Right to Read: Certain students not allowed to read banned books

Reading is something that has always been encouraged to students by parents, teachers and almost every adult. But what happens when people are restricted to what they can read? This has been going on for a long time in the United States, but lately it seems like they have been banning books that most people have already read, and that really makes no sense to me.

Books like A Light in The Attic by Shel Silverstein and the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling are just some of the books some of us have read that have been banned at various schools in the United States. Why should some books be restricted from people to read? If we have a commitment to the freedom of press, then doesn’t that mean people have the freedom to read whatever they choose?

I think the worst part of all this is that while some people aren’t able to read some books, the same books are being taught to students in schools. Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes, Lord of the Flies by William Golding and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee are all on the banned books list at some schools.  My question is why should some children be able to learn certain things but others can’t?

Some other books that are banned are A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle,  The Diary of Anne Frank, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky, Blubber by Judy Blume , Carrie by Stephen King, How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell, Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier ­— all  books that many other youth read.

The good part is that even though all these and many other books are on banned lists, these titles are still available in libraries, book stores   and other places that have books, so readers who persist will still get to pick and choose which ones they want, but it shouldn’t be that hard to find a good read.