tudent, parent and teacher has an opinion on.

First, it’s important to understand what a book ban is. When a book is banned from school it means that teachers are not allowed to base content on it and the libraries are not allowed to have it in the collection.

Book bans have been since libraries stocked books and people had opinions on them, but in recent years they have become much more prevalent. Books are commonly banned from K-12 schools for containing things racist or sexist context, extreme violence, sexual content, etc.

Examples of controversial banned books are The Diary of Anne Frank, which has been banned in many school districts for its coming to age discussions. One of the most recent and controversial book bannings is Dr. Suess’s books in some states for racist views.

Some parents like Idaho Falls Resident Lori Nelson say “Certain books should definitely be banned from high schools as there is certain content, especially of sexual nature that students should not be exposed to.”

However, many educators, like Thunder Ridge High School librarian, Mrs. Ivie argue, “ I do not believe banning books is helpful. I think it’s important to curate a collection that is age-appropriate, for sure, but there’s a big difference there… You can remove books that contain profanity, teen drinking, religious content, racism, magic, abuse, sexual content, and more. But in taking away those books, you also removed examples of friendship, love, courage, creativity, faith, forgiveness, reality, resilience, humor, and history.”

In my opinion, Mrs. Ivie is right. High schools should definitely only teach and offer collections that are age-appropriate for students but not ban books as when we do we lose the great lessons that come from those monumental novels.