RIHLA #17

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1.) Some of the reasons that books are banned in school is because they are related to profanity, sex, and racism. They are trying to "protect" children from being exposed to such content as those. Some people will find these topics to be offensive and disagreeable so they do not want people to be exposed to read things that could be taken in a negative way.

2.) I do disagree with some of these reasons because it is nice to explore other people's thinking and then making judgements after hearing both sides of the story. Only reading something that you agree with makes you a simple minded person, not opening up to different points of view. Even if you are offended and you do disagree with what you are reading, you can still have your opinion. The author did not write the piece targeting you personally, it is for people in general. Therefore, I do not feel as though books should be banned in schools.

3.) The teachers should be able to decided would books should be taught in school. They are the ones that make the lesson plans and they know the goal or message that they are trying to get across in teaching and having their students read these books. They should be able to make a mental judgement based off of what they feel will be too offensive or disagreeable until it gets to the point where a student should not be able to read the book.

4.) If someone wanted to fight book censorship they could take any of the following steps. One, they could report it to the ALA's office and fight for it to have freedom by identifying trends in bans. They could also attend and participate in public hearings about how there needs to be a right to freedom of expression. Another thing they can do is write a letter to public officals talking about your rights and views. A person could also send a letter, work in community groups to fight this, seek help from national groups, and participate in Banned Books Week.

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