What do you think about BANNING BOOKS in libraries and schools?

Question

Here is a list of the 100 most banned and challenged books (2010-2019) in American school libraries, triggered by complaints from parents, educators and other groups.

"Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019", American Library Association, September 9, 2020.

https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019 (Accessed February 9, 2024)

Document ID: ed7826dc-f0a5-4e0b-80cc- 5d2d0d448986

This list includes several classics that many of us read and discussed in high school English class:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
1984 by George Orwell

and it also includes
The Holy Bible

What do you think? Should some books be banned for their content? And what about this specific list?

Leapfrog00 · Accepted Answer

I think it's ridiculous myself. It seems that the world is becoming soft and everything is offensive. I haven't read every one of those books banned, but I've read some, and from the looks of the ones I have read, I can see where these people are going with the ban... unfortunately.

To Kill a Mockingbird, I'm guessing people are claiming it's too racist because of the attorney and who the attorney is defending. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is another one that is probably too racist for people. The Diary of Anne Frank, the situation with the Nazis, also probably racist. And that's sad about that one is it's a REAL diary written by a REAL person and wasn't originally written by an author.

I love to read, I love to read all different types of books, and it sickens me to see books banned because a few people are offended. The way I see it, if they're so offended, they should go read something else. Children need to know that the world wasn't always fair to the characters or real people in those books, and by banning them, when those children get out into the real world, they're not going to know how to handle themselves.

The current book series I'm writing contains time travel, and my characters see quite a bit of unfair treatment to people in the past, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and there are times when my characters lend a hand to help these people suffering from the unfair treatment in the past. I'm sure if my book series ever got into schools, it would be banned also... just because of this.

It's going to end up to where so many books are going to be banned, and education is going to plumet, and people are going to end up stupid!

OlderAndWiser · Accepted Answer

I am okay with banning certain books from school libraries; we shouldn't be providing pornography to children. I am okay with not having explicit pornography in public libraries, but there is an obvious problem with deciding what is pornographic and what is not. Outside of public schools and libraries, I do not think books should be banned (with very limited exceptions for books that constitute a threat to public safety.)

purplepoppy · Accepted Answer

I think it's right to ban books promoting hateful ideology or "alternative" histories like holocaust denial or the pyramids were built by aliens. I'd also argue that as new evidence arises you need to scrap older books.

But as for storybooks I think you have to view them in the light of days they were written in and used as a window into the minds of people at the time. The question is do young children have that ability?

Amy10223 · Accepted Answer

All of those are classics. Of Mice and Men? That was made into a movie, as well as To Kill a Mockingbird and the Diary of Anne Frank.
I think it’s ridiculous to ban those. It’s an effort to hide truth from younger minds. It would be like trying to ban history.

ManOnFire · Answer

I am sadly not surprised by this. As for the Holy Bible, that has been banned multiple times in history in multiple cultures, especially in the middle East. It's just catching up here. We are moving further and further into a draconian age where thoughts and writings that aren't approved by the New Morons of today are being "canceled" and banned. Their pathway forward is towards ignorance and creating a weak, sensitive culture that can't function with others who don't think their way.

One day more and more regular every day words will start being considered offensive and bleeped out of YouTube videos and their titles, to the point where none of us will even know how to speak anymore or what to say. It's utter foolishness.

Lliam · Answer

Banning literature like:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
1984 by George Orwell

is insane. In fact, ironically, it's Orwellian.
It's an attempt to blot out history and keep kids/people from thinking.

The only books that should be banned from schools are those that normalize transgenderism.

Curmudgeon · Answer

It should be noted that there is a massive difference between banning a work and merely challenging a particular work if it is not age appropriate. In the latter, nobody is banning the work or even criticizing it, just simply noting it might not be something for which really small children are ready is quite different.

JacobJordan · Answer

There are a lot of books which should be banned from schools as it is up to the parents to educate children in certain subjects religion is one of those subjects. So is sexuality, and sex, and relationships, along with several other topics. Books focusing on those should not be in a school unless being used as an educational prop for example a human anatomy book that shows the male and female genitalia

DryGermanGuy · Answer

"It tells me that goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them!"  - Dr. Henry Jones, The Last Crusade

DaBiggestBird · Answer

I don’t know about most of those but two haven’t been banned in my school. We just finished Of Mice and Men, and we read TKAM last school year. Overall sounds pretty lame though, it’s like we reading some washed ass retarded sh*t about a girl sucking off a werewolf like my mom had to. THAT, is the kind of bullsh*t that warrants a banishment. I bet over 50% of children nowadays spam the N-word like a malfunctioning teleprompter, they can go cry about it to someone who cares like shut the f*ck up you fat b*tch. I was pointing that towards the triggered liberals who forced those bans by the way, making sure no one gets a tree trunk stuck up their rear end.

Kelley1 · Answer

No! Books should not be banned over words that should be banned because our society call the words racist. All mainstream sites, including GAG, are guilty of banning words.

Anonymous · Answer

Libraries probably should be limited to public domain educational and historical books. If you want something else you should probably buy it yourself. I'm not sure I understand why schools need their own librarians. In fact in the age of the internet The idea of the modern library is increasingly obsolete beyond a free location to access said information to improve oneself.

in that regard Liberties should perhaps not be spending soo much money on books at all, but rather computer display terminals. With books being more limited to the essentials of educational and historical information.

KittygosMeoWW · Answer

Books are very important to me no matter the topic, nothing should be taken away from libraries especially not these. The Bible is specifically uncalled for, I will be enrolling my child in private catholic school when the time comes if I’m unable to homeschool.

slatyb · Answer

The work of small closed minds. Complaints from parents equals "The book tells a story that doesn't match my entrenched beliefs, and if my child reads it they might start to think for themselves and disagree with me.

I have news for those parents -- that's going to happen anyway.

sawno · Answer

Libraries no, completely uncensored let anything be in there.
Schools is a different story, the books should be suitable for the age group. Like the "This book is gay" book that is teaching kids how to use grinder is not appropriate and should be banned. Pedophiles writing sexual books dressed up as children education material is wrong, and their works should be barred from schools to prevent the damage they can cause.

Danzigdawson · Answer

It's just one more proof that conservatives are more and more about actual censorship than so-called wokes, which, of course, is a prominent feature or authoritarianism.

Also, fuck the stupid bible... but I wouldn't ban it. And the fact that it is banned somewhere shouldn't be an excuse for anyone to start banning books.

rigmarole · Answer

School libraries should supplement the curriculum being taught. Every book shouldn't be in there. When you go into a law library, you don't find The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn either. Community public libraries in contrast are more expansive and designed to meet the needs of the entire community across many age groups, religions, races, and interests.

Astarlessnightsky · Answer

If a book is banned thats one good reason to read it.

jshm2 · Answer

It's like banning black short coffee at Starbucks.

But I understand libraries have to work under government laws as they are public bodies. The people who want those books can very easily get them from Amazon or Goodreads instead. So it's not really a problem. Just means people have to take an extra step.

Snakeyes7 · Answer

I can understand the Bible but I am sad to see the rest of these books go.

The only people who complain that their children are reading these books are statists and don't want their children to learn about the dangers of overwhelming state power.

DextroShade · Answer

None of the books you listed should be banned from schools, but here a few that absolutely should be: Genderqueer This Book is Gay Flamer Antiracist Baby White Fragility

OtterMan68 · Answer

The librarians and language arts teachers should decide what's in the schools, and the parents should have the right to opt their children out of reading certain books in their L. A. classes or checking them out from libraries.

DJB72 · Answer

Some of those were  REQUIRED  reading in England when I was younger. Eish

Demonatrix · Answer

I don't think banning books is right, I have the right to read what I want to.

FunkyMonkee · Answer

No, the whole idea is stupid! Only those crazy lefties wanna do that stupid shit!!! Anyone who caters to the crazy is also crazy!!

verylovelyguy · Answer

i think it's overhyped. it's mostly school libraries. you can still get it at a regular library, store, online

andreasderjuengere · Answer

The next logic step is to ban libraries and schools in general. Once we have banned everything that the simplest among us can't comprehend, we will finally have achieved complete "freedom" :D

strateguy632 · Answer

schools we need to be careful, like pg13 limits, especially peer reviewed science books corrected version.  libraries should have all books even horrible mein kamf.

sage2021 · Answer

I think all boks that show a person how to self eliminate. A friend of mine offted herself by reading a book showing her how to do it.

exitseven · Answer

Schools and libraries have finite resources. It is, appropriate for responsible adults tonmake decisions on what those resources are spent on. Some books are not appropriate.

Kelly6 · Answer

Banning from school is okay, but banning from public library is not okay

Anonymous · Answer

I’m interested in why they believe each of those should be banned.

The1theonlygremlin · Answer

banning the bible is crazy like tf is it gonna do turn me christian

itsclearlynicholas · Answer

I suppose the silver lining is books are digital mostly now? So like money, in hard form, it's almost nonexistent but a digital thing ah well

Likes2drive · Answer

What ever happened to free speech? That’s crazy that they would ban those books, are they really trying to keep future generations in the dark about the past? Cancel culture is a real problem it seems

AnusNdaPainus · Answer

All I ever read was  Bernstein bears Llama Llama  that one about that bad ass little kid named David  and literally every single Clifford ever.

riverrat3 · Answer

These books make people uncomfortable, when they see themselves in the book and not the good guy

MysticDevice · Answer

Banning books is the opposite of free speech. Let the parents decide what their kids can read. Not the government.

ChicoFromThe305 · Answer

Seems like a good idea considering the books they are allowing in schools

JayBones · Answer

Everything AH did us turning out to be right. Stop being a pussy and start burning witches, feminists, books, and all the weirdos.

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

Inappropriate books must be banned from public schools.

Guido · Answer

Nothing should be banned from the library and people can read whatever they want.

WhitneySnow · Answer

No books should be banned

Anonymous · Answer

The bible should be banned in libraries, it has no place being there.

QuietRunner · Answer

is Mein Kampf on that list?  if books don't harm how about The Anarchist Cookbook

Tanya456 · Answer

Ban public schools and libraries.

CozyCoffin · Answer

More examples of DOUBLE PLUS GOOD.

msc545 · Answer

This is absolutely disgusting.

Joh0124 · Answer

I don't think it's a good idea

Anonymous · Answer

That's very, very, wrong.

What do you think about BANNING BOOKS in libraries and schools?

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