Banned Books
Posted on
To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye, Diary of Anne Frank, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Hate U Give, What Girls Are Made Of…. These books all have something in common. They’re all literature banned from being read or taught in schools due to references to religion, race, and timelines. I feel banning these books honestly doesn’t accomplish much – I do believe it limits exposure and may stifle the ability to expand your horizons.
History is certainly not perfect. But I also recall the quote, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.
Writing about this might be considered risky, but life is full of risks. Marie Curie’s risky research on radioactivity lead to the development of X-Ray machines, Jackie Robinson changed baseball when he became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB), and Milton Hershey’s risky business decisions made Chocolate available to all levels of income at a time when it was largely only available to the wealthy, the list can go on forever.
My point is, I believe that keeping people from learning and reading certain works of literature won’t protect them. It will only keep them from being exposed to freedom of public speech, feeling the right to speak their mind, and to form their own opinions.
Personally, when I was in middle and high school, I was exposed to reading The Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird, and other great books, and I felt inspired to speak my mind. I feel I was inspired by the literature I was exposed to. I was even inspired to start journaling and to speak my mind more when I was in high school. So, when I think about it, if I hadn’t been exposed to certain literature when I was in high school, I might not be a blogger for ASERT. I might not have been as inspired to share my thoughts or be inspired to consider the viewpoints of others. And honestly, I feel the kids in school should have the right to make that choice on their own. And again, the past was not perfect – far from it – but because of the past we learned from it and are still improving.
By learning about both the good and the bad, successes and failures, you might end up inspired to take risks. You might gain the confidence and skills to be more independent in the long run.
That’s all I’ve got for now, but until next time, Sarah
By the way, I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird, Diary of Anne Frank, and Picking Cotton, and am currently reading Phantom of the Opera (I highly recommend these books to read). Here is a list of other Banned Books.