Opposition_of_Censorship

Opposition of Censorship The issue of censorship and book banning are major issues in the lives of teachers and parents. Many individuals feel that it is necessary to ban books, while others find it ridiculous. The Cather In The Rye by J.D. Salinger is one of those books that was and still is banned today. Just like this well known classic, many other amazing books are banned for the simple reason that they don’t agree with society. In this day and age, parents want to always be there for their children protecting them and making their decisions for them. This mentality is what brings about book banning in the first place. Many parents feel that the language or the message being portrayed by the book is risqué for their child to read. However, what parents don’t realize is that no matter how hard they try to protect their child, they are going to find out what they’re trying to hide from them. This outlook is of one who disagrees with book banning. Along with their child finding out, there are many other reasons why book banning should not take place. For one, during the time period some of these books are written, speaking with bad language is acceptable and sexual scenes are not seen as outrageous. Another reason book banning seems a little silly is because the parents can’t blame their children for reading the books instead the parents should turn to the teachers. It is the teachers who are knowledgeable and old enough to know what the content of the book is and its age appropriateness. Just because it has foul language doesn’t mean banning the book is necessary rather it means not giving the book to students who can’t handle it. Censorship has been a part of society for many years and it is still a major issue in which people fight over. Children are always learning new things and discovering new ways to do things on their own. Censorship first begins with parents and their view on certain issues. Parents are always trying to shelter their children from falling into a trap and inevitably getting hurt. This is just a parent’s instinct stepping in doing this. However, there are times when they need to step back and let their child discover new things such as different types of books. Growing up children are taught to read new books at different levels to challenge themselves. However, with book banning they are limited to the material they are reading and the toughness of the material. So when parents step in and tell their kids not to do something it just gives them that much more curiosity to find out whats being hidden from them. In this case, the parents are taking them away from the way the world and society is. The best thing to do is to expose such information to the children while they are young so they are not so surprised when they find out about it on their own. Also, this will help them feel independent because they are being given the choice to accept the information or reject it. This is shown in the novel Cather in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Holden, a young man is going to school away from his parents and is faced with the task of fending for himself and making his own decisions. However, during his time away from home he experiences some unpleasant situations that he is never been exposed to before. As a result, Holden is kicked out of school and is forced to go home. If Holden’s parents would have exposed him to some kind of failure in his life he would not be feeling so defeated by this experience. Parents are the main facilitators of what their children are exposed to and how they are exposed to it. Exposing children to foul language may be a major leap but in the end it is a part of history. In the novel Cather in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, foul language and underage drinking are talked about and expressed by the main character, Holden. In this novel, he expresses himself through his stories with a good amount of foul words. He even alludes to having sexual acts as a teenager. These two issues are why some individuals think book banning is the right thing. However, what they don’t take into consideration is the time period in which the book was written. In this case, the Catcher in the Rye is written in the 1950’s. During this time period it is not unusual to see young teenagers smoking, drinking, and using some not so pleasant choice words. This behavior is just a part of growing up during this time. If it wasn’t for those new actions in society we would not have the rules that are in place today. An example of this is the drinking age; through the 1950’s they found out that the drinking age is a little low and needs to be raised. But by not having such actions in this society the history aspect is lost. These actions all revert to a historical time period taking that away would leave a missing part of the way society is today. Parents are not the only ones who judge those in favor of book banning, teachers too feel the same way. Teachers are the ones who are fully responsible for the books their students read. According to the teacher and their views depends on the books children receive. There are many teachers who follow and find it necessary to have books banned. However, they don’t take in consideration what the book is really about. They just look to see if it is banned and then move on to the next book. By doing this, they are surpassing some classic books that teach good moral lessons. Being a teacher, it is their responsibility to know the content of the book and the age appropriateness of it. They should not need the parents of the students limiting them from the books they choose or the banned book list. If they know the content and the message of it they would know it is a good book that contains some new life experiences. However, if they are really knowledgeable about the books they offer, they would not hand out a book to read that younger children can’t handle. An example of this is in the novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It is this novel that witchcraft, lying, bad language, and sexual explicitness is displayed between the characters. The content of this book is geared to a more mature audience. By knowing the content of this novel, teachers would not need a banned book list to help them decide if the book is right for their students rather their personal experience of getting information on the book would be enough. The Crucible brings up many controversial issues and is mainly geared to high school students at the most. Many individuals will still claim that censorship is the correct thing to do when choosing the right book to read. Those in favor of censorship do have a good idea of why they think it is right. The way society is today it is mainly influenced by media or other technological sources. Many individuals are strong believers in following what is seen and done on TV. So when a story on book banning comes on and the importance of it those who are greatly influenced by TV will follow that outlook. As those individuals take their side on the issue, they will begin to tell their friends and family and influence them to feel the same way. Another reason that many individuals will be in favor of book banning is that they might have a bad personal experience that the book talks about. Therefore they would not want their child to read it and experience the same things they had. Censorship is in our society daily. Many take part in seeing the greatness of it while others do not. There are many reasons why censorship and book banning are not necessary. Some of these reasons include, with book banning you are sheltering your child from experiencing things they will eventually find out about themselves. Another example is, most books are written in a time period where the actions of the characters are acceptable. By taking away those actions a part of history is destroyed or lost. One final thing is goes against censorship is that teachers are wise and knowledgeable enough to know the content and age appropriateness of a book. They can tell which books will be right for the age group they teach. Works Cited Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print. Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Viking, 1953. Print.