Essay On Banning Books

A great divide among the human race is our differing views of the world and our opinions. This divide has spanned from the B.C. till now in the 21st century. There is not a country that has been immune to it. Nothing is more obvious of that divide than in the banning of books in our public libraries, schools and institutions of higher learning. This type of literary censorship has banned great classics like The Catcher in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm and To Kill a Mocking Bird have all been banned in some way and somewhere in some point of time. Books of all types are a great teaching tool in the class room and in life. The practice of censorship and banning books goes against the people’s freedom of choice that our ancestors fought for and whether the subject or topics of books contain racial slurs, sexual innuendos, religious or political views or even witchcraft the individual should make this choice for themselves and for their children.
When tracing the origin of the word censor the roots go back to ancient Rome around 500 B.C. Romans had the belief that in order to mold the character of its citizens they
In the case of book banning the government or school is clearly violating its citizens First Amendment rights. It does not state that the government or any other governing body has the right to pick and choose and what they feel is appropriate. But the First Amendment is being challenged every year. Statistics show that between the years of 2000-2009, one thousand four hundred and thirty two books were being challenged. (ALA, 2013) The censorship and banning of books is a way to control and limit the scope of material that is available to students in schools, classrooms, college campuses and libraries. Government censorship goes back directly to Socrates who was executed for his ideas and how they influenced the youth of his time and censorship continues today in the 21st