Letter to Ms. Berner

Dear Mrs. Berner,
  It’s impossible to deny that books are getting darker and darker every year. It’s also impossible to deny that book banning is becoming a more frequent action. In the past 3 years, there have been over 1000 books that were banned or challenged. WHy do people ban books? To keep mature content out of the hands of children, or because parents complain about the themes it holds. A perfect example is the “Harry Potter” series, with it’s themes of witchcraft and racism. It may be in good intentions, but it is still wrong to ban books.

Banning books takes away choice. The kids should have the right to choose what they read. However, banning books takes away that option. Kids need to have freedom to read what they want. When we take that away, we are taking their freedoms away. Is that what we had in mind when these books were banned? No. We were concerned for the children. The people thought the children would be safe if they were ignorant to all the problems facing the world. Authors and editors also think this is wrong. The editor for “Inexcusable” states “I don’t, as a rule, like to do this on young adult books. I dont like to compromise on how kids really talk. I don’t want to acknowledge those f-ing gatekeepers.” It is not appropriate to choose what kids read. The decision is always left up to the individual. But book banning leaves the decision up to the banner, which is wrong.

 These books don’t necessarily have a negative effect. Meghan Cox Gurdon states that “Reading about homicide doesn’t turn a man into a murderer; reading about cheating on exams won’t make a kid break the honor code.” Some people agree with her view, and even say that it is helpful. One teenage blogger says that we can’t “shut them out from the outlet of experiencing difficult events and feelings.” It’s true. Kids cannot remain ignorant to all the challenges in life, and that is what banning books is doing. Kids who do not read YA books are oblivious to the challenges and dangers surrounding them. These books teach children and teenagers alike many valuable lessons about life. They can be harsh and heartbreaking, but they are an important step in teaching our children. We can’t deprive them of these lessons. These are not supposed to be happy books. They are supposed to teach and help people, especially the people who can relate, like victims of drug abuse and child abuse. Ellen Hopkins, The author of Glass, Crank, Burned, and other drug abuse books says that during a book signing, a girl who mirrored the girl in her books came up to her, explaining her story after reading “Crank”. “That book turned her around”, Ellen Hopkins states. Is it really right to ban books after seeing the positive effect they have had on the people who have read them? That will create more problems for lost teenagers who need help.

Third, are people really banning books to help kids, or do they feel contempt toward the books and ban them for personal reasons? J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series was banned in a Catholic School for it’s themes of witchcraft and occults. But Deborah Caldwell says “There are others who say the books model disrespect for adults.” There are no reasons to ban books on the grounds of disrespect. That’s selfish and proves that people ban books for personal reasons. It was also done without consultation. You should hear everyone’s opinion before a book is banned. Rick Hudson, who sends his kids to the school says “I am upset it was done without talking to anyone about it.” This brings the motives of the banning into question. It is not fair to ban books like that without giving anyone forewarning. That does not give the reader’s parents a voice in the banning. VERY unfair, indeed.

 Despite all this, book banning does have it’s positives. There is much mature content in books, some which should not fall into the hands of young readers. In the article Looking at “Flowers in the Attic” by V.C. Andrews, with it’s themes of incest, you should have no problem seeing why that book was banned. It was banned with the children’s best interests at heart. But it’s not like the Internet does not have mature content as well. According to Sherman Alexie, author of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, “There’s nothing in book that even pales to what kids can find on the Internet.” The real problem may not be the books themselves, but the people who choose to read them. We can’t really say that all book banning is bad, but it’s fair to say that the banners are not looking at the issue carefully enough, so they do not comprehend everything surrounding the issues.

 It is not like all books are appropriate for children. But it is safe to say that it is not up to the adults to decide what children can and can’t read. That is not what literature was made for. People against YA books need to think about that the next time they swoop down, looking for their next book to take as prey.

Sincerely,

Michael Norton