We read out of necessity, signs, maps, or homework assignments. We also read for pleasure, like books and magazines. The average American "learns to read at the age of seven." And from that age on, we absorb countless amounts of information through reading. However, are there some books, even some of those found in the children's dept. of your library, that are unsuitable for children?.
Recently there is a new argument surfacing in the school systems and the world. Although this debate goes back practically the same time as books, it is only now that the issue has risen to such immense proportions. Beginning in 1997, The National School board Association, along with several groups of concerned parents and citicenz began the heavy task of deciding which books indeed were unfit for consumption by their child and society. Once a book was deemed unfit it is refereed to as banned. After a book has been banned it is removed from the libraries, school and otherwise and generally looked down upon.
Holbrook Jackson believes that, "books are the stepping stones of degeneration . They are the first parents of boredom, and novels and newspapers are it's immidiate progenitors." He also says that " He would not read at all if he could have a good talk." He fars that, "we tend to live less and less and learn more and more, and sensibility surrenders to intellegence.".
What makes a book worthy of being banned? Many books, simply, "set a bad example for their children,", as is the case with Huckleberry Finn. Others promote "witches and sorcery," such as the case with Harry Potter. Old books as well as new books get placed on the list.
Several organizations such as the American Library Association feel that "children should not be exposed to books that could warp their way of thinking, or harm their mental health." They really have no specific list of no-no's to go by, they say they use, "common sense".