At the age of four, we are sent off into an entirely new world filled with education. We move grade to grade, learning about our passions and eventually what we want to do in life, largely credited to the content we digest and are given in classrooms. However, children of the new generation and those after will experience a limited amount of awareness as “books are under profound attack in the United States.” Who exactly are we without the freedom to explore knowledge, which can be largely influenced by novels, especially in America’s education system?
As academic years pass, so do the number of books we are allowed to set our hands on. “From July to December 2023, PEN found that more than 4,300 books were removed from schools across 23 states — a figure that surpassed the number of bans from the entire previous academic year.” It should come at no surprise that book banning has been a conflict that the United States has dealt with for some time now. Despite this, we find ourselves at a point where book banning has expanded over the past few years, “driven by conservative groups and by new laws and regulations that limit what kinds of books children can access.”
The issue at stake becomes clearer when we look at the specific statistics that surround book bans within both public schools and libraries. Book ban data from the American Library Association (ALA) shows that “the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has released new data documenting book challenges throughout the United States, finding that challenges of unique titles surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022 numbers, reaching the highest level ever documented by ALA.” Unique titles being those which stand out for being different. The rate mentioned above is dangerously high, one which leads us to ask what books will not be censored rather than which ones are. Book banning is becoming a larger threat to the freedom that surrounds education within the U.S. today.
Who and what are the causes for this rise in book bans? New York Times article states that “censorship efforts have become increasingly organized and politicized, supercharged by conservative groups like Moms for Liberty and Utah Parents United, which have pushed for legislation that regulates the content of library collections” where “many of the targeted titles feature L.G.B.T.Q. characters, or deal with race and racism.” Driven by fear and an unfair urge to control and limit education systems, our education system is being severely harmed and threatened. This looming fear of minority representation and bigoted beliefs contribute to the recent surge in book bannings, resulting in a crippling limitation of our education system.
As book bans increase at striking rates within the United States, it is significant to recognize the counter argument. While some argue ignorance is needed given that some children are too young, why ban books rather than delay when they can be taught in classrooms? It is significant to dig to the root of this conflict, to stop it from getting even worse, because at the end of the day books are crucial for education. It is a detrimental risk that is being taken to ban books rather than finding alternate solutions that allow less harm to educational learning.
History cannot, and should not be erased. What is at stake here is that books are receiving the blowing end of a weapon that is not just harming an education system, but the students who need these books. An article by EdTrust states how “Banning books and curtailing lessons about race, gender, and identity [causes] not only stifle academic growth, but also obscure students’ understanding of diverse cultures both in the U.S. and the world around them.” “The call to provide every student with a culturally relevant curriculum in a safe, inclusive environment has never been more pressing” as the United States faces the highest rate of book banning we have seen yet.
Book bans lead to ignorance of gender fluidity and awareness of racial discrimination. A book already banned, “The Hate U Give”, a seminal novel recognizing the prevalence of racism in contemporary society, is given from a list of books banned by PEN America. The banning of this book show the ways in which books that “serve as both mirrors and windows to reflect and represent children and people in our society and world” are being banned. This threatens students as “Surveys suggest that 82-97% of book challenges are unreported and receive no media attention.” Students aren’t even aware of the knowledge they’re being deprived from.
Though the argument that banning books to reduce the introduction of controversial topics has some merit, we cannot ignore that limiting the consumption of books inevitably leads to ignorance. Children need to be able to learn and analyze different views in order to obtain inclusivity and awareness. And, when looking closer, the harm that book banning is causing has a common trend on targeting minority groups and gender fluidity.
Many organizations claiming that banning books allow them to “protect” children, are promoting ignorance. For example, the Pickens County School Board from South Carolina, “censor what literary works kids can and cannot read — and in many cases, having not read the books themselves before voting to ban them.” This is actively ignorant of what these books truly provide, as the ones responsible for banning are not even aware of the content itself. This is specifically more harmful when recognizing “they choose to censor the teaching of the factually accurate history of Black people.” This book banning is a “policy tool of anti-black policy leaders who systematically perpetuate intolerance and ignorance,” and needs to be stopped.
The cultural awareness that books provide us is crucial to our society and, most importantly, the development of our future generations. They are what make children feel seen and create open mindedness. It is absolutely essential that this extreme book banning is pushed against, or else it will lead new generations into an age of ignorance.—something we cannot risk having in our future.
Featured image: UC Irvine School of Humanities
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