If you, like me, have read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you can hopefully agree when I say that it changed my life. And while the story has a great impact, it doesn’t mean the book itself is all fun and games.
The main character, Charlie, struggles between the fine line of sadness and depression, while navigating the terrifying and foreign aspects of being a high schooler. Even though I’m technically not a high-schooler yet, some issues in this book are already ones that so many people in the grade have dealt with or witnessed at one point or another. The book, however “edgy”, is frankly, relatable for teenagers. Certain themes like sex and drugs do come up quite often, so it’s completely understandable why some parents wouldn’t want their fifth graders reading about Sam being a “blow queen” or Charlie getting high on LSD. For a certain age group, censoring this book makes total sense. But not letting teenagers read it is frankly, ridiculous. If the sole reason for banning books is to “protect” children from harsh issues, we have to face that taking away the book doesn’t take away those issues.
If anything, a reader hearing Charlie’s horrifying experience with drugs warns of the severe consequences of behavior like this. In the third part of the book, Charlie realizes he cut off a ton of his hair - without strategy - at a …show more content…
Real people are dealing with the same exact topics in their own lives. Charlie, the main character, could easily exist at Staples High School. He is not some alien teenager experiencing high school in a way that no other kid ever has. Certain things he goes through, like having social anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, are not foreign to high school students. Anxiety disorders affect 25% of all teens and 30% of all teen girls. A kid in that 25% percent could read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and feel less alone in their
The main character, Charlie, struggles between the fine line of sadness and depression, while navigating the terrifying and foreign aspects of being a high schooler. Even though I’m technically not a high-schooler yet, some issues in this book are already ones that so many people in the grade have dealt with or witnessed at one point or another. The book, however “edgy”, is frankly, relatable for teenagers. Certain themes like sex and drugs do come up quite often, so it’s completely understandable why some parents wouldn’t want their fifth graders reading about Sam being a “blow queen” or Charlie getting high on LSD. For a certain age group, censoring this book makes total sense. But not letting teenagers read it is frankly, ridiculous. If the sole reason for banning books is to “protect” children from harsh issues, we have to face that taking away the book doesn’t take away those issues.
If anything, a reader hearing Charlie’s horrifying experience with drugs warns of the severe consequences of behavior like this. In the third part of the book, Charlie realizes he cut off a ton of his hair - without strategy - at a …show more content…
Real people are dealing with the same exact topics in their own lives. Charlie, the main character, could easily exist at Staples High School. He is not some alien teenager experiencing high school in a way that no other kid ever has. Certain things he goes through, like having social anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, are not foreign to high school students. Anxiety disorders affect 25% of all teens and 30% of all teen girls. A kid in that 25% percent could read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and feel less alone in their