Censorship is the suppression of anything considered objectionable, and often target topics such as sexuality, racial issues, religion, drug usage and violence. In adolescent literature, there are many novels that are challenged can be due to language usage, personal views and values, and social issues; book challenges often request schools or libraries to remove that material. This paper will discuss the issues on banning adolescent literature in middle and high school classrooms, literature on LGBTQ+ content being challenged/banned, and the challenges on the novel “Looking for Alaska” by John Green.
According to the American Library Association Banned/Challenged Book List, many books are challenged due to the material being sexually explicit, having offensive language and unsuited to any age group (2019). Most of these censorships come from parents who disapprove of language and material dealing with sexuality, making it not age appropriate for students. Many parents do not want their children to use profanity and believe that seeing or hearing profanity can encourage adolescents to do the same (First Amendment in Schools, 2019). Profanity occurs in books, films and is used in everyday language; it should be up to the parents to teach their children not to use profanity at a young age when they are constantly exposed to it, even outside of literature.
Censorship can limit resources for teachers; with many novels being challenged, or even banned, it can make it difficult for a teacher to choose a novel for the class to read and learn about. Reading novels in middle and high school teach students how authors construct values, lifestyles, and points of views. It gives students motivation and creativity with being able to have an interpretation of the novel.
There are novels that should be challenged for middle school, but not for high school students. In Lycke and Lucey’s article, shows teacher candidates choosing controversial texts that would be “uncensored” for each school level. For example, The Outsiders by S.E Hinton was placed in the middle and secondary level (ages 12-18) (2019). This novel focuses on gangs and violence, but teachers tend to focus on different themes and connections and encourage middle school students to be able to identify them. Another novel shown in the article was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald being appropriate only for high school students. The Great Gatsby presented sexual references and language. Compared to The Outsiders, The Great Gatsby has more profanity and sexual references, and is considered explicit for middle school students.
Out of the top eleven most challenged/banned books in 2018, six out of the eleven include LGBTQ+ content (2019). Books are often challenged from those who have different views and values and are often offended by certain topics; unfortunately, sexuality continues to be an issue Many argue that books with LGBTQ+ content “promotes homosexuality”, and fight to remove them from libraries. “The increase in visibility of the LGBTQ+ community, despite making great gains, has made a target of discrimination and censorship” (Sheffield 2017). Books, often, help many students understand their emotions about sexuality. Characters that share a LGBTQ+ orientation can help a person feel accepted and a part of society; it can useful to have different resources in order to help them feel connected in their community. Having libraries ban/challenge LGBTQ+ content can affect students that continue to struggle with their sexual orientation and not feel accepted.
Sheffield’s study was to take a preliminary look at LGBTQ+ resources in Alabama, focused on only country library systems and examined how many challenged LGBTQ+ content books were in their public libraries. The ALA most challenged book list from 2001 to 2015 was used in this study; it was done in Alabama because of an expectation of having access to these books to be limited, considering that the state is known for its widespread disapproval of LGBTQ+ individuals. “Out of sixty-seven counties, twenty-six had at least one of the challenged books available to check out” (2017). It was found that LGBTQ+ books are not as restrictive as predicted because, many challenged and banned books were available for check-out. Having the LGBTQ+ challenged books to be available, challenge those who have tried to advocate to remove those materials.
Looking for Alaska by John Green has been a challenged book for several years on the ALA most challenged books list, due to it being sexually explicit and having offensive language. In Marion County, Kentucky, a parent challenged the novel in a twelve-grade classroom, complaining about the language in the book, without reading the entire novel (Hoffman 2016). This teacher sent out a formal note to parents about teaching the novel in her classroom, because of its sensitive content; the parent, challenging this novel, is gathering other community members to remove the book from the school after reading excerpts of it claiming it is “pornographic”. This novel discusses personal and social issues teenagers face, which is suitable for a high school classroom. The issues in the book deal with identity, friendship and loss,