By OLIVIA WEDDINGTON
Sheridan High School Student
The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.
According to Pen America there are 2,532 banned books in the United States as of the 2021-2022 school year. Parents and communities all over the world are forming groups to get books banned from school and public libraries. Now it has progressed to a social and political movement, supported by local, state, and national groups. There are at least 300 of these groups around the world now.
Most of the books that these groups are trying to ban involve LGBTQ+ characters, characters of color, talk about racism, and/or sex.
According to Pen America, 674 books banned have LGBTQ+ characters as the main character, 659 books with main characters that are of color, 338 books talk about racism, 357 books talk about sex, and 64 books talk about religions. Twenty-five percent of the books banned are fiction, 24 percent nonfiction, and 1 percent poetry. Of those books, 49 percent were aimed at young adults, 10 percent were chapter books, 11 percent were adult books, 11 percent were middle school books, and 19 percent were picture books.
The nonfiction books that are banned mostly talk about racism or slavery, and yes, it is a horrendous practice, but it is also a part of America’s history. Parents just don’t want their kids to be exposed to how cruel the world can be, but they need to learn about it so they don’t make the same mistakes.
Kids’ picture books usually tell a story about a kid who is different and gets picked on, but in the end, he is accepted for who he is. Parents are trying to get books like that banned because it has bullying in it.
Obviously, parents don’t want their 10-year-olds reading about sex, but when they are 15 and 16 years old, they should already know about that stuff. Parents want to shelter and protect their kids for as long as they can. They don’t want their child to grow up.
I don’t think banning books is the right answer. If they don’t see it in a book they will see or hear about it somewhere else. Just because they read about something doesn’t mean that they are going to do it.
If some parents are really that concerned about what their child reads, then they should tell the school what the kid is and isn’t allowed to read. If there is a book that they want to read, the school should send a paper home or call and ask the parents, instead of banning the books so that no one can read them.