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  • Essay / Censorship of books in schools - 1553

    Censorship in schools is a major crisis. Across the United States, books are being pulled from shelves because school boards want to censor them. People who want to censor books in school systems would deprive students of essential writing skills, while also depriving students of the rights to free thought and expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. The most important question people have regarding censorship is not whether it should be used, rather how it should be used (Nakaya 16). For this reason, the challenge almost everywhere is to attempt to remove, or if possible restrict, books based on the objections of an individual or group (American Library Association 1 of 2). For this reason, most people end up accepting the removal of the book everywhere. Therefore, without school board policy printed in some schools, they will continue to face book challenges (School Book Bans: Meaning or Censorship? 2 of 4). People continue to challenge books because, in the United States, schools have banned more than 20 books and challenged at least 50 others. Reports of challenged books are down, but with more books being challenged, the library association has no idea what that number will be (DiBlasio 1-2 of 2). Sometimes the number of challenged books decreases. In fact, challenged books went from 513 books in 2008 to 348 in 2010 (DiBlasio 1 of 2). Additionally, in 2001, 96 books survived a censorship challenge in Texas school districts, but another 38 were banned (book banning is never the 1 of 2 answer). But when books are banned in schools, it is not enough to satisfy a person's objections and the narrow perspectives of a person or group (banning books is never the 1 of 2 answer). If a group's point of view is respected and considered in the middle of the document, it stimulates ideas and advances knowledge (banning books is never the 1 of 2 answer). Allowing books to be in certain places is good. but if you ban them, how can anyone speak out? In fact, banning books in schools is the first step toward autocratic control of students' thinking and creativity (School Book Ban: Meaning or Censorship? 3 of 4). Additionally, when a school bans books, it stifles the viewpoints of others and restricts the point of view of a group or person (banning books is never the 1 of 2 answer). Overall, recognizing the stark difference between adults' and children's freedom of expression makes no sense (Nakaya 31). Censorship should not take place in schools because it deprives students of their rights. If you censor someone or something, you only take away their right to express themselves, or to speak how they want, or even to read what they want..