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Book banning is a detrimental practice that must be stopped, because freedom of expression will be crushed, censorship will be encouraged, and critical thinking/education could be stifled. Book banning has been happening for longer than people may think. New English Cannan by Colleen Connolly was the first book banned in the United States over 400 years ago, but there’s more obvious examples, like the Holocaust burning in 1933 or the censorship of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher.
To begin with, when books are banned people’s freedom of speech and expression, which is a right everyone is entitled to, is taken away. “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” The Sedition Act of 1798, which was put in place by John Adams, made it a crime to publish false or malicious information about the government. There have been many instances where the government or people in authority have wanted to hide information that they deemed offensive. Now it’s libraries, parents, and religious groups who want to take books off the shelves. People should be able to express whatever they want without the fear of being censored. If people are concerned about the content of a book, they can take it upon themselves to avoid it or keep it out of their children’s hands.
The more and more that books or any works of art are censored, the more acceptable it will seem. People’s opinions shouldn’t be censored in the first place, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. If you were to tell a child not to eat the last cookie in the cookie jar, they might be more tempted to because of this. This is referred to as “The forbidden fruit effect”, which essentially means that the more something is discouraged, the more people want to participate in it. This concept goes hand-in-hand with book banning becoming more acceptable. If books are censored, it sends a message to the public that certain ideas are claimed to be “dangerous” and that it’s necessary to ban them.
One of the most pressing issues is that critical thinking and education in general will be stifled. “Think about writing a book on something…and you know your ideas are controversial, that then your book might be banned and maybe you just won’t write the book in the first place” — Scott Coulter. Diverse perspectives will be snuffed out because when the threat of censorship looms over people’s heads, they’ll conform their writing to fit the acceptable expectations. “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” ―Silence Dogood, likely the pseudonym of Benjamin Franklin. This quote stresses the importance of freedom and what could happen overtime if people are silenced. Censorship may not have the initial goal of “overthrowing the liberty of a nation”, but the more freedoms we as a people give up, the more rights we surrender.
Concerns like safeguarding youth from harmful subjects, preventing the spread of misinformation, or protecting morality values do give reason for consideration. It’s understandable why communities want books banned, because the content could very well be harmful to the readers. It’s up to parents to shield their children from harmful content. People don’t need their hand held when they’re researching or confirming information they’ve read, so misinformation shouldn’t be a valid reason for book banning. Hence, offensive and slanderous information shouldn’t be banned, but carefully scrutinized, because it could even be beneficial. “The best way…is to be more knowledgeable and to make people understand that the more information they have about, even things that make them uncomfortable, the more they will have the ability to make good decisions for themselves and their communities going forward.” — Scott Coulter.
My personal opinion is pretty apparent from this article, but to clarify, I’m extremely against any sort of book banning. All the reasons in this article show that I don’t think it’s a very beneficial practice, and I think there are far more cons than pros. Personally, I’d rather actually have the option to avoid books of my choosing rather than having that decision made for me.
In conclusion, book banning should be eradicated because it will create negative effects that will only end up harming people. Limiting free expression risks encouraging censorship in society and book banning could end up halting societal and intellectual growth. The freedom to read, choose, explore, and challenge ideas is necessary to uphold a healthy society, therefore, we must combat book banning for present and future generations.
