So, I figured I'd share with you something that is a bit more on the serious side. I hope you do not get upset by opinion essays, but that is the genre I am delving into today. I mean, we're not exactly The Huffington Post over here. Sorry, that's the way it is, but its MY blog, I'll do it MY way!
Anyway, allow me to introduce the topic: My opposition to ban books in a school library.
Banning books is a violation of our First Amendment rights. If someone is offended by a particular book, they have the choice to not read it--maybe even t not let their kid read it. However, trying to control other people's intake of media content is just plain wrong. A parent has no right to force an entire school to restrict its whole student body, faculty and staff from reading a book.
I find the act of book-banning to be deplorable and that school's moves to ban books will severely result in the degradation of this country's intellectual standing in the world. Parents these days should consider themselves lucky to have their child reading at all! Fewer and fewer children in this country are opening books these days. (Hell, my high school didn't even assign Summer reading for next years Seniors this year!) Ban a book? I thought banning video games was bad, but this is ridiculous!
Sheltering a high-school student from various content is hurting his or her coping, reasoning and perceptions of the real world. A parent's primary job is to prepare their young ones to mature and develop into happy and successful adults, however, censorship only diminishes their experience and holds back a teen's ability to deal with reality.
I say we should get rid of the atrocious abomination "Banned Book Week", seeing that all it really does is inadvertently teach kids that pretending something isn't there or ignoring it, fixes the problem. Denial is not an effective coping strategy, and trying to restrain people's intake is negligent and disrespectful of their rights and choices.
Let me ask a question: If other people, heaven forbid, do somehow manage to become morally and mentally corrupted in their thoughts and actions, simply through the reading of a book, how does that effect your life or your child? Who made you a hero? Stop trying to be a crusader. You may be allowed to tell your kids what they can't read, but how do you know that these books will affect others in the same way?
Tell you what, if people you know become corrupted from what they read, then you can just cut yourself off from those people. After all, it is not what's in the book, it is how our minds process the information. All you have to do is teach your children right from wrong, and to not believe everything what they read. This way, they can (AND SHOULD!) decide for themselves what is questionable.
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