Dear Ms. Berner:
“Books take these fearful
things and make them approachable to young adults,” said David Levithan. Books
can take heavy issues and make them easier for teens to understand. Banning
books stops that from happening. M.S. 51 should not ban books.
Banning books has
been a practice in the U.S. since the 1920’s, when the Boston Public Library
kept controversial books in a locked room. Many other times in history books
have been banned, in most cases in an effort to limit knowledge. Many parents
think that reading about difficult issues will have a negative effect on their
teenagers. I think that young adults should have the right to decide themselves
what is appropriate to read.
The
teenage years are some of the most difficult of a person’s life. Many teenagers
feel lonely and isolated and a lot of times the only people they can relate to
are characters in books. “Librarians and book sellers say that even pitch black
books have value,” said the author of “Teen Fiction Plots are Darker and
Starker.” Teenagers find comfort and can be consoled by fictional characters. If
a character is experiencing the same thing you are experiencing it makes you
feel less lonely and scared. I think banning books in schools is wrong because
teenagers and their parents should be the ones deciding what is appropriate.
Teens can explore dark and gruesome themes and use them to explore their own
issues,” wrote David Leviathan. If Middle School 51 were to ban books, access
to a lot of very valuable information would be cut off. Banning books only has
negative impacts.
Banning
books is also wrong because it limits the amount of information accessible to
teenagers. Books teach valuable lessons and if books were banned some teens
might never be able to learn lessons that could help them later on in life.
“Books taught me lessons that I never could have learned elsewhere,” said
Suzanne Collins, author of the frequently banned trilogy The Hunger Games.
Most teens are not at the level of maturity where listening to their parents is
a priority very high on their list. When teens read books about other teens,
they’re more likely to learn valuable lessons than if their parents try to
teach them. Reading about someone’s experiences can be more impactful and teens
are more likely to learn through reading. “Millions of teens read because they
are sad, lonely, and enraged…the especially dark and dangerous books will save
them,” said Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of An
American Indian and fighter of his own demons. Books help kids learn to
cope with heavy issues and learn how to help themselves.
Some
parents, religious groups, and school officials say that young adult fiction is
“too harsh” for young minds to process. “The thing that kept hitting me was
these kids dealing with their own mortality, and how difficult that might be
for some eleven or twelve year olds reading this book [The Fault In Our
Stars],” said Betsy Schmechel the principal of a middle school in Riverside
California that has banned The Fault In Our Stars. But teenagers live
extremely complex lives, and having guidance from books can be the best thing
that happens to some. I disagree with Ms. Schmechel’s statement because teenagers
understand what mortality means, and facing your own mortality is something that
is a part of life. Having read The Fault In Our Stars myself, I know
that it teaches teens important lessons how to deal with mortality and the
death of a loved one. “Most of the controversy is centered around witchcraft
and occult themes,” said Tania deLuzuriaga, regarding banning books. Reading a
book probably doesn’t make a teen believe in magic or want to change their
religion. But reading books can help teens explore themselves and who they are
and what they want to be.
In
conclusion, MS 51 shouldn’t ban books. Books can help teenagers through the
hardest year of their lives. Teenagers and their parents should be allowed to decipher
what is appropriate for them. In the real world, there are harsh realities, and
banning books can’t protect teenagers from these realities. But reading can
help to prepare them.
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