over the country see attempts to ban books frequently. The National Coalition Against Censorship reports that there is at least one attempt per week to create censorship over a specific title. The subject matter that gets targeted with the banning process ranges from classics to contemporary best-sellers. You’ll even find biographical non-fiction and fairy tales included on these lists.

Most challenges never result in a ban because students, families, teachers, and librarians take a stand against the censorship. When books do receive a ban, it is usually because there are racial themes involved, an alternative lifestyle portrayed, or violence and sex that makes people uncomfortable.

List of the Pros of Banning Books

1. Parents should have the right to what materials their children can read. Parents are the final line of defense when it comes to protecting their children from inappropriate material for their age group. A book with an adult topic may be entirely enjoyable when people of the correct age have a chance to read and discuss the narrative. That content may not be well-suited to a child’s audience. Waiting until a child is mature enough to understand what vulgar, obscene language, and explicit sexual content is often necessary to promote healthy development.

If this material is available in public or school libraries, then parents might not even know that their kids were exposed to this material. Other students might still talk about the book, but those discussions are very different than applying the narrative in a real-world way.

2. There might be inappropriate content for certain families. 40% of the most challenged books in 2017 contained explicit violence. That is the same percentage that also contained material from the LGBTQIA+ community. 30% of the books were sexually explicit with their descriptions. When students receive exposure to graphic materials, then there can be adverse psychological effects that occur afterward. This issue may lead to more casual sexual partners, having sexual contact at an earlier age, and sensitivity issues.

The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that children who receive exposure to violence in books at an early age can encourage them to act with more aggression. Proponents of banning books say that their goal isn’t to shelter a child from specific content. It is a matter of guiding them toward what is healthy for them to encounter.

3. Banning books from one forum doesn’t eliminate the ability to access content. Banning books in the past was an effective way to keep unwanted materials out of someone’s hands because there were very few communications tools available to society. The world is a very different place in 2019. If parents want their public library to ban a book, then it could be made available online for reading. There are still places to purchase the book as well. No one is preventing them from being written or sold. What some people call “book banning” is more of a responsible choice about what to make available to other people.

4. It gives parents an opportunity to discuss challenging topics with children. Parents want the chance to speak with their kids about subject matters that make many people uncomfortable instead of letting an author shape the narrative with a personal opinion. Reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is an excellent example of this potential advantage of banning books. Dealing with topics like murder and euthanasia may go beyond the understanding of some young children. Other books deal with suicide, peer pressure, and death on a large scale.

Approving books for a school curriculum without parental guidance may shape the perspective of a child without having a chance to form their own opinion. Stopping access at the community level can help kids to get both sides of the conversation.

5. Banned books could stop people from being inspired to take adverse actions. The Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, has had a lasting influence on society. It continues to be a best-selling book, but it is also one of the most frequently banned titles that people challenge. It has also been the inspiration for several shootings over the year. When John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, this book was in his collection at the hotel.

Robert John Bardo was carrying the book when he murdered Rebecca Schaeffer. Mark David Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon, identified with the narrator to the extent that he wanted to change his name to Holden Caulfield. Chapman even read a portion of the book during his sentencing hearing.

6. Censorship can reduce the impact of hate speech. Proponents of banning books say that the act of censorship isn’t a process that is supposed to ban all speech. Hate speech isn’t created equal. The words that some people use to create feelings of personal superiority are damaging. Even when a narrative tries to cloak this issue in righteousness, the potential adverse impact of student exposure could create numerous problems for schools, families, and students. Banning the book before it can inspire hate allows us to reduce the impact of this language in our society.

You can also reduce the amount of conflict that occurs between two people or parties. Limiting information access doesn’t stop someone from producing work. It allows people who don’t want to receive exposure to a specific concept to have an easier way to avoid it.

7. The rights of the creator are still protected even if books are banned. No one is stopping an author from writing a book that some people might find to be offensive. Even if the response to a narrative is generally negative, there is always an opportunity to create something else. Although critics can make a valid argument about the fact that the act of banning can impact the income of the writer, there are still specific markets where the works may be found to be acceptable.

List of the Cons of Banning Books

1. It takes the book away from someone who wants to read it. The idea of the First Amendment is pretty simple: if you don’t like something, then you don’t need to read the book in the first place. Prohibiting the expression of an idea because society finds it to be disagreeable or offensive goes against the wish of the Founding Father. A single disagreement from an individual or a widespread dispute shouldn’t stop others from getting the opportunity to read a book that intrigues them. The role of banning should stay at the family level.

If you as a parent or guardian feel like the material is inappropriate, then it is up to you to look for an alternative solution. It’s not the children who typically need safeguarding either; it’s the books that receive targeting.

2. It creates a false sense of reality for children. The reality of language, sex, and violence in literature is that most people receive exposure to these elements much earlier in life than a junior-level lit class in high school. Kids learn to swear much earlier in life – and probably know all of the “bad” words even if you don’t realize it. Violence in literature is not limited to stories like The Hunger Games. Even the Harry Potter series has moments of violence in it, despite the fact that many people celebrate the stories.

When there is an action taken to ban books, then this behavior is a reflection of having a closed mind. It speaks to the idea that there is one perspective that holds truth in our world. If your opinion falls outside of that thought, then too bad – your literature is going to be withheld from everyone, like it or not.

3. Books are some of our best teachers. Books allow us to put the stories of life into their proper context. The narrative teaches us how to speak from an early age. We can learn some of our social skills from the process of reading. It can even be a way to engage new ways to think. The latter issue is usually why people want to bank books in the first place. People often fear the unknown, which means reading something that feels uncomfortable is a threat which needs to be stopped.

The reality of books is that they are our best teachers. There’s a reason why the titles like Brave New World or To Kill a Mockingbird tend to be the ones that instructors choose for their classes repetitively. Instead of constantly challenging these titles by trying to ban them, it might be more useful to have a sit, grab a cocktail, and read the book one one’s own before trying to stop others.

4. Many banned books become celebrated classics of literature. Almost all of the classics that we read in various literature classes say something that the human race needs to hear. Even the Library of Congress has put together lists of titles that have helped to shape our heritage, each one offering something unique with extraordinary merit. These stories are already designed to confront the various issues of their time, including moral, social, and political problems. Trying to ban the book will not prevent the idea from being unleashed on the rest of the culture. If anything, the act of banning a book creates more of an urge in the general public to read the narrative instead of ignoring it.

5. Books have the capability of changing the world. There are some books that people have read that have changed their life. Many people can remember where they were when they read the Diary of Anne Frank – and that’s one example of many. Books gives us the chance to confront our problems instead of running away from them by watching the TV or making ourselves so busy that we don’t take time to enjoy a creative narrative.

When there is a restriction of free thought, then we encounter the most dangerous subversion of all. From an American perspective, the idea that one offended person can stop everyone else from enjoying the right to read is about as un-American as it gets.

6. It prevents the exploration process of others. Challenged books contain themes that are designed to be challenging to the average reader. The goal of the narrative is to make you think when you’re reading the book. You want to know the reasons why characters choose to take the actions that happen. Readers want the chance to question, explore, or even be offended by what they encounter in the narrative. Could this be a bad thing? Critics say that even the decision to act violently is a personal choice that occurs instead of being something that the book inspires.

7. Many efforts to ban books involve personal opinions instead of facts. In 1983, the Alabama State Textbook Committee called for the banning of Anne Frank because the book was a “downer.” There have been efforts where parents have been considered that there are sexually offensive passages in this young girl’s diary. Although there may be passages in books that may be explicit, there are times when the real world functions the same way. When someone decides to take a gun to a mall to commit a mass shooting, that behavior is a response to specific stimuli. We must look beyond the action to the bigger picture to understand what is happening.

Instead of getting lost in the small moments of a passage, we must take a look at the entire story as a whole. Even controversial books can foster important learning opportunities for many of today’s teens. People tend to make the correct decision if you give them a chance to review all of their options. Banning books stops that process.

8. Tastes and preferences change over the years. Fox’s TV show The Simpsons is an excellent example of how society changes over the years. When it was first introduced in the 1980s, most evangelicals set the content aside, encouraging others on the further right to avoid it altogether because it was in-your-face. Even First Lady Barbara Bush once called the cartoon “dumb.” Then the attitudes began to change in the early 1990s. There were Bible studies developed to complement the series. People began turning the corner to enjoy their new yellow friends on television.

Banning books, like most forms of criticism, tends to be a knee-jerk reaction to an emotional response. When people take the time to review the content that a narrative contains, then there is always something to be taken from it. Some people don’t like The Simpsons because it is animated, which means it targets their children. It may not always be that way.

9. Banning a book causes kids to crave the narrative. Kids want to read books that are realistic. When a narrative is timely and topical, then it has an excellent chance of experiencing a successful experience. Many of the banned books have characters going through circumstances that are similar to what they have in their life at that moment. If you ban that material, then the kids (especially teens) are going to go out of their way to get their hands on the product anyway.

There are some uncomfortable issues that many people might not want to address when they pick up something controversial. The characters might be managing problems with sexual assault, divorce, or prejudice. A great example of this issue is the book called The Outsiders. It is banned in many middle schools, but this narrative is also one of the most-cited books that students say turned them onto reading.

Verdict of the Pros and Cons of Banning Books

The American Library Association tracks book challenges each year. Their data goes back to 1990. In 2017, there were 354 book challenges reported in the United States, which was a 9.6% increase from the figures that were filed in the year before. In most years, about 10% of the reported challenges result in a ban or removal from the institution in question. In 2016, half of the top ten most challenge books were removed.

Parents are responsible for one-third of the challenges that occur to books. 56% of the incidents occur at public libraries. Students are responsible for only 1% of the banning requests that occur each year.

The top three reasons for a removal request are for offensive language, a narrative “unsuited” to any age group, or content that’s sexually explicit. When we look at the pros and cons of banning books, we must take a common-sense approach to the subject. Isn’t it interesting that society has concerns about how people will behave after reading a book, but they don’t share that perspective when it comes to something like gun ownership.

​​When We Ban Books, We Severely Restrict Children’s Ability To Learn About Different People and Themselves

• Ash Beckham , LGBTQ+ advocate, activist, and leadership and diversity speaker
• Elanna Yalow, PhD , educational psychologist and chief academic officer at KinderCare Education

News of libraries and schools banning books—which does seem to happen on a near annual basis—often tends to garner headlines; however, the current landscape of book-banning feels perhaps more alarming than in past instances. In a November 2021 press release from the American Library Association (ALA) stating its opposition to censorship of books in libraries and schools, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director for the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF), called the volume of challenges to books the ALA had fielded in the fall season of 2021 "unprecedented." “In my 20 years with ALA, I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis,” she said.

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Since that ALA statement, a bill was introduced in Oklahoma to keep books about sex, sexual identity, or gender identity out of public school libraries. And even more recently, a Tennessee county school board voted to remove Maus , Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize–winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, from the eighth-grade curriculum, citing the work's use of "objectionable language" and "disturbing imagery." (Again, it bears reiterating, the book is about the Holocaust .)

When we ban books, we compromise children’s education and development. Books “foster development physically, socially, and emotionally,” says Ash Beckham , an LGBTQ+ advocate, activist, and leadership and diversity speaker. “Books can give children a glimpse of the world far beyond the one they actually see every day. They not only show us what is possible, but they challenge us to rethink what we know and therefore what we imagine is possible.”

"Books that represent people and situations that are drastically different from anything [children have] ever known can trigger empathy." —Tara Keeley, elementary school teacher

By opening kids up to people, places, and cultures worldwide, books help kids develop empathy for others. “Children, by nature, start out very self-focused, so it can be hard for them to imagine lives and experiences outside of their own,” says Tara Keeley, a New York City-based elementary school teacher with the city’s Department of Education. “Books that represent people and situations that are drastically different from anything they’ve ever known can trigger empathy [because] there are universal human experiences, like joy, grief, disappointment, shame.”

A 2014 study of elementary and high school students in Italy and the United Kingdom found that children became more empathetic toward LGBTQ+ folks, immigrants, and refugees after reading Harry Potter , a story of a child who is different than his peers. “As human beings, we develop fear and anxiety around the things we don’t know or understand,” says Elanna Yalow, PhD , educational psychologist and Chief Academic Officer at KinderCare Education . “By the time children are two years old, they will naturally gravitate toward people who are familiar to them and can be hesitant around people who don’t look like someone they know.” Books can be a gateway for fostering acceptance, empathy, and appreciation for others.

And just as there's value in providing insight into situations readers might not otherwise consider, books can also provide representation to children who come from or identify with marginalized communities. This highlights why educators often talk about books in the classroom serving two purposes: some are “mirrors,” while others are “windows.”

“‘Mirrors’ are books in which readers see themselves representing meaningfully,” says Keeley. "’Windows’ are books that can show the reader the perspective and experiences different from their own. We all need and deserve to have access to both types of books; banning books that center marginalized people and deal with difficult topics shuts those windows and smashes those mirrors."

For example, Keeley says that she remembers reading Chris Crutcher’s books —which largely focus on teens navigating struggles like racism, injustice, disability, and abuse—for the first time in middle school, which left her feeling as though someone might understand her experiences and her trauma. “It helped me put words to thoughts and feelings I’d previously been unable to articulate.” To her, that a number of Crutcher’s books ended up on banned-book lists only highlights the hindrance the action has on helping kids find literary “mirrors” and “windows” that both boost their self-esteem and empathy for others.

That’s why Maus and Maus II have long been part of Keeley’s classroom library. “The way Spiegelman wrote it as a young man interviewing his elderly father about having lived through the Holocaust allows us to see both the atrocities that were committed as well as the impact it had on him for the rest of his life,” she says. “Many students have experienced discrimination or being othered. They can connect the prejudice and wrongdoings in Maus to what we’ve learned about slavery and legalized discrimination in the United States, the attacks against Asian-Americans during COVID , and even less brutal but still harmful attitudes and acts they’ve learned of or experienced firsthand.”

Esperanza Rising —a book about a girl who moved with her mother from Mexico to South Carolina during the Great Depression, which was challenged in 2015 by parents in North Carolina who claimed its themes to be inappropriate—is also part of her library: “It tackles topics of loss of a family member, immigration , racism, how different marginalized groups can be pinned against one another to the benefit of white supremacy.”

Banning books can stunt children's curiosity about the world and other people, which is why Keeley believes schools have the opportunity and responsibility to serve as a resource center and sanctuary for students. “Many of them don’t have the resources one way or another to buy books or search for them at the public library and you can’t really look for that which you don’t know about,” she says.

Furthermore, exposing children to books that serve as “windows” and “mirrors” encourages them to seek out more on their own so they can keep reading and learning about themselves, others, history, and the world outside their home—even if some of the words and themes they may learn in books bring up difficult or uncomfortable topics. “What do we achieve by insulating our kids from uncomfortable truths?” Beckham asks. “Likely, they will learn them eventually and if they don’t, then we have failed in our responsibility as parents [and educators]. The truth can be hard.”

• Vezzali, Loris et al. “The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology , 2014, https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12279.

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What Students Are Saying About Banning Books From School Libraries

Teenagers share their nuanced views on the various book banning efforts spreading across the country.

By The Learning Network

Please note: This post is part of The Learning Network’s ongoing Current Events Conversation feature in which we invite students to react to the news via our daily writing prompts and publish a selection of their comments each week.

In the article “ Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S. ,” Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter write about the growing trend of parents, political activists, school board officials and lawmakers arguing that some books do not belong in school libraries.

As we regularly do when The Times reports on an issue that touches the lives of teenagers, we used our daily Student Opinion forum to ask teenagers to share their perspectives . The overwhelming majority of students were opposed to book bans in any form, although their reasons and opinions were varied and nuanced. They argued that young people have the right to read unsanitized versions of history, that diverse books expose them to a variety of experiences and perspectives, that controversial literature helps them to think critically about the world, and that, in the age of the internet, book bans just aren’t that effective. Below, you can read some of their comments organized by theme.

Thank you to all those from around the world who joined the conversation this week, including teenagers from Japan ; Julia R. Masterman School in Philadelphia; and Patino High School in Fresno, Calif .

Please note: Student comments have been lightly edited for length, but otherwise appear as they were originally submitted.

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Pro and Con: Banned Books

To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether parents or other adults should be able to ban books from schools and libraries, go to ProCon.org .

The American Library Association (ALA) has tracked book challenges, which are attempts to remove or restrict materials, since 1990. In 2020, the ALA recorded 156 reported book challenges in the United States, a significant decrease from the 377 reported challenges in 2019 perhaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, challenges jumped to an all-time high in 2021 with 729 challenges, containing a total of 1,597 books.

In most years, about 10% of the reported challenges result in removal or ban from the school or library. However, in 2016, five of the top ten most challenged books were removed. The ALA estimates that only about 3% to 18% of challenges are reported to its Office for Intellectual Freedom, meaning that the actual number of attempts to ban books is likely much higher.

In 2021, challenges were most frequently brought by parents (39%), followed by patrons (24%), a board or administration (18%), librarians or teachers (6%), elected officials (2%), and students (1%). Books were most often challenged at school libraries (44%), public libraries (37%), schools (18%), and academic libraries (1%). 

Sexually explicit content, offensive language, and “unsuited to any age group” are the top three reasons cited for requesting a book be removed. The percentage of Americans who think any books should be banned increased from 18% in 2011 to 28% in 2015, and 60% of people surveyed believed that children should not have access to books containing explicit language in school libraries, according to The Harris Poll . A 2022 poll found 71% disagreed with efforts to have books removed, including 75% of Democrats, 58% of independents, and 70% of Republicans.

• Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when.
• Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries.
• Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids, but doesn't stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them.
• Parents may control what their own children read, but don't have a right to restrict what books are available to other people.
• Many frequently challenged books help people get a better idea of the world and their place in it.
• Books are a portal to different life experiences and reading encourages empathy and social-emotional development.

This article was published on August 2, 2022, at Britannica’s ProCon.org , a nonpartisan issue-information source.

No, Book Bans Are Never ‘Reasonable’

• Share article

To the Editor:

The recent opinion essay “ Don’t Worry About ‘Book Bans’ ” (Sept. 15, 2023) is part of the larger coordinated attack that ultra conservative think tanks are waging on public education and against a democratic society and government.

Book bans have never been reasonable, regardless of whether a book is returned to the library shelf after being reviewed. The use of semantics to diminish the harm that bans inflict will not distract from the real issue: Book bans are a rising form of censorship being used to silence the voices and experiences of communities that have experienced oppression already based on race, class, and gender.

Paired with ongoing efforts to restrict and censor curriculum, book bans are a common fear tactic and ploy used to sow division for political gain. These efforts to limit our intellectual freedom distract us from what should be our nation’s educational goals: to provide students with a quality public school education that is inclusive, equitable, and wholly representative; to prepare students for a career of their choice; and to foster an informed and engaged citizenry.

Currently, 30 percent of the more than 1,100 books banned in U.S. public schools are authored by writers of color and 26 percent by LGBTQ+ authors. More than 100 bills to further censor books have been introduced at the state - level nationwide.

Our stories and histories deserve to be told without censorship. We are stronger as a society because of our incredible diversity, and so are our schools. A shared, honest understanding of the past bridges the divides that political players are trying to widen. Arguments that attempt to placate the American public to simply accept book bans are a thinly veiled attempt to take away the inclusive and comprehensive education our students deserve. We can see through the political scheming and we are fighting back.

Kwesi Rollins Senior Vice President of Leadership & Engagement Institute for Educational Leadership Washington, D.C.

Jasmine Bolton Policy Director Partnership for the Future of Learning Baltimore, Md.

How to Submit

A version of this article appeared in the October 11, 2023 edition of Education Week as No, Book Bans Are Never ‘Reasonable’

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Banned Books – Top 3 Pros and Cons

Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates

The American Library Association (ALA) has tracked book challenges, which are attempts to remove or restrict materials, since 1990. In 2020, the ALA recorded 156 reported book challenges in the United States, a significant decrease from the 377 reported challenges in 2019 perhaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in 2022 challenges jumped to an all-time high with in 2021 with 729 challenges, containing a total of 1,597 books. [ 22 ] [ 27 ] [ 28 ]

In 2022, attempts to ban books doubled from 2021 with 1,269 attempts to ban 2,571 unique titles, according to the ALA. The numbers also reflect a trend in which one complaint includes challenges for multiple books, whereas in the past most complaints only included one book. As of Aug. 31, 2023, there were 695 book challenges 1,915 unique titles; the ALA notes this is a 20% increase from 2022. [ 31 ] [ 32 ]

In most years, about 10% of the reported challenges result in removal or ban from the school or library. However, in 2016, five of the top ten most challenged books were removed. The ALA estimates that only about 3% to 18% of challenges are reported to its Office for Intellectual Freedom, meaning that the actual number of attempts to ban books is likely much higher. [ 1 ] [ 24 ]

In 2021, challenges were most frequently brought by parents (39%), followed by patrons (24%), a board or administration (18%), librarians or teachers (6%), elected officials (2%), and students (1%). Books were most often challenged at school libraries (44%), public libraries (37%), schools (18%), and academic libraries (1%). [ 30 ]

Sexually explicit content, offensive language, and “unsuited to any age group” are the top three reasons cited for requesting a book be removed. The percentage of Americans who thought any books should be banned increased from 18% in 2011 to 28% in 2015, and 60% of people surveyed believed that children should not have access to books containing explicit language in school libraries, according to The Harris Poll. A 2022 poll found 71% disagreed with efforts to have books removed, including 75% of Democrats, 58% of independents, and 70% of Republicans. [ 1 ] [ 3 ] [ 28 ]

As the wave of book bans increased nationwide, 2023 brought bans on book bans themselves from two states: Illinois and California. The Illinois law is focused on libraries and “protects the freedom of libraries to acquire materials without external limitations.” California’s law focuses on school administration and “prohibit[s] the governing board of a school district or a county board of education from prohibiting the continued use of an appropriately adopted textbook, instructional material, or curriculum on the basis that it contains inclusive and diverse perspectives.” [ 33 ] [ 34 ] [ 35 ]

Asking parents’ opinions provided conflicting answers for Book Riot and the EveryLibrary Institute. They found:

• “95% of parents believe every school should have a school library
• 93% of parents believe their child is safe using the school library
• 80% of parents trust school librarians to select age-appropriate material for the school library, while 82% trust school librarians to recommend age-appropriate material to students.
• 60% of parents believe school libraries should restrict access to books by age or require parental permission to check out a book
• 57% believe that parents should receive notifications when a child checks out a book
• 53% of parents believe they should be able to opt their children out of access to the school library while 38% believe they should have to opt their children into access.” [ 36 ]

Should Parents or Other Adults Be Able to Ban Books from Schools and Libraries?

Pro 1 Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when. Having books with adult topics available in libraries limits parents’ ability to choose when their children are mature enough to read specific material. “Literary works containing explicit [scenes, as well as] vulgar and obscene language” were on the approved reading list for grades 7-12, according to Speak up for Standards, a group seeking age-appropriate reading materials for students in Dallas, Texas. [ 4 ] If books with inappropriate material are available in libraries, children or teens can be exposed to books their parents wouldn’t approve of before the parents even find out what their children are reading. [ 16 ] Bans are necessary because “opting your child out of reading [a certain] book doesn’t protect him or her. They are still surrounded by the other students who are going to be saturated with this book,” said writer Macey France. [ 17 ] Read More

Pro 2 Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries. Books in the young adult genre often contain adult themes that young people aren’t ready to experience. Of the top ten most challenged books in 2020, one had LGBTQ+ content, two were sexually explicit, five dealt with racism and anti-police opinions, and others had profanity and drug use. [ 18 ] [ 27 ] According to Jenni White, a former public school science teacher, “Numerous studies on the use of graphic material by students indicate negative psychological effects,” including having “more casual sex partners and [beginning] having sex at younger ages.” [ 19 ] The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that exposure to violence in media, including in books, can impact kids by making them act aggressively and desensitizing them to violence. [ 17 ] Kim Heinecke, a mother of four, wrote to her local Superintendent of Public Schools that “It is not a matter of ‘sheltering’ kids. It is a matter of guiding them toward what is best. We are the adults. It is our job to protect them – no matter how unpopular that may seem.” [ 19 ] Read More

Pro 3 Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids, but doesn't stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them. Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council noted that removing certain books from libraries is about showing discretion and respecting a community’s values, and doesn’t prevent people from getting those books elsewhere: “It’s an exaggeration to refer to this as book banning. There is nothing preventing books from being written or sold, nothing to prevent parents from buying it or children from reading it.” [ 20 ] What some call “book banning,” many see as making responsible choices about what books are available in public and school libraries. “Is it censorship that you’re unable to go to your local taxpayer-funded branch and check out a copy of the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’? For better or for worse, these books are still widely available. Your local community has simply decided that finite public resources are not going to be spent disseminating them,” Weekly Standard writer and school board member Mark Hemingway stated. [ 18 ] Read More

Con 1 Parents may control what their own children read, but don't have a right to restrict what books are available to other people. Parents who don’t like specific books can have their kids opt out of an assignment without infringing on the rights of others. The National Coalition against Censorship explained that “Even books or materials that many find ‘objectionable’ may have educational value, and the decision about what to use in the classroom should be based on professional judgments and standards, not individual preferences.” [ 6 ] In the 1982 Supreme Court ruling on Board of Education v. Pico, Justice William Brennan wrote that taking books off of library shelves could violate students’ First Amendment rights, adding that “Local school boards may not remove books from school libraries simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.” [ 21 ] Read More

Con 2 Many frequently challenged books help people get a better idea of the world and their place in it. Robie H. Harris, author of frequently challenged children’s books including It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing up, Sex, and Sexual Health , stated, “I think these books look at the topics, the concerns, the worry, the fascination that kids have today… It’s the world in which they’re living.” [ 8 ] Many books that have long been considered to be required reading to become educated about literature and American history are frequently challenged, such as: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. [ 9 ] 46 of the Radcliffe Publishing Group’s “Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century” are frequently challenged. Banning these books would deprive students of essential cultural and historical knowledge, as well as differing points of view. [ 9 ] Read More

Con 3 Books are a portal to different life experiences and reading encourages empathy and social-emotional development. One study found that reading J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which is frequently challenged for religious concerns about witchcraft, “improved attitudes” about immigrants, homosexuals, and refugees. [ 11 ] Another study found that reading narrative fiction helped readers understand their peers and raised social abilities. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] A study published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology found that people who read a story about a Muslim woman were less likely to make broad judgments based on race. [ 14 ] Neil Gaiman, author of the frequently challenged novel Neverwhere , among other books, stated that fiction “build[s] empathy… You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed. Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals.” [ 15 ] Read More

Discussion Questions

• Should parents or other adults be able to ban books from schools or libraries? Why or why not?
• Have you read any of the Top 10 Challenged Books of 2021 (see the graphic below)? Should those books be banned or restricted? Explain your answers.
• Is book banning censorship? Why or why not?

Take Action

1. Evaluate the perspective of parents who would like to remove a book from a school library.

2. Consider “ 11 Banned Books through Time ” at Encyclopaedia Britannica.

3. Explore the American Library Association’s resources and efforts against banning books, including the 13 most challenged books of 2022 .

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .

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Natalie Leppard Managing Editor [email protected]

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