The Banning of Books

            The question of whether or not to ban books is a question that echoes the halls of many school boards, courtrooms, and libraries across the country. While the idea of a banned book in other countries might be unheard of, it is a serious issue to the public school systems of the United States, with many books being censored or banned every year. Many reasons have been brought up for attempting to ban a book, such as violent, racial, and sexual themes ("About"). The list of books that have been banned is quite extensive, including Fahrenheit 451, To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher In The Rye, Gone With The Wind, and many other classics that most former students and readers remember fondly (Frequently). Although books such as these are considered timeless novels and remain in the history of literature forever, they also remain banned in some areas that find them unfit to be read by students. Books should not be banned due to the first amendment of the Constitution granting freedom of speech and press, it can be a hindrance to the learning process in schools, the endless valuable information that books contain, and the inspiration books can be to people.
             When the founding fathers wrote the Constitution, they included a very important list of rights that belong to every citizen of the United States, known as the Bill of Rights. The first amendment of the Constitution states that citizens have both freedom of speech and press (Constitution). In the act of banning books, this right is essentially disregarded and completely violated. Censorship of literature and speech were contributing factors to the colonies deciding to break away from England in the beginning, making a sad regression back to the dark times of banned press and speech censorship (First). Even though some materials may be offensive to some people, the public as a whole should not be forced into banning or censoring a book.