The Crushing of Intellect: The Banning of Books

 There are so many reason why a book maybe banned or challenged but a few seem to stick out the most. The book may have content that does not agree with the government, it may be telling the people that they should rebel against  the government and how to do so. Although there may be need for rebellion the government may ban the book because it goes against them. Not only the government banns books but also churches or  schools . Churches may ban a book because it goes against the church teaching. A school  may ban a book such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it is not politcaly correct and uses terms that are not apropreat for the times. 
     A group or person may want to protect a child from content in a book for more than one reason. First, because what a child reads he believes is true so if a child is given a book that calls people inappropriate things or has explicit content then the child is going to think that those things are okay to do or say, which they are not. Secondly, at a young age children do not need to be aware of all the awful things that happen in the world; children should be allowed to live in a world that they think is rainbows and butterfly untill they hit the age of reason and can logic things out.  Although these things are  true for younger children, when people get to high school and college this argument does not apply any more because the more mature person can make up his mind on what he believes and does not believe concerning everything he reads.
   Although young children do not need to be exposed to controversial or sensitive topics, as students get older, it is important for them to explore these ideas. When children get older they need to know what ideas and topics are out there, so they can decide on their own what they believe. They need to be exposed to these topics because somebody out in the world believes that that is true or right.  It would be better for the student to read a book about it and to be able to discuss it while he is in a safe environment so then he will be more prepared to make his or her own decision and  live out in the world on his own.
    Controversial books may be used to break down stereotypes and bias. If somebody is able to read a book that talks about the life of somebody else it might open their eyes to see how they really live and not just the stereotype of their society. For example, in the time that the book The Narrative of Fredrick Douglas was written, many people thought that slaves were not capable of reading or writing and were not intelligent at all. However, if somebody would have picked up his book he would have read a book written by a slave who was intelligent, articulate, thoughtful and compelling. They would be forced to doubt their prejudiced assumptions and if they were honest with themselves, they would have to realize that those assumptions were not true. Today we know that what they thought about the slaves and their society were not true because Fredrick Douglas was very smart and could write. This is just one of the many examples of how reading about somebody and their society could change ones opinion on it.
    Should books be ban? No. There is always a choice whether you or your children should choose or be allowed to read a book. If the book does not teach what you believe or want to read then you have the choice to not read it but others should be able to if they choose. The negative effect of banning books out weighs the good. Evil dictators and controlling governments have used the banning of books to control what people think and know repeatedly throughout history.  Freedom of speech is protected in our country to prevent such atrocities.  It is important that we protect those rights.
    

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/about