Banned Book Essay

Banned Book Essay

Naomi Giancola 802

          Dear Ms.Berner,

             For many years, people like me have been sheltered from the “terrors” of books. Some of these so-called “terrors” are issues that teens deal with all the time. Some of the most well known banned books deal with cancer, cutting, and suicide. When many people look at these books, they see unneeded exposure to these books, but when teens who are going through the topics of the book see the book, they see hope that everything will be okay. They see a character to relate to and maybe even someone to lean on. When you take away these books, you are taking away teens hope for the future.

           One reason why books shouldn’t be banned is because knowing that another character or another person is going through the same things as you can be just enough to keep you going until you get help. In Ellen Hopkins article, “Banned Books Week 2010: An Anti Censorship Manifesto,” she states, “She saw her self in those pages, and suddenly she knew that she didn’t want to be there. That book turned her around.” This quote shows how a girl who was going through a rough patch was able to find a book to relate to and see that she was destroying her self. The girl was eventually able to get her life together, finish high school, and start a modeling career all because she saw herself in the pages of the book. In Maureen Johnson’s article, “Yes Teen Fiction can be Dark-but it Shows Teenagers They Aren’t Alone,” she says, “For teenagers, there is sometimes no message more critical than: you are not alone. This has happened before. The feelings that you are feeling, the thing you are going through-it is a known thing.” This quote shows how sometimes the most important thing is knowing that you are not the only one in the world going through what you are going through. If they don’t know that someone else is going through it they may become to feel isolated and alone no matter how many friends that have around them. Overall, without books that deal with heavy topics, teens that are carrying around the weight of these issues may feel more alone and not know what to do.

           Another reason why books shouldn’t be banned is because teenagers need to know about the scary issues going on in the real world. We need to know this because when we encounter them its always good to have some info on them. In Mary Elizabeth Williams article, “Has Young Adult Fiction Become to Dark?” she talks about how teens read books because they are intrigued or frightened by the issue. “We read, as teens continue to do now, to be moved, to fall in love with the characters, to learn and to sometimes just explore the things that scared and fascinated us.” Without books that deal with heavy topics, a lot of teens wouldn’t be exposed to them at an age where these things are happening. Eventually we would become aware of them but I think it would be a more traumatic experience because we would realize that those things were going on in other people’s heads while we were doing nothing. Mary Elizabeth Williams also states, “She fails to acknowledge the coarseness and misery already inherent in adolescence.” Since most teens these days are already exposed to such heavy topics, there is no reason why we shouldn’t be allowed to explore deeper into the topics, especially if that person or a friend of that person is going through it. Overall teens that are exposed to the heavy topics will not have their childhood ruined; they will just be more educated than before.

            In some people’s eyes, books shouldn’t be banned but in others, they should. In Johanna Robinsons article, “The Fault In Our Stars has been banned in Schools,” she talks to a parent about why books should be banned. “Karen Kruger, who felt the morbid plot, crude language, and sexual content was inappropriate for children.” I can see the side she’s taking even though I don’t agree with it. Some people don’t want to expose their children to more mature content until they think that their child is ready, which is not a bad thing. I can see where people like her are coming from because there are some things that people my age really shouldn’t know about yet. But if we think that we are ready to learn it then we should be allowed to read up on that topic.  Not knowing something that you want to know can actually stress you out. If we read books that engage us on a topic that we want to know about it can reduce stress levels. For example, in an article called, “Reading can help reduce Stress,” the author states, “By loosing your self in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world.” If people don’t want to expose their kids to sex, drugs, and other more mature topics, they can actually make their kids more interested and maybe even put their kids in a position where the kid has to read behind their parents back. Books are very important for getting information in a positive and a non-stressful way.

            In the end, books shouldn’t be banned because parents don’t want their children exposed to heaver topics because eventually they will find out eventually but in much worse way than books. Kids and Teens should be able to read what ever they want whenever they want. If you don’t let us read the books that we want, then you could be hurting someone way more then if they were allowed to read the book.