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Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. This includes the Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) Supreme Court case which ruled that school officials can’t ban books in libraries simply because of their content.Sep 27, 2020
The first banned book in the US
In 1624, English businessman Thomas Morton arrived in Massachusetts with a group of Puritans. But he soon found that he didn’t want to abide by the strict rules and conventional values that made up their new American society.
Some scholars deliberate whether John Eliot’s The Christian Commonwealth (written in the late 1640s) or William Pynchon’s The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption (1650) was the first book to be banned by the Puritans for theological or historical reasons, but America’s first officially-banned book was Thomas Morton’s …
There are a few common reasons that books have been banned or censored in schools, libraries, and book stores. These include: Racial Issues: About and/or encouraging racism towards one or more group of people. … Violence or Negativity: Books with content that include violence are often banned or censored.
Despite the opposition from the American Library Association (ALA), books continue to be banned by school and public libraries across the United States. … Libraries sometimes avoid purchasing controversial books, and the personal opinions of librarians have at times affected book selection.
Religious debates over the Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling are based on claims that the novels contain occult or Satanic subtexts. … The books have been banned from all schools in the United Arab Emirates. Religious responses to Harry Potter have not all been negative.
Scary Stores to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and its two sequels are far and away the most banned books in history, with complaints from hundreds of school districts since the series premiered in 1981, its critics citing violence, inappropriate content, and Satansim.
According to the American Library Association data, the biggest reasons for banned books are racial issues, damaging lifestyles, blasphemous dialog, sex, violence/negativity, witchcraft, religion, politics, or just age inappropriate.
Why do people ban books? Often it’s for religious or political reasons: An idea, a scene, or a character in the book offends their religion, sense of morality, or political view. Some folks feel they need to protect children from the cursing, morally offensive behavior, or racially insensitive language in a book.
The Roman Catholic Church has long published the Index Librorum Prohibitorum or list of prohibited books. These are books viewed as heretical, or contrary to the morality of the Church. Catholics are forbidden to read these without permission.
Literary works are still challenged, censored and banned for many different reasons. … Written works on evolution have also faced censorship, as have books that represent race in a way that is deemed objectionable by certain groups.
Because “1984” offers insight to those under the leadership of oppressive regimes, this book has been banned and even burned. This censorship began with Stalin in the 1950s. Recently, China banned all copies of “1984” in their country.
1950 – Banned and burned in communist Russia under Stalin and USSR, ownership meant possible arrest for its anti-communist views. Allowed back in country after editing in 1990. 1981 – Jackson County, Florida – challenged for being pro-communist and contained “explicit sexual content.”
1984 is definitely appropriate for high school . The worst thing to possibly do to anyone in school (whether it be in middle or high school) is to censor reading. It’s a rarity that kids choose to read for leisure in modern society.
J.K. Rowling’s series of books about a boy’s experiences at wizardry boarding school top the list of most challenged books of 2000, as tracked by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF).
Harry Potter bans have a long history: As the Daily Telegraph notes, the books were repeatedly banned by schools and targeted by church-sponsored book burnings between 1997 and 2007, when the seven volumes in the series were published.
Such countries in which the novel has been or currently is banned include: India (Rushdie’s birthplace), Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and South Africa.
Even in countries with laws protecting the freedom of speech and press, books are being effectively banned. Public pressure often leads to book banning in schools and libraries due to content deemed inappropriate for children—including picture books, such as Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni (Italy).
Name of the book | Author | Year |
---|---|---|
Basava Vachana Deepti | Mate Mahadevi | 1997 |
Soft Target: How the Indian Intelligence Service Penetrated Canada | Zuhair Kashmeri & Brian McAndrew | 1989 |
The Polyester Prince: The Rise of Dhirubhai Ambani | Hamish McDonald | 1988 |
The Satanic Verses | Salman Rushdie | 1988 |
There are a few common reasons that books have been banned or censored in schools, libraries, and book stores. These include: Racial Issues: About and/or encouraging racism towards one or more group of people. … Violence or Negativity: Books with content that include violence are often banned or censored.
Book banning, a form of censorship, occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes.
For teachers, book banning means shaky, ever-changing curriculum, fear for personal choices, and the tragedy of self-censorship. For students, book banning means a denial of First Amendment rights, a narrow world view, and psychological deficits. For the classroom, book banning means discourse is hindered.
The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom: the material was considered to be “sexually explicit” the material contained “offensive language” the materials was “unsuited to any age group”
Books should never be banned for any reason. If the subject matter of a book is objectionable, then don’t read it. … There is no reason to ban a book. Some books may be too explicit or disturbing for young children, but generally, they will not even choose such a book.