The Neg­a­tive Ef­fects Of Book Ban­ning In The Class­room

With an at­tempt to keep the in­no­cence of chil­dren, book ban­ning pre­sents many neg­a­tive ef­fects for teach­ers, stu­dents, and class­rooms. Book ban­ning has a long his­tory through­out the world. Books are con­tin­u­ously chal­lenged and banned at lo­cal schools and li­braries. When a book gets chal­lenged or banned, some­one else is try­ing to de­cide what is best for every­one based on his or her own be­liefs and feel­ings. If they suc­ceed, peo­ple can no longer ac­cess those books. When this hap­pens, these in­di­vid­u­als don’t con­sider the neg­a­tive ef­fects it can have on stu­dents and teach­ers. For stu­dents, ban­ning books means nar­row­ing their world view. For teach­ers, it means an ever-chang­ing cur­ricu­lum and fear of per­sonal choice. Book ban­ning is one of the most com­mon ways to cen­sor ed­u­ca­tion. 

How Book Banning Impacts Students

Those who are af­fected the most by book ban­ning are the stu­dents in the class­room. When books are banned or chal­lenged, the foot­ing of the cur­ricu­lum be­comes un­sta­ble. By open­ing chil­dren up to places, peo­ple, and dif­fer­ent cul­tures, books help chil­dren de­velop em­pa­thy for oth­ers. By na­ture, chil­dren are very self-fo­cused. It is hard for them to imag­ine dif­fer­ent ex­pe­ri­ences and lives out­side of their own. Books that show rep­re­sen­ta­tion of dif­fer­ent peo­ple and sit­u­a­tions that are dif­fer­ent from there’s can teach them em­pa­thy. Books can also pro­vide rep­re­sen­ta­tion to chil­dren who come from mar­gin­al­ized com­mu­ni­ties. When you take these books away from stu­dents, it gives them a nar­row way of look­ing at the world. Stu­dents will not be able to un­der­stand dif­fer­ent cul­tures, world­views, re­li­gions, etc., if in­di­vid­u­als keep ban­ning books that have these el­e­ments. 

Ban­ning books can stunt chil­dren’s cu­rios­ity about the world and other peo­ple. Col­lege stu­dent Kerinna Kan­ters ex­presses why she thinks book ban­ning has a neg­a­tive ef­fect on stu­dents. ‘’Re­mov­ing books has a neg­a­tive im­pact be­cause it is cen­sor­ship. When you cen­sor cer­tain ideas and be­liefs, you cre­ate a more xeno­pho­bic and ig­no­rant so­ci­ety. This is teach­ing stu­dents that it is okay to stop an idea or view­point from be­ing heard be­cause they don’t agree with it.’’

Factors of Banning Books

Lim­it­ing stu­dents ac­cess to books might solve on fam­i­ly’s prob­lems about their child read­ing a cer­tain book, but it re­moves the op­por­tu­nity for an­other child. Ban­ning books has a rip­ple ef­fect that im­pacts the rights of other read­ers. When in­di­vid­u­als re­strict their chil­dren from read­ing cer­tain books, they can’t en­force those be­liefs onto other chil­dren and fam­i­lies. Ban­ning books has the po­ten­tial to cre­ate gaps in knowl­edge for young learn­ers. Whether it’s a clas­sic novel or a new book that has been banned, ban­ning books lim­its ac­cess and has the po­ten­tial to leave stu­dents be­hind some of their class­mates. 

What Future Teachers Think

Not only does book ban­ning have an im­pact on stu­dents, but it also has an im­pact on teach­ers. While vet­eran teach­ers, have been deal­ing with cen­sor­ship in schools for a while, this is some­thing new to stu­dent teach­ers.  A Sopho­more el­e­men­tary ed­u­ca­tion ma­jor at Maryville Uni­ver­sity shares their opin­ion on the mat­ter. This stu­dent stated they would like to re­main anony­mous ‘’As a fu­ture ed­u­ca­tor, it is im­por­tant that we in­clude our stu­dents’ lived ex­pe­ri­ences and cul­tures as part of the in­struc­tion. This means that ed­u­ca­tors should be able to em­brace their stu­dents’ iden­ti­ties that are as­so­ci­ated with their race, gen­der, lan­guage, etc. Ban­ning chil­dren from be­ing able to see dif­fer­ent cul­tures, same-sex cou­ples, and lan­guages in books, closes their world off. It makes them only view the world one way.’’ 

Ways To Stop Books From Being Censored

One of the best ways to stop books from be­ing cen­sored in schools is to stay in­formed. Fol­low or­ga­ni­za­tions such as the Amer­i­can Li­brary As­so­ci­a­tion and We Need Di­verse Books to stay up to date on every­thing that is hap­pen­ing with banned books in schools. Speak out against book ban­ning. At­tend school board, li­brary, PTA, or pub­lic hear­ings were banned and chal­lenged books are be­ing dis­cussed and be pre­pared to speak out.