For a long time, censorship has existed. In the ancient Egyptian empire, nothing negative could be said about the gods. When America was an English colony, if anyone spoke out against the King of England, it was considered treason. In the pre-civil war period, books like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” were banned in the south. And even today, censorship laws have been implemented on the internet. In all these cases ,it did nothing positive. The Egyptian empire collapsed, The United States had a revolution, the Civil War broke out, and pornography has spread even more across the internet.
If there is nothing to gain with censorship, then schools shouldn’t try to censor the books we read. Besides not working in the past, there are more reasons why books shouldn’t be censored. First, if one can’t read a book because it is censored, then he is losing some of his freedom. Imagine having to secretly get a copy of a book, just because the school deems it unfit. Also, how would the school decide if a book is safe to read. If a teacher inds a book to be trash, a student may the same book educational, and worth reading.
Not only do the people reading the book lose freedom, but the writers lose the freedom to express what they are feeling. Some of the greatest pieces of writing have come from the heart, and if writers are worrying about how they are writing, then they won’t be worried about what they are writing. Many books that are part of American society could be banned because of their content. If a book says a few curse words, then the school could say than it an’t be read even if it teaches us an important lesson.
Many books important to society have local color in them, and censorship takes away from the connotation if the local color is taken out. A lot of famous books would be banned because they accurately portray the way people spoke. Books with violence would also be the target of censorship. A book about the Vietnam War could be censored just because it was truthful and discussed the death and suffering during the war. Where would people learn about these things if the books about hem were banned.
A third reason why books shouldn’t be censored is very simple. One may miss out on a good book. Of all the great books ever written, at least 10% of them wouldn’t be published because of their content. Books like “Jurassic Park” portray violence, but are entertaining to children. Lately, it’s been difficult to get students to read at all, with distractions like television, and the internet. And if we take away some of the better books, then soon kids may decide reading isn’t fun at all, and isn’t worth the time nd thinking required to understand a book.
Censorship in the past has done no good, and won’t this time either. Students will feel entrapped because they can’t read the books of their choosing. Writers won’t be able to express their feelings, because they are worried about if the writing is censored or not. Censorship would also change American society by eliminating most local color. . Finally, many good books may not exist, because the violence and action wouldn’t be allowed in the book.