By Kendall Albrecht
In the past few years, education officials and school boards are responding to parent complaints by removing books in a widespread sweep of school libraries to weed out literature that may be inappropriate for students. In attempt to diminish any ‘controversial’ or ‘diverse’ topics students may come across in their school’s library, many books on subjects such as race, gender, sexuality, and more can no longer be accessed by students through school. Many classics most public schools require students to read have been challenged for reasons such as these.
One classic book that has become a popular target of censors is JD Saligner’s The Catcher in the Rye. In fact, many schools have banned it from their shelves. The protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, a teenage boy who has been expelled for poor performance, escapes to New York. The story follows him in the first person, taking the reader along with him through his ups and downs, addressing topics such as mental health. Some believe this novel violates guidelines coving “excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult,” leading to schools to remove it from their booklist. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is another among the list of challenged classics. Although most agree Lee’s novel contains meaningful themes presented through a young, innocent protagonist, who matures while watching her father defend a black man accused of rape in a 1930s southern town, others argue otherwise. Upset at the inclusion of hard to swallow subjects such as racism along with profanity and racial slurs, some parents fight to have it removed. In fact other recognizable classics such as Of Mice and Men and Lord of the Flies have seen pushback.
Some parents argue that the school doesn’t have the right to teach their children about topics such as sexuality, and wish to do that themselves. However, others say books on controversial topics hold great educational value, and can even be essential to teens understanding themselves and the world they live in. The truth is, by shielding students from subjects that may be controversial or difficult to understand, we are limiting their exposure to the real world, making them ill-prepared to face hardships on their own. We cannot hide from controversy forever, so why not introduce it in a controlled, safe environment, where students can be guided through it, chapter by chapter.