Sixth graders
should be allowed to read whatever they want because books about real issues
help kids deal with problems in their lives. This is an important topic because
without these books students could feel alone or lost, and try to solve their
problems in ways that are harmful to themselves or others. Middle school students in tough situations need
these Y.A. books to guide them through. Some people believe these books hurt
kids, but I believe that it should be up to the child and their family to
decide whether or not the book is appropriate.
Y.A. books help
kids in tough situations deal with them in the best way possible. In his
anti-book banning article, ‘Why The Best Kids Books Are Written In Blood,’ Sherman
Alexi writes “I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written
with monstrous language because they taught me how to battle the real monsters
in my life.” A book can be something for a kid to look up to when they don’t
have anyone else to look up to in their lives.
Another writer who agrees with this is Ellen Hopkins, who described one
of her book readings after which a girl who had struggled with addiction
approached Hopkins and told her how much her books helped her. “She saw herself
in those pages and suddenly knew she didn’t want to be there. That book turned
her around. Today she’s been sober about two years…” This shows how these dark,
intense books help kids deal with the challenges in their lives.
Some people believe
these intense and descriptive YA books traumatize kids. One of these people is Megan Cox Gurdon. In her article, “Darkness Too Visible,” she
says “…Books focusing on pathologies help normalize them and, in the case of self
harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who
might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures.” These books do introduce some kids to tough
subjects, but it is necessary for kids to understand these subjects so that they
can defend against them. Maureen Johnson for the Guardian says, “If subjects
like these are in YA books, it's to show that they are real, they have happened
to others, and they can be survived. For teenagers, there is sometimes no
message more critical than: you are not alone. This has happened before. The
feeling that you are feeling, the thing you are going through – it is a known
thing.” Kids need to be told that they are not the only person in the world
with the problem they are facing. Sometimes Y.A. books are the only things that
can deliver this message.
Another problem
some people have with YA books is that they find them offensive. Diana Verm and her father Alton Verm, of
Montgomery County, Texas, were offended by the content of Fahrenheit 451. She didn’t want to read a book with “cussing”
and bible burning. In my opinion, while
these books can be offensive and difficult, it should not be one person or small
group of people that decides whether or not everyone is allowed to read a book.
Bill Moyers said, “Some of the most inspiring and mind-opening words ever
written are threatened with removal because they offended a self-deputized
vigilante who wants to deny an entire community’s curiosity and passion to
learn.” This quote supports my claim that sixth graders should be allowed to
read whatever they and their parents choose and that it should not be one
person’s decision that decides it for everyone.
Books should not be
banned from our school library because kids and their parents should be able to
decide what they are mature enough to read.
Y.A., books can help kids avoid dangerous situations and can even save
lives. Everyone should have the choice to not read something if they don’t want
to, but we shouldn’t allow our decisions about what we read to be made for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment