Everyone, whether they’ve expressed it or not, has a unique opinion on what literature should be circulated in schools and libraries and what is unacceptable to be in the public’s hands. 

Fear. It is one of the more known and assumed reasons for banning books. Fear is an emotion that has caused several outbreaks of hysteria in our society and is a big reason books could disappear from our libraries and stores. 

“Book banning overall is stupid because it is often done out of fear of a hypothetical situation,” A Neshaminy High School (NHS) student quoted.

Books are most popularly banned because of political bias. Governments, both past and present, fear that books may influence people and encourage them to commit acts of hate and violence. Books are typically banned when the literature supports or examines radical concepts such as extreme political parties and ideals such as fascism or anarchism. 

 Fearing sensitive topics may engender hate amongst the public, which in turn causes the ban of a literary piece. While some books are banned because of their view on a possible future of a real dystopian world, should that be the biggest concern when banning literature? While pieces involving politics and controversial topics in which people can, or have become violent because of, have been banned, this doesn’t mean they will ban books for other types of influence they may have on people or society.

“Some books should be banned, like those entertaining and romanticizing the ideas of abuse or assault, but many of the books that are banned don’t fall into that category,” another NHS student stated. 

Are you familiar with your student, teacher, or civilian rights? Book banning may infringe on those rights, especially those of students. Some may even say it is unconstitutional.

“I do believe it infringes on our rights entirely,” an anonymous NHS student proclaimed. “At school, we are trying to learn everything that will help us in life, and if we are limited in our resources, we may miss vital information for the future.” 

Both the government and schools have the authority to ban certain books. While, in all technicality, book banning does infringe on the First Amendment right, and it is, strictly speaking, unconstitutional to ban a book because one does not like the views it possesses or the content inside. However, this doesn’t stop school boards, and occasionally the government, from ordering their removal. 

While Neshaminy currently has no banned books, other schools and state governments do.

George Orwell’s 1984 is one of the most frequently banned books in the country. This book was banned in Jackson County Florida in 1981 for being deemed “pro-communist” by parents in the area. The book deals with several sensitive themes like nationalism, censorship, and surveillance.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is another banned book that is taught at NHS. To Kill a Mockingbird is another one of the most banned books in the U.S, the reason for this being its topics of racism, portrayal of the black community, and people’s concerns about how the continuous use of racial slurs throughout the piece will affect exposed children. 

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is another frequently challenged literary work. Still taught at NHS, Of Mice and Men is challenged because of its vulgarity, racism, and portrayal of women. Most of the complaints revolve around profanity and its morbid themes. 

According to the organization of Poets, Essayists, Novelists (PEN) American, during the 23-24 school year alone, there were 10,046 instances of book bans. To meet that number, there would have to be nearly 56 book bans per day while the school year is active. That means two books per hour are banned during a 180-day school year.

“In this school year, a greater percentage of books faced more bans in 2023-2024 than in previous school years, completely removed from district library collections,” PEN America wrote.

Book banning is expanding as more districts and politicians decide that books are controversial. Blacklisted books today more often cover serious topics while also involving today’s youth. The banned topics often involve death and mental health issues among young people. More young adult books have been banned this year than books written for any other age group.

“Nearly 60% of these banned titles are written for young adult audiences, and depict topics young people confront in the real world, including grief and death, experiences with substance abuse, suicide, depression and mental health concerns, and sexual violence,” PEN America explained.

Taking a stand on matters like this is important because if nobody does, nothing will change. Nothing will change because when nobody says anything, people banning books won’t consider differing opinions. First Amendment rights are guaranteed to you as American citizens, we need to stop book banning or eventually, the restricted section of literature will just grow bigger and bigger until only certain books, permitted by the government and schools, will be allowed to be in the public eye.