My Journey’s My Own

You’ve heard this banner spoken and written by many celebrities and common folk for a while now I’m sure. I’ve said it myself and I’ll say it again. 

I am with the banned.

Banned books. 

What kind of world are we living in where this is still a thing? 

Especially in The United States, a country that prides itself on its freedoms! I am a very patriotic and proud American, a God fearing woman and mother. Do I let my children read and watch whatever they want? Of course not, because there is some content that is age appropriate, but that does not mean it should be BANNED! 

What I let my child watch or listen to is our choice as a family and that should be the choice of every family or parent in the world. Yes, even the bad ones. The government, local church, or cranky old person on the corner should not be the one making that decision. 

Now about those books…..here’s a short list of some of the titles that are on a list of Banned Books.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Any of those titles sound familiar?

So why are they banned? The main reasons are; sexual content, magical themes, violence, and small minded people with too much time on their hands! Many of these books are considered classics! Your parents and grandparents read these titles and they were definitely more conservative than we are today.

The good news is it’s usually only local libraries and schools that ban books based on the fear that children will be “swayed or led astray” by what these books contain. Again I say that’s not their place to choose. 

What do we do? 

WE READ!!

We rush to the library, the book stores, the internet, and we buy and borrow the books on the list. We read what they want to keep us from reading! That’s the best way to battle censorship. Then talk about it! For those of us online with any kind of foothold, write about it. Advocate for that author and what their message is. 

For Parents

Read the books that others say your children shouldn’t and decide for yourselves if it’s content your child should be exposed to. Read it together, so you can skip parts that are too sensitive for them. Explain things that are complex, help them expand their young minds and arm them against those that would have them be ignorant of the message. 

It’s 2024 and we can not allow this kind of censorship to enter our lives and gain a foothold. 

Fight back. Be the Book Dragons you were meant to be and fight fire with fire!

Join me and support the banned!

What I worry about most is the loss to young people. If no one speaks out for them, if they
don’t speak out for themselves, all they’ll get for required reading will be the most bland
books available. And instead of finding the information they need at the library, instead of
finding the novels that illuminate life, they will find only those materials to which nobody
could possibly object.
—Judy Blume, Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers

Intellectual Freedom Center; NCTE