Books scream out agonizing cries of help to the public as librarians throw them recklessly into cardboard boxes, never to see light ever again. While books contain the use of magic, racial slurs, homosexuality, and religious oppositions, books should not be banned because of the things that they contain. Adolescents should be allowed to read whatever they want because books take a long time to revise, edit, and publish, and everyone should be entitled to read what they want. Eventually no teenager will want to read for the matter of not having any books that can make an impact on their lives.
It normally takes roughly about 1-3 years for a book to go through the publishing phase, and even more for it to get printed and shelved. Now visualize how devastating it would be for a writer to go through the whole process and have their books declined just because of their use of diction, magic, racial discrimination, or favoring the same sex. According to statistics, “Over this recent past decade, 5099* challenges were reported to the Office for Intellectual Freedom” (A. L. Association). Under those circumstances teenagers aren’t going to have anything to actually motivate them to enjoy reading. Matter of fact, “Each year, the ALA’s (American Library Association) Office for Intellectual Freedom records hundreds of attempts by individuals and groups to have books banned from libraries shelves and from classrooms” (A. L. Association). At this rate, the future Americans will be born in a land with no books. Something truly horrendous is that, “The Pew Research Center reported last week that nearly a quarter of American adults had not read a single book in the past year” (Weissmann)
Everyone should be entitled to read what they want. Teachers have especially wanted students to read, but how do they expect them to read when all the good books are being yanked out of their hands? “Banning books in schools is cheating our students because they are not given choice of text from all authors. Who knows, that one banned book may have been the one to ignite a love of reading in a student” (Shiveley). For example, “Less than one-third of 13-year-olds are daily readers, a 14 percent decline from the 20 years earlier” (Moyer)
Many have argued that books should be banned because; books contain the use of magic, racial slurs, homosexuality, and religious oppositions. But in reality if books were to be banned many teenagers who are trying to find themselves will not be able to learn the true valuable lesson life has to show us. This is supposed to be the land of the free where we are able to express ourselves through religion and speech, but I don’t see that happening. Religion is supposed to be expressed freely without any shame or regulations but, “The reason given for censoring the phenomenally popular and seemingly harmless novels was that they promoted "unchristian magic" (Brunner). Homosexuality is something the world is going to have to accept. You can’t keep your “precious little angels” under your wing forever. Soon they are going to learn how to fly and leave the nest. “Some people feel that schools, libraries, and governments should be the judge of what books are good for kids” (Brunner). “Often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive language.” (A. L. Association, about Banned and Challenged Books)
So in the end banned if parents are just going to end up banning books no creativity will ever be expressed through the minds, mouths, or hands of children. We should set an age limit tag on every manuscript ever written so that children will know what books they can and cannot read. Also, there should be some form of permission slip for adults to sign, so that they may be aware and acknowledge the kinds of books their children read. Therefore teenagers should be allowed to read whatever book they please and not be neglected any form of writing.