Censorship on Books Speech

Censorship. Who would ever think that novels such as Of Mice and Men, The Catcher in the Rye, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Where's Waldo, and The Lorax would be banned from schools? Well prepare for the future. As of 2008 the Online Book Page Website and the ALA (American Library Association) recorded over 30,000 books that have been the objects of censorship or censorship attempts for grades K-12. 30,000. Its not just a number, it's a rapidly growing movement that will continue unless it is stopped. Most frequently books are challenged or censored based on profanity, violence, sex, homosexuality, witch craft, new age philosophies, portrayals of rebellious children, or racist and sexist language. The Savannah Morning News reported in November of 1999 that a teacher at the Windsor Forest High School required seniors to obtain permission slips before they could read Hamlet, Macbeth, or King Lear. The teacher's school board had pulled the books from class reading lists, citing "adult language" and references to sex and violence. Many students and parents protested the school's board's policy, which also included the outright banning of numerous other books. Novels should not be banned due to language, sexual references, and adult content.
Though many students wouldn't mind if novels were banned, classic pieces of literature are the world's history and history should defiantly not be banned. Shakespeare is a classic example and no stranger to censorship; the Associated Press reported in March of 1996 that Merrimack, NH schools had pulled Shakespeare's Twelfth Night from the curriculum after the school board passed a "prohibition of alternative lifestyle instruction" act. Twelfth Night includes a number of romantic entanglements including a young woman who disguises herself as a boy. Even though the times may have changed history was meant to be taught and enjoyed throughout the world. In Mark Twain's lifetime, his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were... [continues]

Read full essay