Just like the Church did in the Middle Ages, now they are banning children and adults from reading what the Government’s agenda doesn’t agree with.
Hi everyone and welcome to my blog! Today I want to talk about a very important and alarming topic: the growing movement to censor books in schools. I’m sure you’ve heard of Banned Books Week, which is happening right now, but did you know that book bans are actually increasing in the U.S.? That’s right, according to a new report by PEN America, a nonprofit organization that defends free expression, more than 1,600 books were banned during the past school year. That’s a lot of books!
What’s even more shocking is that most of these bans did not follow proper procedures and were based on biased and narrow-minded views. The report, titled Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools, found that many of the banned books deal with LGBTQ issues, race and racism, sexual content, and diverse characters. These are topics that are relevant and important for young readers to learn about and explore. By banning these books, schools are depriving students of the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills, empathy, and curiosity.
The report also identified 50 advocacy groups that have been actively campaigning for book bans across the country. These groups are mostly new and do not represent the views of most citizens, according to PEN America. They have influenced or initiated about half of the bans that took place in 138 school districts in 32 states. Some of these groups have names like Parents Defending Education, Moms for Liberty, and No Left Turn in Education. They claim to be concerned about the quality of education and the well-being of children, but in reality, they are pushing their own agenda and spreading misinformation.
I think this is a very serious and disturbing trend that we need to stop. Book bans are not only harmful to students, but also for teachers, librarians, authors, and society as a whole. Books are meant to be read, not censored. Books are meant to challenge us, not comfort us. Books are meant to open our minds, not close them.
That’s why I urge you to join me in supporting PEN America and its efforts to protect free expression and education. You can read their full report here: https://pen.org/banned-in-the-usa/. You can also check out their website for more resources and ways to get involved: https://pen.org/. And of course, you can celebrate Banned Books Week by reading some of the banned books yourself or sharing them with others. You can find a list of frequently challenged books here: https://bannedbooksweek.org/.
Thank you for reading this blog post and I hope you learned something new today. Let me know what you think about book bans in the comments below. And remember: don’t let anyone tell you what you can or can’t read!
Stand up against censorship. We don’t need to read what we don’t like, and we should have the option to read anything under the Sun. Let people decide what they want to read or not. Let’s not give up our few let freedoms.
Guest post by Kuya Manzano
