The Catcher in the Rye has been called one of the greatest pieces of American literature throughout the 1950's. The story, written by J.D Salinger, has been commonly challenged in history because the story itself involves a lot of profane language and sexual content. Although that a lot of people in history have accepted the censorship of this book, I think that The Catcher in the Rye should not be banned. It displays some beneficial messages such as the confusing while the main character Holden approaching to the adulthood and so on.
Referring to the article that we read before in the class, "Board Bans ˜Catcher in the Rye' From High School English Class ", posted by Los Angeles Times in September 12, 1989, it seems like the main and biggest problem is the complaints of parents. Sometimes parents see the books their kids are reading with a preconceived negative perception, then immediately decide they do not want their kid "exposed " to such material. Parents do have every right to say and decide that, but the feelings of a few parents should not dictate the masses of students. If parents were educated beforehand about the material their children would be covering, it might alleviate some fears and objections.
I have to say that there is a possibility that The Catcher in the Rye is a bad influence on young children. But what is more important, it should only be a required reading for junior high school and older students, who are not children, but teenagers. In today's society, teenagers' life contains a lot of vulgarity and sexuality, coming from TV, magazines, or just from their daily life because it is the stuff that they always talk about. Once students hit a certain age, they are ready for most materials. Generally a high school level English class should teach more mature content than in the middle school. High school students are typically already exposed to many things in daily life and are preparing for adulthood.