Almost every student in our school has either read books by Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Or R.L. Stine. But the newest fifth graders might not have the same pleasure. Every year, more and more books are being withdrawn from libraries, because parents and adults are censoring books. Classic books like the Goosebumps series, Blubber, and How to Eat Fried Worms are being called offensive and inappropriate, which lead to the book being withdrawn from libraries completely.

It's not uncommon to see students walking in the halls with the books like Gossip Girls or Harry Potter. But these books happen to be some of the most popular banned titles. In our school's IMC, no books are currently banned or challenged. There is a book selection policy when it comes to new books in our library. In areas surrounding Wausau, the most commonly banned books include Go Ask Alice, The Giver, To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye.



In Washington, a student was not allowed into a Literature class at her school, because she had not read the required books for that class. She couldn't read them, because they were not available at her local library.

Why are so many books being banned? Who says we can't read these novels? And most importantly, will it continue? Parents make up the largest group of people prohibiting these books from being entered into libraries. Some say they are protecting their children from harmful, inappropriate context. Others say that the books are immoral. But some parents simply say that society is causing authors to be freer with their wording and ideas.

The sad part is, there is no official law against banning books. Some people do believe that bannings are against our right of freedom to speech. It's hard to tell if the bannings will stop, but one thing is for sure. It is limiting our literature. Great books that may have inspired people, or changed their outlook on life, being taken away is not right. If a book happens to contain some offensive language or anti-family content, why should it be taken from the shelves? We're not protecting anybody. Parents say it's to keep the children safe, but today, family and social situations aren't scenes form the Brady Bunch. Why not expose a child in a similar situation to a character's way of fixing it.

While the questions go on and on, one thing is clear. The banning of books is clearly a waste. Why limit our literature and try to block society from reading a book? Next time you pick up a book by J.K. Rowling, Judy Blume, or Chris Crutcher, consider it a gift and cherish every word. It might not be around too much longer.