Looking For Alaska Banned

After reviewing the list of banned and challenged books, I found one that is by one of my favorite authors. The book Looking For Alaska written by John Green was the sixth most challenged book last year for a “scene that may lead a student to sexual experimentation”(Top Ten Challenged Books of 2016 via YouTube). Looking for Alaska was challenged in the United States, and is currently the bout of a drawn out battle in Kentucky. At Marion County High School an upset parent wrote a letter to the high school’s principal claiming that it should be removed from the school library because it encourages children “to experiment with pornography, sex, drugs, alcohol and profanity” (The Guardian). John Green spoke out in defense of his book and asked his fans to join him in emailing the teacher that stood up to the concerned mother. The teacher claimed that the book should be included in the school’s curriculum because it is a quality piece of literature and the scene in question was taken out
I personally disagree with the challenge of Looking For Alaska. As stated in John Green’s video and facebook posts defending his works, books are meants to be interpreted as an entire work, not simply scenes pulled without context. The scene alone makes the story look incredibly graphic, but as part of the whole it is not concerning. I also disagree on the basis that I believe that a lot of important lessons can be learned from Looking for Alaska. Friendship, life, choices, and order are a few of the many themes that run throughout Looking For Alaska. Regardless of sexual content, which students of high school age should be able to tolerate, these messages are important for students to hear. Also, the heavy themes of intimacy, sex, and love are not ones that are not often found in libraries, therefore the eloquent wording of John Green should be students exposure to these