Jesse

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How to Protect Middle Schoolers Innocence

In America, the banning of books in schools is becoming more and more

frequent as parents and other people start to notice the content that their child is

reading. The reason for many of these bannings and challenges is that people

are realizing that the books that young students are reading are full of harmful

messages and mature content. It is easy to forget that middle schoolers are still

at the young ages of 11-14. While these books may be entertaining, many of

them are just too mature for young kids to understand. If not put in the right

context, these books could be damaging and affect children in a negative way.

Books with mature, graphic, and insensitive content should be banned from

middle school classrooms and libraries because many middle schoolers are too

young to read them.

Many books are banned for their excessive violence and disturbing

images. The haunting descriptions in books are quite shocking to say the least.

Black Boy White School by Brian F. Walker, is a book about a boy who lives in a

rough neighborhood in East Cleveland. The book opens with a lot of violence.

The author makes a point of vividly describing all the brutality and the victims of

it. When the main character, Ant, saw his friend, he “. . .was bent over the top rail

at the waist dripping blood. Bits of brain were in his hair and on the ground like

chewed bubblegum.” For young kids to be exposed to this kind of gruesome

detail is unsettling. These images can very easily lead to anxiety and other
issues for sensitive readers. Nevertheless, this book should be read, not by

young kids but by older kids that are more prepared.

In My Brother Sam Is Dead, the reader is faced with many sickening

descriptions of death in war such as, “Have you ever seen a dear friend lying in

the grass with the top of his skull off and his brains sliding out of them like wet

oats? Have you ever looked into the eyes of a man with his throat cut and the

blood pouring out between his fingers, knowing that there was nothing he could

do, in five minutes he would be dead, yet still trying to beg for grace and not

being able to because his windpipe was cut in two?” While this quote accurately

depicts violence and death in war, that does not make it any more appropriate or

less frightening for younger readers.

Other books are banned for racial insensitivity that can plant negative

ideas about people in different racial groups. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

is a very famous book. However, despite being a classic and famous book, it still

uses lots of racist imagery. The book continuously uses racial slurs and insults

minorities on many occasions. One example of this is, “Thinks I, what is the

country a-coming to? It was ‘lection day and I was just about to go and vote

myself if I warn’t too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was a state

in this country where they’d let that n*****r vote. I drawed out. I says I’ll never

vote again.” Are middle schoolers able to appreciate the value of the book

without being influenced by the racist messaging? Having the message that

African-Americans are inferior being sprinkled throughout a book is too negative

of an influence and should be banned in middle schools. Books like The

about race in a discriminatory way. Even in more mild books like My Brother Sam

Is Dead racism persists. For example, “Perhaps you can hire Sam Smith’s negro

Ned.” This quote implies that African-Americans aren’t only inferior but they are

actually property. The quotes are more subtle in My Brother Sam Is Dead but

they are equally powerful and effective in sending a racist message to kids.

The third major reason for restricting books is excessive profanity. The

occasional curse word in a book is fine to add some color to the dialogue,

express the severity of a situation, or even for humor. However, when the author

employs an excessive amount of profanity, it sends a message that cursing is

acceptable. In an article about banning books, Professor Wesley Scroggins

wrote, “In English, children are also required to read a book called

‘Slaughterhouse Five.’ This is a book that contains so much profane language, it

would make a sailor blush with shame. The ‘f word’ is plastered on almost every

other page.” In school you are supposedly not allowed to curse, which makes it

confusing to require children to read a book that encourages that kind of

behavior.

A common argument among opposers to book banning is that despite

having much profanity, violence and other difficult and inappropriate topics, many

banned and challenged books have positive themes that are worthwhile and

promote inspiration and thoughtful reflection. In some cases these people are

right. For example, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, teaches the reader valuable

lessons about communism and the dangers of one person having too much
power. But in too many others, they are wrong. My Brother Sam Is Dead is a

book about a kid named Tim Meeker. Tim’s older brother, Sam, who he idealizes,

joins the patriot army to fight for freedom in America. After three years of fighting

and serving in the army, he is framed for a crime by his fellow soldiers and

sentenced to death. Tim, knowing Sam’s innocence, pleads with the Colonel of

the army. The Colonel tells Tim that The General who is sentencing Sam is

planning on hanging him even if he may be innocent to set an example to other

soldiers. He also says, “They’re prepared to tell any kind of lie about Sam to get

themselves off. If it were just Sam’s word against somebody else's, it might be

different, but there are two of them, and if they tell the same story, they can be

convincing.” This quote and this book send a message of disloyalty, lying and

even killing someone for the benefit of yourself. The General did not care about

Sam’s life even after he served in his army for years. He was perfectly willing to

kill him to send a message to other soldiers. Sam’s fellow soldiers, people he

fought beside for years, framed him for their crime and lied about it to save

themselves and kill Sam in the process. This book clearly has a theme that could

be interpreted as, one single person's life is meaningless or less important than

another's. These kind of themes are memorable can give children a negative

outlook on the world. The arguments made by people against book banning are

valid and reasonable in some cases. However, too many books prove them

wrong.

People all over the country fight against the banning of some books. They

say it is unfair, that children should have the freedom to read whatever they want
regardless of how inappropriate it is. But I ask, what cost does that freedom

come with? If such “freedom” teaches violence, racism, dishonesty, and cruelty to

our easily influenced youth, what are the long term risks? Children are only

young for a brief period in their lives and we have a responsibility to teach them

right from wrong. Choosing to promote books that help with that, and restricting

books that don’t during those years may help create a better society overall