Banned Books Week is an annual event on September 28 to October 1 which celebrates the freedom to read especially towards books that have been banned. Throughout the week teachers, students, librarians and book lovers alike unite to place an emphasis on the importance of words and why censorship of them can be harmful. Blaine high school recently celebrated this occasion through a series of trivia hunts featuring banned books. Participants who were clever enough to solve the riddles had the opportunity to keep the book they found.  I was lucky enough to have accidentally stumbled upon one of these books wedge between a small bookshelf in room 153. Under the black construction paper and yellow caution tape read the title of the book “There Eyes Were Watching God.” This captivating novel written in 1937 by African American novelist Zora Neale Hurston was challenged by parents of students in an Advanced English class in  Virginia because they disagreed with it’s strong language and sexual content. However the book to this day is still retained on the academically advanced reading list. 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Reisdorf said in an interview

“I think books that are challenged  are often challenged because they have swearing  or they have sexual content, but what people fail to see in those books is what the message is about and you know that’s what all books are for the message and if we can’t see through curse words or things like that. Then we are not reading the text critically, were only looking at the surface.”

The process of banning books still play a significant role in our schools today as they represent a form of censorship motivated by people’s own personal agenda.Banning books solely based on swearing or sexual content doesn’t only hurt a child’s education but it is insulting. It is stating that someone doesn’t believe children are capable of thinking critically enough to look past the surface. The solution to books that contain controversial content isn’t to censor or remove it but to seek to understand it. If we strive to understand books and the meaning behind them then children have a better chance of growing.  

Reading is an extremely important part of a child’s education, but  in the recent years, it has been a devastating trend to see many people drifting farther and farther away from reading. According to a new report from the National Endowment for the  Arts, in 2015 only 43% of adults read at least one work of literature in the previous year, and according to a U.S study, the numbers of kids that say they enjoy reading has dropped by 10%. These trends only solidify the importance of celebrations like Banned Book Week, because it strongly emphasizes the importance of books and freedom of speech.  One thing Mrs. Reisdorf said she hoped people would take  away from Banned Book Week is..

“Reading is something you do to better yourself but also for all the people who  like to buck the system and break the rules, which I was one of those people. Then reading can do that, it’s not just something you do for school it’s something you do to better yourself.”

Whether or not you enjoy reading, no one denies the significance of it. Mrs. Reisdorf said “Stories and books  matter because they keep human perspective alive” So as long as human perspective exist, and as long as people strive to explore new worlds through words books will always be necessary.