Many books in libraries and on bookshelves are challenged or banned. Many people have read several banned books without even knowing it. Books are usually banned for reasons like age-appropriateness or because they expose young children to grown-up concepts. They have a lot of times been taken away from school and public libraries as well as classrooms. Several children’s books have been banned, including Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh. Taking books out of libraries or schools altogether is called censorship, and it is one of the most controversial practices in the USA. The question is, should we continue taking away books, or should they be kept on classroom shelves?

The first book to be banned was published around the late 1640s. But more books are getting banned to this very day, like Drama by Raina Telgimier and A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein. Several authors, parents, teachers, and advocates are trying to fight against censorship, like Judy Blume, the author of several banned books.

Sometimes, books don’t just get banned. There are occasions when “book burnings” take place, events where people take books that they find unfit for children, and they burn them. These burnings are not only unnecessary but completely over-the-top.

One of the most common reasons certain books are banned is because people believe that the content is not age-appropriate. The novel Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume was banned because it included several parts where people talked about things like puberty, and it was also said to include anti-Christian material. 

Some books are banned for religious reasons, like Harry Potter. Harry Potter has been banned in some places because some people believe that the witchcraft in it promotes Satanism, or worship of the devil. The same problem pops up in Winnie The Pooh, as some people took issue with the talking animals. This is one of the main reasons why so many people want to end censorship because the aforementioned reasons are foolish reasons to take a book away from a library or bookstore. Religion is not a reason to ban a book, especially because there are many people with different religions and beliefs. Taking away books because of the belief that they promote ideas against a religion is not acceptable.

Typically, a small group of parents ban books for many peoples’ children. This is a problem because parents should be in charge of what their children can and cannot read. If a parent allows a child to read a book that they really wanted to read but the book was taken away from the library, it would be extremely unfair to the child who wants to read the book. Parents and guardians are the only people that should be able to decide what their children should read.

Henry Louis Gates, an American literary critic, said “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” Censorship is a problem that has been in our society for a very long time, and it needs to stop. Parents and guardians should be able to decide what is best for their children, not random adults. If books are banned, they should be for good reasons. Taking away books from a library should not be considered the “norm” of society because everyone deserves the right to explore, read, and have fun with their imaginations. We need to ban the book ban.