From picture books to chapter books, works of literature have been banned and censored across the nation. According to "Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books, over 32 different states have issued more than 2,500 book bans from the 2021-2022 school year. These books all share themes of what are considered controversial topics in the U.S, such as culture, race, LGBTQ+, government rule, history, and violence. In Ohio, only one district, Hudson City Schools, has banned books. Last year they banned the following books, A Girl on the Shore by Inio Asano, Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe, and 642 Things to Write About by San Francisco Writers’ Guild. In the US banned classics include The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Lord of the Flies just to name a few. For most cases, schools ban books that are deemed not appropriate for students by parents and the community. The people who want these books banned feel that the themes in them are inappropriate for their children to learn.
One of the more recent and popular book censorships is on all of Roald Dahl’s work. Puffin Books and the Roald Dahl Story Company partnered with Inclusive Minds, an organization that aims to create more diversity in childrens’ books, to remove potential offensive language from his books. There have been hundreds of changes made to the original texts. The Roald Dahl Story Company stated, “It's not unusual to review the language and the changes made have been “small and carefully considered.” Some of the words removed are fat, ugly, crazy, female, mother, and father. Enormous will be used instead of fat, woman or people will be used instead of female/females, and instead of mothers and fathers parents will be used.
The censorship has appeared to do the opposite of what it was intended to with changes that have offended and confused many people. Many believe that there are bigger problems in the U.S to worry about such as gun violence or the state of the economy. People want these issues to become a priority instead of banning literature.
Lowellville language arts teacher Mrs. DeLuca has stated her opinion on book bans. She does not believe that books should be banned. Mrs. DeLuca thinks that the reasoning behind people banning books is based on their own personal beliefs, political, or religious views, but many of the people banning the books have not even read or understand the books they are banning. She believes that if students know that a book has been banned they will be more interested in reading it. If the students are old enough, are at a certain maturity level, and the books have been approved by the school or administration, then she believes that they should be allowed to read more “controversial” books. She also said that she would feel comfortable teaching a majority of the banned books in her classroom. Mrs. DeLuca said, “Reading is educational. Students should want to learn about things and people different from themselves.”
In a sitdown interview with Makenna Beeson, a sophmore, and Mykenzie Rotunno, a senior, they shared their opinion on the book bannings. They are both readers inside and outside of the classroom and feel strongly about the censorship and banning of literature. They think that the reason why people want certain books banned is to shelter children from opinions and ideas that they don't believe in. Makenna said that a banned book she has read is The Book Thief, which follows a young girl with a love for books and a Jew living in her basement during the Holocaust. Makenna believes that this book is banned because it teaches that the world is not a peaceful place and some people are scared of that fact. Mykenzie’s favorite book series is the Harry Potter series. She learned that you have the power to stop things and situations from reading this series. She believes the series is banned due to the magic element that can go against certain religions. When asked how they would feel if Lowellville started to ban books they said that they would continue to read the banned books and would protest.
Comments