– USATODAY.com
School is starting up again, and later this month we will celebrate another national tradition: Banned Books Week, which since 1982 takes place every year during the last week of September. It's an exciting time. There are going to be special readings of "banned books" not merely in bookstores (where the banned books will, tellingly, be for sale) but online as well. This year, explains BannedBooksWeek.org, "readers will be able to proclaim the virtues of their favorite banned books by posting videos of themselves reading excerpts to a dedicated YouTube channel." It's all so very brave and subversive! Already, news outlets are dusting off familiar stories about the scary climate of censorship in the land. "What do books from the Twilight series, To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye have in common?" It's a storyline the American left in particular seems to desperately want to be true. No, not true The problem: None of this is remotely true. Numbers tell it all
Why Books are Banned: Common Reasons for Censorship and Challenges of Reading Materials | Suite101.com
Books have been banned all over the world for many reasons. Usually the intention is to protect people, especially children, from controversial ideas or opinions that are considered dangerous. The basis for being challenged frequently has something to do with sex, violence, religion, racial views, or profanity. The number of books challenged each year is high, numbering in the hundreds. Classics, award winning books, new publications, and even children’s picture books have all been challenged. The result of a ban is the restriction of free access to materials and thoughts. Who Bans Books Books can be challenged by any person or group that files a complaint against a teacher, school, library, or bookseller. Quite simply, anyone that wants to challenge a book may do so. Lists of Banned Books and the Reasons This is a tiny sampling of some of the books that have been challenged or locally banned or found to be objectionable by parents or community groups. Censorship of Funny in Farsi
Banned Books
by Borgna Brunner "Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won't have as much censorship because we won't have as much fear."—Judy Blume Many people think that book banning is something that only happened in the past. What is a Banned Book? A banned book is one that has been censored by an authority—a government, a library, or a school system. Why Are Books Banned? As the American Library Association notes, books are usually banned "with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information." Not everyone agrees on which books should be banned. Freedom of Speech and Expression The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees our right to free speech, which includes the right to read and write books that might be considered by some to be too violent, hateful, or offensive. A Matter of Opinion Some of the towering classics of American literature have been banned, including J.
What Is a Banned Book?
A banned book is one that has been removed from the shelves of a library, bookstore, or classroom because of its controversial content. In some cases, banned books of the past have been burned and/or refused publication. Possession of banned books has at times been regarded as an act of treason or heresy, which was punishable by death, torture, prison time, or other acts of retribution. A book may be challenged or banned on political, religious, sexual, or social grounds. We take the acts of banning or challenging a book as a serious matter, because these are forms of censorship--striking at the very core of our freedom to read. The History of Banned Books A book may be considered a banned book if the work has been banned in the past. Many of the books that we consider rather "tame" today were once hotly debated works of literature. Why Discuss Banned Books?
