Amelie Borges, Class III
Photo Credit: Public Domain Pictures
Banning books is nothing new, but in recent years the number of banned and challenged books has grown significantly. Books bans are the result of concerns about the appropriateness of a book or about how it might be offensive to specific groups of people. There are, however, sometimes concerning reasons behind why books are challenged or banned. Current challenges cite topics such as race, gender, religion, and the LGBTQ+ community. There is also the question of freedom of speech in this country and how true it is if the voices that speak through these books are being silenced. Book bans can have major effects on schools and curriculums. High schools across the United States struggle to provide books that are banned. This prevents students from having the ability to learn about a variety of perspectives and topics that are important to understand and can help people to explore their own identity.
New York City schools are not immune to the effects of book bans. Some banned and challenged books in New York City include but are not limited to: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, 1984 by George Orwell, Stamped: Racism, Anti Racism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan among others. All of these books put a spotlight on topics that are commonly seen to be targeted by book bans. Books can be banned solely based on a small aspect of the story or the overarching theme. It is important for schools to provide access to all types of books, not just a curated collection that focuses on topics that are picked in accordance with the preferences of a very specific group of people and disregard other identities. This could lead to a narrow minded way of looking at the world and cause students to be unaware of other ideas.
Our school in particular has not faced specific bans on books from the city or state and the curriculum in the English department is geared towards providing a variety of texts to be read and available in the classroom. The texts are assessed often to make sure they are providing students with inclusive and interesting topics to explore. This is something every student in every school should have access to.
Overall book bans in schools are an issue that needs to be addressed. Keeping students from learning about different topics and perspectives is damaging to current and future generations and puts educators in a position where they are forced to teach only the opinions of some and not many. Some institutions are offering the opportunity to read banned books and fight back against these bans. For instance, the Brooklyn Public Library hosts a website called Books Unbanned that provides 13-21 year olds with a free library card and access to this range of books. This opportunity is very important and is a way to prevent book bans from having power over students.
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