Banned Book Draft #2

Schon Gonzalez 2^nd Draft “Banned Books Essay” 11/16/13

Many schools and adults are trying to ban young

adult books. They believe that these books contain “inappropriate content” and are

negatively affecting children’s minds. They consider The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton to be

one of them. But I disagree. The Outsiders teaches valuable life lessons like not to take

your childhood for granted, or that everyone’s the same. Also, even if the book gets

banned, that’ll just make kids want to read the book more. So why even try to ban the

book?


　
The Outsiders shouldn’t be banned. Many adults believe

that banning books like this will prevent teens from reading this book. It actually won’t

because it just encourages teens to read them even more. In the article “The Banned

Books We Have Loved”, by Jen Doll expresses “…book sensors don’t seem to have

realized: banning books doesn’t, in fact, hurt them much at all. If anything, it may even

inspire more interest in them, and sometimes sales, too.” (p.2) It’s so obvious, even

authors are taking notice. R.L. Stine the author of the series “Goosebumps”. This is a

quote from R.L. Stine, expressing his feelings on when his book was #15 on the top 100

books that should be banned: “It is a badge of honor to have people try to ban your books

from schools and school libraries… usually they prove to be good publicity.” (p.2)

Banning books just gives kids another excuse to read the book.

Another reason why The Outsiders shouldn’t be banned is

because it teaches valuable life lessons. One of those lessons is to not take your childhood

for granted and to enjoy it. Hinton expresses this moral through one of the characters

quotes in the book. “…you’re gold when you’re a kid, like green. When you’re a kid,

everything’s new, like dawn. It’s just when you get used to everything it’s day.” (p.172)

Another life lesson this book teaches is how everyone is equal and is going through the

same thing. “ “I’d help if I could”, I said. I remember Cherry’s voice. It’s rough all

over. I knew then what she meant.” (p.117) This scene is when Ponyboy is talking to a

social named Randy who plans on leaving town because he didn‘t want to fight or let the

socials down. Here, Ponyboy realizes both classes (Greasers and Socials) encounter the

same problems everyday.

Sadly, many adults oppose these young adult books like

“The Outsiders”. They believe that it’s a negative influence on the child’s mind. Many

believe that these books as the article “Darkness Too Visible” expresses it “Puts children

in dark state”. (p.2) Tanish Carey, publisher of “Sick-Lit Books”, believes the same thing .

This quote from her article states “ I know a girl of 12 in whose class the book (Red

Tears) spread like wildfire- several of them also started cutting themselves…” (p.2) But

the truth is that’s not what young adult books are doing to the youth. If anything, it’s

helping those who are in bad habits, such as cutting themselves. This is a quote from Phil

Earle (author of “Saving Daisy”) in the article “Sick-Lit Books”. “When young people are

lost in such traumatic states, it’s vital they don’t feel alone… novels and stories on the

subject offer a sense of commonality and, most importantly, a sense of hope”. (Carey, p.3)

There’s also the possibility that the adults are overreacting. In the video “Book Under

Fire”, it talks of a school trying to ban “Fahrenheit 451”. Some of the parents like Alton

Vern, along with his daughter Diana Vern believe it’s “downgrading Christians”. They

were also offended by a scene where the characters burn the bible. But seriously! This is a

book that’s been out for more than 50 years with no complaints of it’s contents. So why

start now? Also, the books fictional, so why get offended by the bible getting burned? It

isn’t real and isn’t a real conspiracy to be made a big thing out of.

The Outsiders should not be banned. It produces great

lessons and give kids the positive idea about how they should act. I understand adults are

trying to protect the children from negative influences. But there’s nothing bad in the

book. And no matter how hard they try, the kids will always get around to reading the

book. So please, leave the book be, and let children enjoy the excitement of reading.