From library shelves to trash cans: Why are we banning books?

Our history is written in books; the best way to learn from our mistakes is to read. Across the recent history of the world, book burnings have acted as an extreme form of censorship, from the public streets in Nazi Germany to the present day. Book bannings happen on a more local level, from organized groups to school districts. To have a book banned in a school district means restricting its access to students by removing it from school libraries and classrooms.

The purpose of books is to inform, inspire, grow, and educate: something we lose when books are banned. Books are often banned due to themes of violence, racism, LGBTQ+, or social and political viewpoints that challenge community standards. Through this act, it can limit perspectives and cultural awareness. This not only takes a toll on the progress made towards inclusivity but towards critical thinking, by only offering a limited amount of perspectives. Banning books not only takes from the students but also from the teachers, for the choice for censorship is chosen over the expertise of teachers. According to the American Library Association, 72% of all book censorship attempts in schools are carried out by “groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members, and administrators”(ala.org). By censoring important topics like identity, gender, race, history, and our culture, we remove the room for discussion, and the topics are avoided instead of being explored.

Iara Zulevich, a junior at SCHS stressed that “Books that advise people about the dangers of fascist, communist, and corrupt governments are very important when it comes to preventing the horrors of the past from repeating.” History is taught through books, without works that warn about the good, the bad, and the ugly: how are we supposed to avoid making the same mistakes without teaching these lessons in a classroom?

However, books written with violent, sexual, racist, or controversial content might make the idea of banning books in a school setting understandable. Works like 1984 by George Orwell, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, or Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury are all works that face bans in school districts across the nation. The ban of Fahrenheit 451 is ironic because it is a work about critiquing the banning of books and censorship, which warns about the damage censorship can create, like the loss of free thought and silencing of stories. Conversely, these books in the spotlight for bans are written with uncomfortable truths that bring up discussions about right and wrong rather than with the intention to promote harm to its audience. This is said best by a junior IB student at SCHS, Sebastian Ebbert, who believed that “…the worst thing we can do is to ban [books],” because in place of censorship for controversial or potentially harmful work, “we [should] let people decide on their own what to make of it—and if the ideas truly are bad, people simply won’t believe them.”

In the end, school districts that issue book bans out of discomfort or controversy, deprive students of perspectives that challenge bias and form discussions about how they should feel about it. Districts should use works as tools for students to engage with, not as threats. Books are banned in districts due to themes that challenge a community’s standards or perspective. It takes education in a classroom and acts as a violation of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, the press, and the right to have access to diverse ideas. These actions that are meant to shield students only end up hurting them, taking away their access to information about a topic they might not be familiar with, as well as erasing cultural awareness, knowledge of our history, and limits their bias. Censorship shouldn’t take place in a classroom, if we want to learn from our past, classrooms should be a space encouraging students to challenge their ideas through discussions, especially when the ideas are uncomfortable. Books should spark discussions, not be silenced. By silencing stories, ideas, voices, and experiences, we destroy the foundations of a free and diverse society instead of protecting it.