It's Banned Books Week!
Did you know, on average, one book everyday gets challenged or banned from a school or public library in the United States?
Did you know that that censorship is completely against what the US is supposed to stand for?
Don't get me wrong, I think, when it comes to younger people, there are types of media they are not ready to read/view. But to take the option away from everyone? Wrong. Just wrong. It is my right as an adult to decide what I want to read or watch or hear. And it is my job as a PARENT to know what content it available to my kids.
I read my first fantasy book when I was 7 years old. People died. There was magic. It was most likely a little too old for me. But I understood it for what it was, fiction, pretend, imagination.
My first banned book was Harry Potter. I read the first when it first came out. I was 12 years old (that was in 1999, whew that makes me feel old LOL). I knew that it wasn't real. I knew the difference. My future children will read that and more.
I will agree that not all books belong in the hands of children due to content. But that's MY choice to make. Not a PUBLIC Library's.
There is so much to learn from books, books can effect you and your life in many many ways. I could never tell someone not to read a book about <insert something> because I didn't like it, I thought it was too graphic, or any religious reasons. It's against that persons rights to take options away from them.
For more information on banned books visit ALA's new website.
