Such great foresight and open-mindedness was put into making one of the founding principles of our country 230 years ago, the First Amendment, or the home of our freedom of speech and the protection of our freedom of the press. And yet…today, books are challenged or attempted to be pulled from shelves of libraries, schools, book stores, every single day. Hundreds of books a year.
Books are challenged mostly out of the desire to protect – usually kids – from content that is believed to be potentially harmful. Bad language, or “questionable” ideas, or sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Regardless, banning books or censorship is really scary business. It is the thing that creepy dystopic young adult novels are made of. And what our bad-ass founding fathers were striving to protect us from. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, in Texas v. Johnson, said, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
“And yet…today, books are challenged or attempted to be pulled from shelves of libraries, schools, book stores, every single day. Hundreds of books a year.”
Every September libraries, schools, book-sellers – the whole book community – come together to celebrate our right to read – whatever we want – by acknowledging Banned Book Week. It is never a problem getting enough books together from the shelves of Bee Hive to create a display. It seems that three-quarters of the inventory has been challenged one time or another. The display always draws attention and inevitably generates great conversations. People are shocked by the books and why they’ve been challenged. Many people don’t realize that books being challenged or banned is even an issue. Much less that it occurs in this country every day.
Clearly, there is much to protect our kids from. Big things. And maybe – all things considered – censorship could be considered as low on that list. But imagine if Roald Dahl, a favorite among book-challengers, stories were made unavailable? Or Dr. Seuss? Hop on Pop considered parent abuse; The Lorax portrays the foresting industry in an arguable negative way. Classics like The Outsiders – family dysfunction; Catcher In The Rye – profanity; and To Kill A Mockingbird – racial slurs? John Green and Rainbow Rowell – modern-day literary heroes who address significant issues in real ways that 12-year-olds and up, turn to again and again are constantly on the chopping block. Our kids would be lost without these young adult gurus. Who would they turn to for validation, familiarity, relief, etc, etc. ?
There is so much to lose if art of any kind is censored in any way. Free thought. Creativity. Ideas. Change. Expansion. Conversation. All things that we value as a culture. And are necessary in order to cultivate our kids into the grown-ups they’ll need to be in order to face all that is ahead.
We gotta keep our books on the shelves and protect our kids from censorship. To celebrate our right to read, definately. But also to celebrate what being human is all about.
Another great post. What are your favorite banned books?
Thank you Judy! Most classics have been challenged one time or another – Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, Anne of Green Gables. All very close to my heart. To be honest with you – I think I prefer the books that have been challenged – they’re the ones that have all the interesting content!