Banned Books Conflict

Hey there, fellow bloggers. Here's a random question... have you ever read a banned book? I've read two: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I read both of these in my school last year, as it was required, though it's banned in many other schools. I found out today that Lord of the Flies, Night, and strangely Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are banned in some schools too.

The reason for the ban isn't because it has a discouraging meaning. It's because of the extreme profanity within them. It is said that such words shouldn't be used in classroom conditions, as they are way too inappropriate. They are discriminatory words and are too harsh for kids, even if these kids are in high school. Sometimes the reason for the ban isn't just the language, but the content itself. Perhaps the actions of the characters are too... adult-like. The characters might be getting involved in situations and scenes that kids (yes, this includes high school students) shouldn't be reading and discussing about.

Now the real question is... should the books really be banned?

People say that high school students can handle inappropriate content, and the books shouldn't be banned because the main purpose of including the books in the curriculum is because of the lessons they contain altogether. Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird had a ton of bad words that made it hard for me to read. Personally, I am completely against the use of profanity. I don't use such words, EVER. Working with these books were really uncomforting for this reason. But overall, the story and lessons were good, minus the bad parts. Lord of the Flies had some bad words, but I never thought of it as something worth being full-on banned. The other two I mentioned just above, though, are reasonable for being challenged. I'm sorry to say this, but I am kind of a supporter of banning the books. If a book has too much inappropriate content, then the kids will get distracted by it and possibly miss out on the main story. Some kids will find it funny, and some will find it unsettling. However, it's hard to say whether novels like the classic To Kill a Mockingbird should be banned. It has really bad language and situations at times, but the overall lesson is meaningful. Kids will miss out on that if it is banned. Is there another book out there that does the same job explaining the moral, maybe even better? Perhaps, but the classics aren't something we should miss out on. Should we then resort to just reading excerpts? It doesn't sound like a bad idea, for now.

It's a really sticky topic, so I'll leave it at that. It's some food for thought.

See you next week!