In one of my favorite novels, The Book Thief, Nazi soldiers burn a huge stack of books because they want to protect people from harmful ideas.
In modern-day America, some groups and individuals are trying to do basically the same thing: limit access to books deemed harmful and inappropriate.
This week, the American Library Association and book lovers across the country celebrate Banned Books Week, a time set aside to raise awareness about the problem of censorship that still nags our country, even in the 21st century.
Do you believe in free access to information and ideas? Then here are five things you should know about book banning.
1. Definitions
- A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials. It is more than just a person or group expressing an opinion; that group or individual wants to take away access for everyone.
- A banning is the removal of materials from a library or other point of access.
2. Reporting
The ALA compiles data based on voluntary reports of challenges or bans. It estimates that 85% of book challenges receive no media attention and are unreported.
3. Book banning can happen near you.
While browsing the ALA site, I learned that The Perks of Being a Wallflower, an excellent YA novel with a significant amount of controversial content, has been restricted in Fairfax County Virginia. I was surprised that my old school system, a large, wealthy district in the suburbs of D.C., engaged in book banning.
Also, according to an article dated October 2010, only juniors and seniors William Byrd High School and Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke, Virginia had free access to Perks. Freshmen and sophomores needed a note from a parent to check it out. I guess that’s better than pulling it all together, but I was surprised to hear about a restriction so close to my home.
4. Many well-loved and respected classics have been banned, including
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Great Gatsby
- The Grapes of Wrath
- The Lord of the Flies
- Of Mice and Men
- 1984
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- The Color Purple
- Gone With the Wind
5. Institutions involved
According to the Office of Intellectual Freedom, a division of the ALA, the institutions that challenged books most often between 2000 and 2009 were schools, school libraries, and (most disturbing to me) public libraries. Individuals challenging books are most often parents.
For more statistics about book banning, check out this interesting infographic from the ALA.
The Problem
Here’s the problem with banning: Who should get to decide? One parent might want to restrict Harry Potter for its magical elements. I have no trouble with magic, but I don’t want my kids exposed to sexually explicit material. What if atheists wanted to keep C.S. Lewis novels out of schools because of their Christian themes?
We live in a free country, with many different world views affecting our choices and behavior.
Instead of banning books, teachers, librarians, and parents can encourage good reading habits and responsible thinking by:
- educating themselves and the children they work with about controversial content in books
- guiding young readers to make wise choices
- discussing controversial content in an open, constructive way
I always tell my kids that effective communication is one of the most important skills they can learn. Guess that means I’d better be ready to talk about edgy content.
Word Nerd Note: Common Sense Media is fantastic resource for finding out about controversial content in books, movies, TV and video games. It also offers discussion starters to get you through those tricky topics. I have the app on my phone, so I can get the info any time, like in the bookstore.
Giveaway
Leave a thoughtful comment below and you’ll enter a giveaway for a Barnes and Noble gift card to buy any book you choose. Even The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Just tell me what you think about book banning, if you’ve ever experienced censorship, or your ideas for handling sensitive content in books. I’d like to hear from all sides – because, as I said, good communication is key. Giveaway closes Friday, Oct 9, 2015.
More Thoughts on Banned Books
Sheila at Book Journey has links to more posts and giveaways about Banned Books on her blog. Please visit!
Thanks for adding to the discussion!
As a middle school English teacher, I was on the committee to decide if a challenged book would be banned. The committee was always 7-10 people and seemed to be a mixed group, but we always kept the book and it almost seemed like we were giving lip service to the process because no one ever wanted to even consider pulling it. I guess it’s because we are a very liberal community and banning books is something most of the leaders and members woule never even consider.
A parent can ban a book for his or her child, but not for mine. I believe it is an individual decision, and I take issue with anyone else telling me what my kids or I can or cannot read. All the books you listed make for wonderful discussion and a broadening of perspective…and isn’t that a goal of reading?
I have to agree with pretty much everything you said in this post, Julia! Sometimes the reasons books get banned are so arbitrary… and it seems as if there’s not a lot of clarity about who exactly makes these kinds of decisions. It’s incredibly frustrating for a student like me, especially, because I feel like I should be the one who decides if a book is for me or not. Especially at the high school level, students are more than capable of making rational decisions, and if a kid doesn’t want to read a book with certain themes with it, the he/she won’t. Banning books assumes that kids can’t make these kinds of decisions- which is absolutely false.
Lovely, lovely post!
Thank you for stopping by and for speaking on behalf of students. I’m glad you agree and hope you get to exercise the right to choose books for yourself. 😉
As a teacher, I am on the defensive about books, and I constantly debate the pros and cons of a book before I decide to use it. I’ve never been told I can’t use a book, but have had other teachers suggest that a book isn’t worth the controversy. I’ve found that some of the books I’ve debated the most about (The Giver comes to mind) produced the best group discussions, and I know the students that read it will never forget it.
My husband is also a teacher, and has always read Harry Potter to his fourth grade classes. Because we live in a somewhat conservative religious area of the country, many of the teachers in our school urged him not to read it (our librarian now has it on a list for written parental consent before it can be checked out.) We’ve both been readying ourselves to respond to challenges — in his case, there’s a lot out there about the religious themes in Harry Potter, not much different from C.S. Lewis — yet in his ten years this is the first year that a student has said he’s not allowed to read it, and does “listening” during that time instead of teacher read aloud.
I appreciate getting your perspective. As if teaching isn’t hard enough, you have the difficult challenge of exposing kids to stimulating material while tap dancing around the many world views that exist in our diverse population. Sounds like you’re taking a smart approach. Good luck!
Censorship has its place, but I would much rather that children (and adults!) be taught to choose for themselves, in discussion with a parent or mentor.
I appreciate this post because I am ignorant to the banned books and why they are banded. So I was surprised to see some of the books on the list. But as a parent do for girls I do think we need to be wise as to the books are kids are reading and the content therein. I myself and not a fast reader so I enlist the help of my husband and good friend who reads more to help me know the content. But I also have found that Common Sense Media is my go-to resource for this information. I feel like we must be wise consumers of the things out kids read as well as what they watch and see on the internet. I careful to allow our kids to read the latest books in a fandom crazy era.
Yes, Kristen, we need to keep ourselves informed in this era that offers so much media in so many readily accessible forms. It’s hard to keep up, but worth the effort. And it’s good to have help from friends, as always. 😉
When I was living in Texas, a gal I know decided that the Harry Potter books should be banned from her son’s school library. (At the time, there were only 4 books in the series.) Her reason was probably the most ludicrous reason you’ll ever hear – it wasn’t that the books offended her, but that her son refused to read anything other than those four books. So in an effort to stop him from reading Harry Potter all the time, she demanded that the school ban the books. And they did! Granted, it was just the one single elementary school, not the entire district, but it really spoke volumes to me about how the school librarians were so willing to remove the books from their shelves simply because one parent decided she didn’t want her son reading those books.
I admit, I asked her if she was going to do that at his middle and high schools, and her answer was “if I have to, yes.” All I could do was shake my head and try not to scream.
Holy Cow! This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard! I’m so glad you shared. How about- leave him alone and he’ll eventually get tired of them, OR find him some other cool books and tell him he can read HP again after he reads one new book. Good grief, be a parent!
I’d be screaming with you!
Interesting reading, thank you. I really must seek out any facts/figures there might be regarding banned books here in the UK as whilst its not something I’m aware of happening I’m sure it must.
Tracy, Thanks for commenting and there are definitely issues in the UK. For example, check out this post that describes how in 2003, books about pigs (including the beloved Charlotte’s Web) were banned in a primary school with a high population of Muslims. http://teddyree-theeclecticreader.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/banned-books-week-childhood-favourites.html?m=1
Thanks for stopping by!
I agree with all posts here today. I am not the mother of teenagers, though I was once. Nor am I the grandmother of teenagers, though I was. Sometimes it is hard for me to think back to that time. I do not ever remember thinking a book should be banned from the school library, nor did I censor what my children were reading. I always felt that if I did not censor the reading, then maybe the reading would be done in the open and therefore be open for discussion. My kids both read banned books. Flowers in the Attic, Fahrenheit 451, Gone with the Wind, Animal Farm to name just a few. And add to that my kids lived in a conservative small town in NE Wyoming. We don’t that lightly to people telling us what to do around here!! “smile”
Great post! I am opposed to all kinds of censoring….growing up, I had to face it in my own home, with my father objecting to almost everything (other than the Bible….LOL).
I learned early on how to read what I wanted to read, and being forbidden made me even more determined to read everything I could get my hands on.
Most of the books I enjoyed as a young person ended up on some list or other….not that I was just being rebellious, but those books usually had something special. They resonated with the reader because they touched on something real in each of us.
People who want to ban books are afraid, and they strike out in this way against what they don’t understand.
Thanks for sharing!
You’ve highlighted a great point that no one else has mentioned – the fear factor. Fear doesn’t help us grow- education, discussion, critical thinking do. Thanks for chiming in!
I remember when The Perks of Being a Wallflower was challenged near you – Literate Housewife wrote about it. I’d never heard of the book before that but knowing it was challenged made me want to read it. I added it to my wishlist and my son bought it for me. I thought the book was terrific.
I don’t get why parents want to ban books – why not read the book along with your child and discuss it with them? I think many parents are afraid their kids will think for themselves and form opinions that are different from their parents.
Kathy,
As a former teacher, I can answer this question at least in part. In my final year of teaching, a parent objected to a biography of Jackie Robinson in our library because it contained the N word. Her son didn’t know what it meant, didn’t know it was derogatory, and didn’t understand why so many people had a problem with a black player.
This mother told me: “I had to sit down and explain racism to him, which is something I did not want to do. I shouldn’t have had to explain this to my 10 year old son. The book shouldn’t be in the library.”
You see, what you suggested parents do (educate their children) was exactly what this parent preferred not to do. Ignorance is bliss.
Oh dear. People who cling to ignorance- and I know plenty- scare me.
I think that you have hit the nail on the head. Who should decide? While I can respect other’s opinions, I do not want to have them forced on me. It is their right to not read any book that they deem to be offensive but I don’t feel that they have the right to dictate what I am going to read. And as we all know, the sure way to get a child to want to read a book is to tell them that they aren’t allowed to read it.
There was a dust up this fall at Duke University because because of a graphic novel that was on the freshman reading list. The novel, which has received critical acclaim and has been adapted into a Tony winning Broadway play, had themes of homosexuality and suicide. There were students that felt that their personal religious teachings did not allow for them to view “pornography”. This opened a discussion on the definition of the term pornography and questions about higher education as a place to expand one’s knowledge base. All good conversational points as long as you aren’t trying to impose your beliefs on someone else.
While I may not agree with someone’s political or religious beliefs, I feel they are entitled to them. BUT I do not think that they have a right to impose those beliefs on me in any form whether it be in how laws are enforced or what I am allowed to read. There are many books and movies that I think are awful but my friends find them entertaining. While I may not understand, I would not stop them from exercising their right to watch and read and I expect the same respect from them.
Last spring a group in our community in Minnesota thought that Of Mice and Men should be removed from the High Schools library. Yes. HIGH SCHOOL. It was a big deal and in the papers… and
they lost 🙂
Excellent post!