In class, we have just finished working with articles and books, and discussing whether or not to ban certain books across the city and country. Personally, I have just finished reading Joyland by Stephen King. That book is a questionable banned book. It has sex, and murder. But first of all, those occurrences only happen once each, and are vague. They don’t go into detail, and it is very brief. There are only a couple of references to these things, and I feel like that isn’t enough reason ban this book. Many parents want to ban books like these, and I don’t think that it is fair that parents can just band books for everyone everywhere.

            Many parents don’t like the kinds of material that are in the books their kids are reading. In one of the articles that were available in class, “Man From Ministry Bans Potter”, it says that Harry Potter was banned in a Catholic school, because parents believed that it was conflicting with their beliefs. Maybe parents can ban that book for their children, but it isn’t right to ban it for all people around the world. Again, in an article called “Darkness Too Visible” It mentions how pissed off parents are that their kids are reading about rape and drugs. Even though these topics may be crossing the line, Kids should make their own decisions.

            Which brings me to my next point. All books have important lessons, and kids should be open to reading them. I think that it is more appropriate for kids to be learning about rape, and drugs, and such in books rather then have it come across them in real life. They need to understand the consequences of these problems. Also, if the book does have rape in it, then the lesson of that book isn’t TO rape, it is NOT TO rape. I  believe that parents are being to oblivious when they jump to conclusions that a book should be banned just because it has rape.

            One last thing that I need to say is that parents don’t seem to see that if books are put on the banned list, more people are likely to read them. In the article “the banned books we have loved”, R. L. Stine states that it is an honor to have your book placed on the banned book list because many people are rebels. I agree. People will see that the a book is on a DO NOT READ list and they will become curious as to why it is on that list. They will then proceed to buy that book and read it. The book will now be more in the open. R. L. Stine also says that when a book is placed on that banned list, there is never a sale decrease, it just brings attention to the book.

            All in all, I think that many books have things that are very mature in them, to show people how bad they are, and that they shouldn’t do these things in life. Many parents are quickly jumping to the conclusion that the books are not right for their kids, so they automatically try to ban it for everyone. Which isn’t right. Information in these books are vital for young readers to learn sooner rather than later.