Book Banning in School Libraries is Harmful to Students [Opinion]
Credit to Avery Witherbee
On a shelf, six books stand out from the rest by showing their covers. Parents have shared their disdain for the books at school board meetings.
A major discourse has been going on over book banning in school libraries. This started after the Wentzville school district banned the book “The Bluest Eye.” This book showcases the main character’s oppression due to race and gender. Many other books being challenged include topics of identity, society, and injustice.
Most people that are for banning these books argue that having these books banned protects children from difficult topics and graphic scenes. Many of these books include sexual scenes which leads to them be challenged to “protect children.” The harsh reality is that in this day and age sexualization is all around us. On average kids are given complete and unmonitored access to the internet by the age of eight according to a survey done by Microsoft. Expecting that they’re not already exposed to “graphic scenes” is very unreasonable.
The beauty of literature is that even though you may not relate to the characters, you get to see things through a different point of view. High school students are at an age where challenging their pre-existing ideas is extremely important, that is precisely what these books do. Keeping books like “The Bluest Eye” in school libraries is imperative simply to give kids an opportunity to read them.
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