In America, 15,940 books have been banned since 2021. 61% with offensive language, 49% are unsuitable for certain age groups, 26% is about religious viewpoints, and more than 50% are banned because of LGBTQ characters in books. The list goes on and on about why parents, guardians, and libraries decide to ban these books. From my viewpoint, they are just trying to shield their kids from the world we live in.
It is inevitable for parents to worry about what their children read, hear about at school, see on the internet etc. And let me preface, I’m not trying to say how people should parent their kids. Yes, there are some things in this world that children are not old enough to process the information they see or hear about. That’s not why it’s such a controversial topic. It’s a controversial topic because people are banning innocent books just because of their different beliefs and or values. They are trying to keep their children from being educated and from making their own beliefs and opinions about different topics.
Whenever I think about banned books, I think about how the Nazis would ban people from reading certain types of books to prevent them from the truth. They would keep them from making their own choice about what they believe. When you think about it, if someone was telling you about something in which they were very passionate about, they would not want you to turn around and read a book about the topic and then have a different opinion about it. They would want you to listen to them and be on their side of the argument. That’s the thing with today’s world, it’s a constant back and forth argument about what is right and what is wrong. People are either for this and against that, never a mix.
That is what influences adults to keep certain books away from young children. If children, or even teenagers, read something that disagrees with their peers, it causes some conflict. Everyone, not just adults, wants others to agree with them and be on their side. I believe that people should be able to form their own opinion and fight for what they believe is right, especially in their publications.
