Throughout the week of October 1st to October 7th, the annual event known as Banned Books Week took place. Banned Books Week started in 1982 by the American Library Association. Ms. Phelps, the sponsor of the National English Honors Society at Charter explained that it “is a national week of awareness that promotes discussion of censored or challenged books and celebrates the right to read.” Very well-known books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Of Mice and Men, and several more books have been banned in America. These books are just among the many that NEHS are trying to bring back to life once again.
Banned Books Week began as a response to the sudden influx of books being banned. There are numerous reasons why some books are banned. These books are mainly banned for being too violent, disrespectful, inappropriate, not suitable for people of certain ages, containing offensive language, and more. Each year at PPCHS, our NEHS pairs with the widely known organization , National English Honor Society and Sigma Tau Delta, an English Honor society for students of English that attend a 4 year university, to invite members to showcase certain banned books. Students will also “discuss the reasons they’ve been challenged,” Ms. Phelps added. Throughout the week the PPCHS NEHS’s Instagram account also posted flyers about certain banned books. These flyers were created by students; they had to pick a banned book and include why the book should be read by everyone!
Banned Books Week overall brings a significant amount of feelings and knowledge being spread across campus. It brings awareness to the subject of banned books, and it helps students understand and speak about the topic. Junior Carolina Argüelles commented “I think that it’s really important that we have banned books week because it allows for some people that have never been educated on certain subjects to be educated on them. I think it’s just really important that we learn about things that are deemed controversial by the government because then we can formulate our own opinions, that aren’t divided from what is normal and common.”
After uproar caused by pieces of work printed on paper, certain banned books are deemed a very controversial subject. These books could have a very sensitive topic that is elaborated upon in it. However, these books are still important in helping spread awareness to society. Junior, Natalia Klatt expressed, “Banned books are important because they open people’s horizons to different perspectives and they can see different points of view.”
Putting aside that books are an outlet of information, they are also an outlet that many people use to convey how they’re feeling and their emotions. Through the characters in a story and their storylines, readers can feel very connected to the real or fake characters in a story. Sophomore Brianna Albuernes commented, “I think that books are an important way that people can express themselves, and their thoughts and their beliefs, so to silence voices isn’t really good.”
The significance of Banned Books Week is to help promote awareness for everyone’s freedom to read. Ms. Phelps said, “Intellectual freedom and diversity are essential to the learning process and foundational to any democratic society.” Teaching students about banned books and the lessons that the books contain is very detrimental for our society.
