School districts in South Carolina should not overly censor books in libraries
by Savannah C.
Throughout the past few months, a list of books from school libraries has been sent to be taken out of South Carolina schools. Airport High School has faced and could potentially continue facing this issue. The media center specialists have notified teachers to remove certain books from their classroom bookshelves at least twice this year already, for example, and State Superintendent of Schools Ellen Weaver recently ended a 50-year partnership with the S.C. Association of School Librarians (SCASL) over concerns about materials in school libraries. Airport is not immune from this issue.
According to an article about how the ACLU-SC opposes book bans as 93 titles are challenged, at Least ninety-three books from school libraries have been challenged in South Carolina alone. While these books are still available to be read and checked out, the school board is determined to retrieve these books and take the ability to have them be read by all students in the future.
Airport High School shouldn’t ban books that hold an educational purpose or are facing opposition due to the ideas they obtain rather than explicit content.
Firstly, books should not be removed from school libraries because students at a high school age should determine what they should and shouldn't read. According to Teacher Scholastic, students having the ability to choose what they can read will make them want to continue reading and have a better understanding. In an article entitled Power of Choice: Empowerment through Reading, when students choose what they read, they feel more empowered and can build their own opinions (Heise). Limiting student choice by censoring books may in effect result in a decrease in reading achievement among students, as they will now be less likely to read.
Secondly, banning books in schools violates the First Amendment that protects students' rights to receive and express ideas. Per The New York Times , just because people in the community dislike ideas in these books doesn't mean they should take it away from all students (Webb). In agreeance to this, an article written by The New Jersey State Bar Foundation titled “Banning Books is an Act of Censorship and it Can Take Many Forms” stated that by taking books from the library, history can be erased as well as voices; the right to stay educated is affected. (Mendoza). In other words, voices are being silenced, which is a form of the authors’ free speech being limited. The connection between the first amendment and removal of books from libraries can be tenuous, however, and some may at first question whether censorship is a form of free speech violation; but a recent court case in Texas, summarized in this New York Times article, explains, “In April of last year, a group of Llano County residents sued the county commissioners, the library board and the library systems director, arguing that their First Amendment rights were violated by the book removals. They cited legal precedent supporting their argument, including a 1982 Supreme Court decision in Island Trees School District v. Pico, in which the court ruled that government officials can’t remove books from libraries ‘simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.”
Third, the books being censored often center around diversity and inclusion and making all students feel like their experiences matter. An article written by the American Library Association supported the reason as to why we shouldn’t remove books featuring underrepresented populations. Diversity in books matters and helps students see other perspectives. Books in our libraries focus on topics like LGBTQ, voices from people of color and strong messages which teaches kids to appreciate everyone and accept all backgrounds. By taking books that are about LGBTQ and different racial experiences helps students mentally process them. There is concern that removing these books will decrease acceptance of others.
Even when considering alternative arguments, it remains clear that the better course of action is minimizing censorship. Some may believe that taking books out of school libraries is important due to the key factors that younger students don't want to read mature topics, offensive language should not be visible, and students shouldn't read topics about drugs, alcohol, sex or rebellion against authority. While some may agree students shouldn't be reading these topics through school libraries or as part of high school classes, it is important to educate our youth through books and sources as opposed to unreliable sources. Just because a student reads something in a book, doesn’t mean that they are going to go out and do the things they have read. Unreliable sources like unsupervised internet access are much worse, and no one has made a law to ban the internet. The moral idea of the issue is that parents can still have a say in what their kids read, but they shouldn’t make the choice for other parent’s kids.
When asked her opinion on banning books from our libraries, Junior at Airport High School, Ja’sia B., stated, “I feel like books shouldn’t be removed from the library because majority of the students here have experienced or are experiencing the things happening in the books they are removing, and with them removing these books they're taking away their support and encouragement for going through these certain things.”
To get more of an understanding of how our teachers are feeling about this issue, I spoke to one of our school librarians who stated, "The concept of windows and mirrors has been used as a weapon by certain parent groups with the logic that not all things should be seen, discussed, or exposed to students. Denying students the right to read can be damaging to them and their personal growth. Individual families do have the right to determine what books their students can and cannot have access to based on their beliefs and values--not parent groups."
In my opinion, Airport High School shouldn’t ban books that hold an educational purpose or books that are facing opposition due to the ideas they contain rather than explicit content. Students at a high school age should determine what they should and shouldn’t be reading. Banning books in schools will violate the First Amendment that protects students' rights to receive and express ideas, as well as, by having the ability to read about diversity in books, students are able to see other perspectives. It is important for students in the district and state to speak up in front of the school board so they hear our voices, and are able to see how negatively this is affecting young adults.