Vlad Svidruk
Ms. Cunningham
Dear Ms. Berner
“Censorship is the enemy of truth”- Bill Moyers, an American journalist that has been known for very wise words. Hiding things from children can be dangerous. Banning books are preventing kids from knowing the truth about our society and the world we live in. If you ban books, children will never gain the knowledge to survive in the real world . I believe that banning books isn't right and no one should limit a student's option to read what they want..
We the student body believe that keeping books away from children can cause a loss of useful information in the future. A big portion of their knowledge from books can just disappear.With the loss of knowledge that is not present can cause a missing of information in the minds of young adult readers. In the article “ Has Young adults fiction became too dark?” by Mary Elizabeth Williams wrote, “In the case of self-harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measure.” The author also argues that its not anybody's choice to make distinction in any teens life. Also, the author later writes “ The “adult” aspect of reading is scary for many of us. Its our job as parents to protect our kids,even as they slowly move out into the world and further away from our dictates...raising them with tales of big bad wolves and poisoned apples, and then deciding at a certain point that the literature is too dark for them to handle… kids are smarter than that”. If parents aren't doing their job, like reading fictional short stories about real life things it may end up in losing little but important information in life.
Some students love reading young adult books because it might reduce stress. In the article “ Reading ‘can help reduce stress’ by University of Sussex Research stated “...Because the human mind has to concentrate on reading and the distraction of being taken into literary world eases the tension in muscle and the heart.”Students face a load of stress during school time, and if you're in a certain grade and your choosing your next school, having a lot of stress can hurt you. Reading about things that you're interested in is crucial according to the article, it makes it harder for student to read things that are banned and its taking the reason why there is books about certain things. The student probably wants to read about something they're sexually interested in your bout something physical and sometimes the answers are in a book. Another detail that stood out to me was “Reading worked best, reducing stress levels by 68 per cent, said cognitive neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis.” If the stress is reduced at that level we the student body think that banning books can probably help us. Furthermore banning books is still isnt right because at the end of the day its going to help reduce stress.
Despite all this book banning, on the other hand book banning can help certain individual that can't handle certain books. In the Article “Darkness too Visible” Meghan Cox Gurdon stated, that books for teens are “ So dark that kidnaping and pederasty and incent and brutal beating are now just part of the run of things in novel directed.” Seeing all these murders and kidnapping stories can probably lead you to something horrible. Another quote that stood out was “If books show us the world, teen fiction can be like a hall of funhouses,mirrors, and constantly reflecting back hideously.”If books really show us the world then it would be filled with all that excitement.
In conclusion many kids suffer from trying to read books that are banned on certain grounds and it may be for their benefit, but most teens don't agree with it. Taking these unhealthy books can actually destroy them, Now They will now know that they aren't alone in the problem they're facing if the book relates to it.
