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Encouraging young adults to read banned books is helpful, not harmful.
Encouraging young adults to read banned books is helpful, not harmful.
It is knowledgeable that certain banned books, like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury deal with complicated and heavy topics, but in no means should students be diminished from reading them. Both of these books I have read in English classes throughout my High School career, and while I may have not enjoyed it at the time, I now understand the importance and can appreciate my teachers for giving me the opportunity to titles like these.
Many teachers have removed previously banned books from their curriculum out of fear that parents will be upset, instead, they should encourage students to read challenged or banned books to expand their horizon of ideas.
Many teachers have removed previously banned books from their curriculum out of fear that parents will be upset, instead, they should encourage students to read challenged or banned books to expand their horizon of ideas.
In August of 2022, a teacher at Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma was removed from a teaching position for simply sharing a QR code to the Brooklyn Public Library's project pertaining to banned books, called Books Unbanned. This was shared in response to Oklahoma's HB 1775 which prohibits Oklahoma schools from teaching concepts of race and gender.
Senate bill 5, passed in Kentucky Senate, gives parents the right to choose what they want their kids to be reading.
Senate bill 5, passed in Kentucky Senate, gives parents the right to choose what they want their kids to be reading.
Labeled a "book banning bill," Republican Senator Jason Howell said that the purpose of this bill is to ensure the right of parents to be involved in the access their children have to certain materials, programs, and events at school. Specifically, the bill makes it easier for parents to challenge books and material that can be found "obscene and harmful to minors." Kate Miller, the advocacy director for ACLU of Kentucky stated to the committee that she believed denying children the right to read does nothing for them or their parents. Miller states, "I'd rather us have conversations about it than ask the school to prohibit them from being able to access something that is inconsistent with my values," At some point, children will be exposed to radical ideas that go against what they believe in, it is unavoidable in the 21st century. Children must be given the intellectual freedom to learn and grow through their youth, bills like these only diminish the ability of free thinking.
Defend your right to read!
Defend your right to read!
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