All over the country, books have sparked arguments. The main question is should controversial books be banned from schools and libraries? Some parents say yes, while teens argue that they are educated and responsible enough to make their own decisions. Parents want to ban books because of content, however, this will prevent children from learning valuable lessons and may actually attract children to read this content. I believe that no book deserves to be banned, and that teens should be able to decide what they want to read.

Many parents believe that some books are too dark to be in children's libraries or at school. One prominent example of this opinion is described in the article ' Darkness Too Visible" when the mother enters the bookstore. The parent says "nothing, not a thing, that that I could imagine giving my daughter. It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff." This represents many parents opinions. In fact, many parents have taken steps to prevent teens from reading these books. New books like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, loved books like Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, and more classical books like The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, are ending up on the list of "most frequently banned" books from the past 20 years, according to the article 'The Banned Books We Have Loved'. Some are taking actions so severe that these books are actually permanently banned in certain schools and states.

However, what parents don't understand is that banning these books may actually bring them unwanted attention. R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps, is quoted in the article "The Banned Books We Have Loved", "It is a badge of honor to have people try to ban your books from schools and school libraries, only because because it means your books have become popular and are being noticed." And Suzanne Collins notes, in the same article, that she has "never noticed any kind of sales decrease because of these censorship campaigns. Usually they prove to be good publicity." And Ms. Stoddard from the article "Darkness Too Visible", "admits that creating a separate section [in libraries] may inadvertently lure the attention of younger children keen to seem older than they are" This shows that banning, censoring, or creating a separate section for controversial books actually bring more attention to them.

What parents do not understand, is that these controversial books teach valuable lessons. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card , for example, however grim it is in its use of violence and graphic descriptions, teaches about the terrifying results of violent acts. On page 212, after Ender fights with an older boy, the book depicts Ender crying "I didn't mean to hurt him!" There are many examples of this throughout the book, and all of them show how mentally scarred Ender is after each of these experience. Ender's Game shows teens that the effects of violence are never good and may even hurt you, if not physically, then mentally. Animal Farm by George Orwell teaches teens about the dangers of being naive. The book describes a group of animals that are being manipulated by their 'government'. On page 61 the animals take another look at one of the commandments written by their government, " Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets." This teaches teens to be aware of manipulation by showing how easy it was for the pigs to change the law under the observation of everyone else. The lessons in these books are crucial for teens to learn and are applicable to the world.

In conclusion, I believe that these books should not be censored from teens because they teach important life lessons. Teens should know what they are ready to read and what they would rather avoid. They are responsible enough to make these choices and do not need to be sheltered from books.