Reasons For Banning Books

Improved Essays
For thousands of years, books have entertained and educated the masses. To ban a book is downright unjust in the way it forbids a person to communicate their thoughts, as well as restricts people from enjoying a piece of literature. Books as a whole are excellent teachers, and show another face to the world, and should not be banned. Moreover, the banning of books infringes on the freedom of speech and the freedom to read.
Books wear an innumerable amount of topics in their pages, making them among the best educators available. To quote “Reasons for Banning Books, and 5 Much Better Reasons Not To” by Robin Beery, “…[books] teach us compassion…vocabulary, and social skills.” Books can teach us socially and intellectually. Books provide concepts
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Novels may contain coarse language or racial themes, and many more topics and have been banned because of these ideas. Simply having offensive content is not a valid reason to ban a book. More classics such as Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, or Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian have faced bans for, according to Beery, “…exploring racial themes or depicting racism directed at various groups of people.” Racism and prejudice exist in the real world, obviously, and exposing children to these themes shows them reality, which helps them differentiate between fantasy and reality. Kurt Vonnegut said in “I Am Very Real,” “…words really don’t damage children much…” and “It was evil deeds and lying that hurt us.” The content of the novels doesn’t influence a child to become a bad person, but introducing and teaching them about the content is what really matters. Additionally, books containing descriptions and themes of drug-ridden or homosexual lifestyles have also had the unfortunate demise by being banned. While this may not be the most appropriate for children, if the reader can perceive what the novel is trying to say, it should not be banned. People should be exposed to lifestyles that are different than their own because it can help them become more tolerant and understanding of different people. So, while some novels may have offensive content, they should not be banned because they can serve as a way to expose the masses to topics they may not hear about or are not usually comfortable

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