And Then They Say That We're A Free Country

Books have been a refuge for anyone who decides to confide in them. They've been around for centuries upon centuries, and there has been common knowledge that someone can read whatever they like. If a book is placed on the shelves of a school library, it wants to be read. It shoulde be read. The idea of taunting the children and then deciding that the work isn't suitable for a certain age group ect. is completly absurd.It is meaningless to take them off at all. A student is going to read what they want to read. They're going to get their hands on that book whether the authorites like it or not.
Organizations have been created for the sole reason of making it clear about the banning of books, either with positive or negative facts. Some make a mockary, with purposes of making the banning of books a joke. Then there are others that take publishers and schools to court, just to get their points clear.
There has got to be a point when it all has to stop. What’s the use of pulling invaluable books from the hands of eager students? Can children not read fairy tales any more because of the use of magic and fairy godmothers? It makes no sense.
William Shakespeare has seen much censorship of his works in schools across the world. Hamlet, the best play written of all time, has been banned from school literature classes because of the inclusion of witches and murders. "I’m sorry kids, the only Shakespeare we’re allowed to read is A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and we have to skip some scenes. Its okay, they’re only the most crucial parts to understanding the story."
If a student reads any book with a mature mind, and the understanding of terms, they can finish it with the knowledge that the author was trying to impose.
These books, such as Huckleberry Finn, have been read and admired by children for decades. What’s the point of even writing it? If C.S. Lewis knew that his ever popular Chronicles of Narnia was going to be forbidden of being read, would he have even taken the time to write them? I doubt it. It’s an insult to any author who only wanted to give children a means of escape, a place to run to, and a place to learn. Because we all have read these books as children, and we all have learned from them.
Maybe these "big" people up top should read the books again, and I mean really read them, before they go off and decide to stop children from doing so.
Judy Blume, a popular children’s author, has had many of her books banned from American schools. "I believe that censorship grows out of fear, and because fear is contagious, some parents are easily swayed. Book banning satisfies their need to feel in control of their children's lives. This fear is often disguised as moral outrage. They want to believe that if their children don't read about it, their children won't know about it. And if they don't know about it, it won't happen." Judy has devoted an entire page of her site where she talks about her feelings about her books and the reasons she believes people chose to stop their children from reading her books.
It seems as if any books that get a child to laugh, to enjoy, to actually read, has got be put under suspicion by parents and authorities, who claim "That’s just not right!"
Youth have the right to read what they feel will help develop themselves. If they want to read Harry Potter and then deal with people calling them a witch or a Satanist, they’re going to do it. If you take the books off their bedroom bookshelves, they’re going to go to the library or borrow it from a friend. No matter what you do, if they want to read it, they are going to! You can’t stop this! We are not a communist regime; children have the right to read whatever their hearts desire. If you ban that book, the kids are going to want to read it even more.
Just the thought of the books that are not going to be written astounds me. Young authors are filled with fear because they just don’t know if their book will be censored. So they stop writing. They throw their notes in the trash, or change the entire basis of the story around because of this fear. Here’s to the authors who just don’t care! Write your book. If publishers want you to change it, send it to someone else. But please don’t follow the authorities when they tell you that it’s just not good enough. Let some children read it, get their reactions, and then decide whether it should be read.
Go and read To Kill A Mockingbird, let the people who banned it know how much it has changed your life. Don’t let it all happen around you. For it was Edmund Burke, a famous philosopher, who said: "Evil happens when good people stand back and do nothing."

Copyright of me, Kimberley Falk. So what do you think. It's rough so there are some spelling mistakes. More like typos with my computer, because I have lost Microsoft Word. :(