Parents and Teachers tell students to Read Books, Except for Some Books
The surge in book bans occurring throughout America.
Welcome to the EPG Newsletter, an initiative of SAR High School’s Elections, Politics, and Government Club. Please subscribe to the publication if you have not done so already by clicking on the button below so you can receive all future articles in your inbox.
Please also share the publication with others so that they too, can read the articles written by students.
By Emily Friedlander
Book bans are back and happening on what seems to be a larger scale than any time in the recent history of our country. “The politicization of the topic is what's different from what I’ve seen in the past,” said Britten Follett, the chief executive of content at Follett School Solutions, one of the country’s largest providers of books to K-12 schools. “It’s being driven by legislation, it’s being driven by politicians aligning with one side or the other. And in the end, the librarian, teacher or educator is getting caught in the middle.” Parents, activists, and school board officials are challenging the inclusion of books in school curricula, most of which relate to topics such as race, gender, and sexuality.
“It’s a pretty startling phenomenon here in the United States to see book bans back in style, to see efforts to press criminal charges against school librarians,” said Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive of the free-speech organization PEN America. Conservative activists are justifying efforts to ban books based on the protection of the students. For example, the mayor of Ridgeland, Mississippi announced he would withhold funding for the Madison county library system until books with LQBTQ themes were removed. Additionally, Texas state representative Matt Krause created a list of 800 books to ban, most of which were written by women, people of color, and LGBTQ writers.
“Maus”, a graphic novel series about the horrors of the Holocaust, has appeared on some of the lists of books to be banned from school curricula. The book is written in cartoon form with the Jews depicted as mice, and Nazis as cats. This past January, a Tennessee school board voted on the removal of this book collection from their eighth-grade curriculum, reasoning that the book portrays “objectionable language and nudity”. The removal of Maus from the curriculum is just one of many recent examples of school boards taking action to remove books that they decide shouldn’t be read by students for any number of reasons.
Parents are also getting involved. Based on lists of titles that should be banned that have appeared on social media, parents have asked their schools about their children’s access to such books. “The bottom line is if parents are concerned about something, politicians need to pay attention,” Tiffany Justice, a former school board member in Indian River County, Fla., and a founder of Moms for Liberty said. “2022 will be a year of the parent at the ballot box.”
Other parents and students disagree, however, saying that the banning of books violates their right to learn. Commenting on the emergent trend of banned books in US schools, American writer Laurie Halse Anderson said that “By attacking these books, by attacking the authors, by attacking the subject matter, what they are doing is removing the possibility for conversation, you are laying the groundwork for increasing bullying, disrespect, violence, and attacks.”
Many people feel this situation has been unduly politicized. Shirley Robinson, executive director of the 5,000-member Texas Library Association, told Stateline. “We haven’t seen or heard of challenges like these probably in the last 40 years, It’s definitely become politicized.” The classroom, which had previously been seen as simply a place for students to learn is now being thrown in the middle of contentious political debates. Many on the right support banning books with content they deem objectionable and are urging school boards to ban titles on lists made by them, while many on the left hold the opinion that students should be exposed to a diverse array of books from a range of backgrounds and perspectives.
A number of organizations feel as though the book bans are limiting a curriculum's purpose which is to give students the opportunity to read books and learn material they might never see again and to choose what they want to read. They feel that there needs to be a stop to the continuous “organized political attack on books.” This attack is limiting freedom of expression and meaningful conversation in schools, which helps prepare students to take on the world and deal with opposing points of view. These organizations feel we must fight to defend freedom for the future of America, its students.
Some say that we need to raise independent children who can think for themselves and that what kids read in books doesn't affect their lives substantially. Most children will not go out and buy drugs when reading about a character who does. The focus of this argument is that kids need to learn to say no to a book that will have a negative impact on them, the same way they need to be able to say no to harmful things (like drugs) in the future. Furthermore, giving kids the opportunities to learn about various races, genders, and sexuality will make them more well-rounded and expose them to a diversity of cultures.
The banning of books has certainly been receiving more attention in recent months, and people on both sides of the issue will most definitely be watching closely to see what happens with this trend.
Any opinions or views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of SAR High School, nor does it speak for the entire EPG student body.