Orly

1|15|18
D Block

Read Banned Books

Challenging and banning books is not an unfamiliar occurrence in today’s

society. Many parents are often thinking of ways to shield their children from any

and all dangers. Despite the efforts of their parents, many children are still

exposed to these topics through music and social media. However, parents

continue to push banning books, even if this means depriving their children of

important lessons. Every book, along with George by Alex Gino, should not be

banned in middle school libraries, despite its discussion of gender and personal

identity.

Although some books may contain harsh content, like sexual scenes, use

of drugs, etcetera, those same books teach readers valuable lessons. Meghan

Cox Gurdon from the Wall Street Journal believes her children should not be

allowed to read about “vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark

stuff,” because she is worried about their effects. But as ProCon.Org mentions,

the truth is those “books are a portal to different life experiences and reading

encourages empathy and social-emotional development.” Many parents do not

want their children to read books with these topics because the books could

make the reader scared or sad. I do not agree with this opinion because children

who experience sadness or fear come back stronger and with a better

understanding of others’ experiences. Also, some situations are rare for teens to

experience, making books the only way to learn about these topics.
 George should not be banned because without it middle schoolers would

not get the chance to gain empathy by stepping into the perspective of a

transgender kid. When George gets home from school she checks to see if

anyone is there. Upon finding out no one is home, she grabs her denim bag

which holds her magazines. She stares at the pictures of girls on the beach,

wishing she was there. She cannot help but think that, “she’d fit right in, giggling

and linking her arms in theirs… They would ask her name, and she would tell

them, My name is Melissa. Melissa was what she called herself in the mirror

when no one was watching” (4-5). This peek into George’s thoughts is enough

for middle schoolers to understand what one aspect of being transgender could

be like. Many people who are transgender do not talk about their experience

because it is personal, but books like George could start to make talk of the

LGBTQ+ community normal and more casual. This would, in turn, give people a

chance to learn more about the transgender community.

Additionally, if they read George, middle schoolers would learn that

it is okay to break gender stereotypes and take risks. When George’s grade

is putting on a production of Charlotte’s Web, the boys have to audition for male

roles. When rehearsing with her best friend, George does not feel right reciting

Wilbur’s part. Finally she tells her friend, “‘I want to be Charlotte,’” (23). George is

a role model for kids to follow, especially if they are passionate about something

that it is not normally accepted. Unfortunately, things will not always go their way.

George’s teacher denies George the role of Charlotte because George does not

conform with the traditional stereotypes associated with girls. Because George is
shot down, she formulates a plan with her best friend, Kelly. George climbs up

Charlotte’s ladder and recites a scene that Kelly (who was playing the role of

Charlotte) was supposed to recite. George hears “a gasp onstage below her, and

then another one,” but she continues. At the end of her scene, George climbs

down to the stage feeling “as light as air,” not “completely sure her shoes were

touching the ground” (152). When George trusted herself, it boosted her

confidence. By reading this book, middle schoolers would learn that taking risks

could do that for them too.

Although reading George is a safe way to learn valuable lessons, it is also

misleading about how coming out might go. When coming out to Kelly, the

reaction George receives is simple and positive. After George gets called a girl

by two bullies in her class, Kelly tries to reassure her by saying, ‘“They’re jerks,’

… ‘You’re not a girl.”’ To which George replies, ‘What if I am?”’ Startled by her

own words George grabs Kelly’s arm telling her not to ‘“tell anyone.”’ Kelly

promises she will not, and her and George say their special goodbye of, “‘One-

two-three! Zoot!”’ (91-92). Although George’s coming out experience was

awkward, she did not receive a negative reaction which could be misleading. Of

course it is okay to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, but when coming out to

someone, it is important that the person knows they may not get the reaction

they hoped for. This book might encourage someone to come out to someone

else, but there is a chance that their coming out would not go well, leaving them

feeling disappointed or unsafe. However, I disagree with this. Even if someone

did not get a good reaction after coming out to someone else, they would likely

still feel better after telling the person.

If people do not make an effort to stop the banning of books, libraries will

begin to disappear, and people everywhere will not gain any knowledge outside

of school. But, if people try to teach others the benefits of having these “so

called” harmful books, there will be a place for curious learners to expand their

knowledge. So, go out and read a banned book.

 Isaac
1/15/19
C Block

Banned Book Essay

Imagine if you wanted to read the last book of the Harry Potter

series. Your friends say it is awesome, you think it will be fantastic, and you are

so excited to have it in your hands. The next day, you decide to grab it for free at

your middle school library, asking the librarian whether or not they had it in the

shelf. The librarian responding with a silent “No sorry, it is not in our shelves.”

You quickly think in your mind, someone must have taken the only copy,

asking “Can I have it once the book comes back?” The words the librarian

responded back with made your heart drop.

“Sorry hon’ it’s banned here.”

It is banned because the same protective parents that do not allow you to

watch YouTube for more than an hour and movies that are rated PG-13 dislike

the content in the book. Profanity and other mature content feed these types of

parents to not want schools to promote these “dangerous” books, causing middle

schoolers to not have these challenging or touchy books to look upon, read, and

enjoy. No book, including George by Alex Gino, should be banned in middle

schools for these reasons and instead should stay in the shelves of all

schools.

Opposing views such as many parents want schools to ban books so they

can protect children from all the dangers the world has to offer. The goal of a

parent is to make sure their child maintains a healthy and happy well being at all

costs. In order to do so, schools ban certain books to keep the unawareness that
precious children have about the world. General information on the matter was

gathered on ProCon.org, an educational website to show what people like

parents might view on the banning of books, saying that “Children should not be

exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or

public libraries.” The idea to parents of having their own kid read a book

containing sexual content is something they do not want exposed at such a

young age. Information about mature topics such as drugs allows kids to realize

that the world is filled with more than just candy, school, and, video games. Even

worse, if middle schoolers learn these things not at the “appropriate” level, this

could influence the reader to do adult behavior subjects, such as sex. Parents

want the best for their kid. They do not want to see them have a baby, become

addicted to drugs, and be violent at an age that they should be enjoying life,

making them have the reason to ban the book. Despite the fact that this is a fair

point, it could help prepare kids for the future and learn that our world is not pure

and it can be horrific. Things like crimes in our world and drug dealers could be

prime examples to teach kids at this age that not everyone is safe and to be

careful around others.

The book George is challenged because it talks about transgenderism,

something some parents do not want their adolescents to think about. This is

due to the fact that many people follow a religion, causing things like gay

marriage and nudity to be frowned upon. Parents that do follow a religion

definitely do not want any child to know about people like George, “[immersing]

her body in the warm water and [trying] not to think about what was between her
legs, but there it was, bobbing in front of her” (44). It confuses the kids that are

reading the book because George is a boy but the author is using pronouns such

as “she” and “her” to describe the main character. The author does this because

she wants to talk openly about transgenderism. Some parents want the opposite

when they have a religion such as Christian, because it goes against their beliefs

and it is an “offence” to God. However, I and many others personally do not

believe this and are trying to get rid of the stereotype and fight for open rights.

Banned books like George can help kids psychologically because when the

author talks openly about transgenderism, it tells kids that it is something normal

to feel and not weird.

Even though some people think that George talks a lot about being

transgender and contains some nudity, it has a deeper meaning to it; George is

conflicted with her own body, not knowing whether or not she is accepted by

society. When the author talks about George taking a bath and reference her

inappropriate spot, at a quick glance to parents it may seem that this is very

inappropriate. But, with a further read, George is actually trying to confirm

herself as female by “[washing] her hair with a lot of shampoo so that the suds

would cover the surface of the water...wrapped the towel around her torso, up

her armpit the way girls do, and ran a small black comb through her hair..stared

at her pale freckled face” (44). After reading this, the person can clearly tell that

there’s more than meets the eye. Parents who ban or challenge books usually

only see one side of the coin and because of that, jump to conclusion that it is

inappropriate. George struggles to understand if she is indeed a girl, something

that can be very relatable to some middle schoolers who feel the same with

themselves. When George does all these things in a “feminine” way, it causes

her to do be paranoid over the littlest details about her appearance, judging

whether or not she is girly enough. Many kids go through the same feeling

George experiences; the reader not liking his or her body due to being too fat,

skinny, and many more reasons. The book gives them comfort to know that

people like George also struggles with how they look no matter if it is about being

trans, overweight and underweight. Even if they can not relate the same way

George does, it allows the reader to learn what other people are going through.

Although banning a book due to explicit content may seem reasonable, it

can help kids answer questions about touchy subjects they would not be able to

express to their parents. For instance sex, drugs, and one's own sexuality are

things that teens lack a parent to talk to. People like Laurie Halse Anderson, the

respected author of a variety of books, know that many teens do not have a

guardian to talk to, causing them to be “desperate for responsible, trustworthy

adults to talk to about some of these issues...they can only find the answers that

they’re seeking in the moral answers, moral guides in books.” These answers

and guides that banned books offer are a much better option of learning things

such as sex, then through peer pressure from friends or online. Banned books

help make these sensitive subjects less embarrassing to think about, allowing

them to learn safely and talk more openly about “inappropriate” things. A banned

book can even give the reassurance similar to a parents, making the kids that

were hungry for support more carefree about whatever they are facing. With this,
kids can even gain the confidence to freely express how they feel about a touchy

subject with a trusted adult.

Similarly, George is a transgender boy turning girl who struggles to

validate whether or not she is truly female, affecting her mental health. This gives

readers who are in the same situation a feeling of connection, allowing people

like transgender adolescents to understand they are just as normal as anyone

else. In the book, George faces a lot of backlash for who she is, causing her to

be ashamed of feeling like a girl. Until one day, George has the opportunity to be

Charlotte, the main character and a female role in the school play for Charlotte’s

Web. George never thought that she would ever have the opportunity to be

accepted as a girl by anyone, causing her after the play to “[slump] against the

backstage wall, hugging her knees, as she cried in sadness and joy...George

was alive in a way she had never imagined” (157). The reader can clearly tell

that there was a lot of conflict building up in her mind on how she felt about being

known as a girl. George wanted to be accepted for who she is and when she got

the chance, she broke down in tears of joy. After reading this section of the

story, many readers learn that being conflicted with themselves mentally is

something people even in books experience, telling them that it is a common

issue to face. This is a very good message that the book gives of because

different to physical look, mental health can be even worse than someone who

struggles with the insecurity of what they look like. Things like being unsure of

yourself causes people like George to become depressed and confused, leading

to horrible consequences such as suicide. Luckily, George faces her doubts

about herself and continues to inspire teen readers to come out even if there is a

risk in people not accepting them for who they are. The book George conveys

the message to believe in oneself shown from when the main character

advocates for her own sexuality. Banning George gives the opposite effect,

especially when one of the books main intent is to help kids and their mental

health.

Furthermore, the book George can give a sense of comfort to middle

schoolers, knowing they are not the only ones who face rejection from someone

like their parents. George experiences rejection a numorence of times when she

tries to tell her mom she is a girl. George’s final attempt made her mom reply

with an honest opinion to what she thinks, telling George “I realized it was my

son... everyone in the audience thought he was a girl” (159). She did not like the

idea of people seeing George as a girl when in her head it was her perfect son

and sweet little boy. Although George’s mom said that, George still responded

with her voice “quivered… ‘I already told you. I’m a girl’” (159). George’s mom in

disbelief, said nothing, “her face [turning] to stone…’Let’s not talk about this right

now” (159). This conflict between the two allowed many teens to cope with their

own rejection by connecting with George, helping them regain self confidence in

who they are. For instance, if someone had doubt about themself due to their

parents not accepting them for being trans, they know many other people in the

world are tackling the same issue such as George. The author also wants to

make sure that readers who have gone through the same thing know it is not

their fault because they are just being themselves. For others, it can also help
them prepare for the worst if they want to come out as gay or bi and their family

rejects them because of who they are. The book overall allows readers to

understand what transgender people are going through and even trans people

themselves even more.

Overall, parents should not be able to decide whether or not a certain

book should be banned because that book could actually help a lot of children for

the future. If anything, parents who want certain books to be banned will not do

anything in the long run because their child will eventually find out. Once these

teens learn after the sheltering of their parents, the real word can be much worse

than what a banned book could ever do.