Censorship and Book Banning
in Public Schools
 

INTRODUCTION
Attempts to censor literature have allowed some teachers to become apprehensive about teaching a book that has been controversial in another location. By teaching about censorship and book banning through research, reading, writing, discussing and thinking, young adults will understand the implications of  censorship and the importance of the First Amendment. Freedom of expression and freedom from restraints are important rights for every individual. It is necessary that students become aware of these rights and understand that book banning and censorship can occur at any time and in any place.

GOALS
As a result of this lesson, students will:

  1. Acquire knowledge of the First Amendment;
  2. Understand that the freedom to read and write is guaranteed by the Constitution;
  3. Recognize the diverse social, moral, and economic values that are essential when confronting legal issues;
  4. Understand the ways community values are expressed;
  5. Understand that laws are continually developed by citizens;
  6. Understand that open and free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society;


Develop and reinforce the following language arts skills:

  1. researching (using various resources, notetaking, outlining,  writing drafts, writing bibliographies, using library skills) interviewing (developing good questions)
  2. writing (mechanics of expository, narrative, descriptive, letter writing)
  3. speaking
  4. listening
  5. group and class discussion
  6. provide basic intellectual freedom principles about censorship.


MATERIALS
The following materials are need to complete any of the following assignments:

  1. Library Bill of Rights
  2. List of Banned Books (This may be obtained by contacting the American Library Association. Also see ALA's Intellectual freedom  Manual, 1983.)
  3. VCR , monitor video camera 35 mm camera video cassettes shoe boxes fishing line audio-cassettes


PROCEDURE
1. Some of the most censored books in America include:
 

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • The American Heritage Dictionary
  • Judy Blume books
  • The Catcher in the Rye
  • The Diary of Anne Frank
  • The Dictionary of American Slang
  • Go Ask Alice
  • Lord of the Flies
  • Where the Sidewalk Ends


Mark Twain, in 1907, said, "The truth is that when a library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible around where unprotected youth, and age get hold of it; the deep unconscious irony of it delights me and doesn't anger me."

2. Audio-Visual Activities

  • Write a script and produce a film entitled "The Day the Books Were Banned."
  • Design an overhead transparency illustrating a book that has been banned.
  • Using the overhead, present an oral book report on the book.
  • Videotape a "People on the Street" scenario regarding their views on censorship.
  • Produce a slide tape presentation on the research you have done on censorship.
  • Produce a "book float parade" on censored books. With a student emcee and a commentator, videotape the parade. To make a book float, invert the bottom of a shoebox and decorate it with a scene or the main idea from the book. Use fishing line to pull the "float" during the videotape.
  • Tape a discussion session on censorship.


3. Discussion Activities
 

  1. People can say and write anything they want. What are the restrictions to this generality?
  2. What are possible consequences people risk when they refuse to respect the limits placed on freedom of speech and press?
  3. When librarians make selections for purchase, are they acting as censors? Should there be a written selection policy?  Is there a written policy?
  4. Is there a difference between social responsibility and censorship?
  5. Should books be rated as movies are? (The present policy for showing movies in a school dictates the showing of G-rated movies only.) Develop a rating system for such a policy if one was determined for books.
  6. Who determines what should be taught/read in public schools? Who should?
  7. Discuss the justification for censorship in books.
  8. Discuss this statement and its implications. "The freedom to
  9. read is essential to our democracy."
  10. Discuss the Library Bill of Rights. Copies may be obtained from the American Library Association.
  11. Banning books that reflect world problems causes a person to neglect the real problems of the world. React to this statement.
  12. As a result of censored materials, would students be indoctrinated to one system of cultural and religious values? Discuss the need to protect traditional morality.
  13. Intellectual freedom is the ability to express all points of view. Discuss.
  14. Have students read a short interesting book in class and before it's finished, tell them it has now been banned.
4. Projects
  1. Read Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and the adaptation by Robert J. Dixon (McDougal, Littell and Company). Compare both versions. Which do you feel should be on the school library's shelf? Explain. Does the story lose the reader in the adapted version?
  2. View the videocassette, The Day They Came to Arrest the Book after reading Nat Hentoff's book of the same name. Evaluate both media on their presentation of the censorship issue.
  3. Read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Write a composition on how life would be affected if all books were burned. Discuss the effects on the individual, home, school, industry, business, occupation, etc.
  4. Pretend you are a book committee and review the following books for its appropriateness for an elementary school:
    • BaNam by Jeanne M. Lee (ages 6-9)
    • Harriet and the Robot by Martin Waddell (ages 7-9)
    • Jeffrey's Ghost and the Ziffel Fair Mystery by Jean Kenjins
    • Cinderella by Walt Disney
    • Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
    • Haudie and Abe and the Dirty Book by Betty Miles for a middle school:
    • Bury the Cat by Peter Carter (age 12 and up)
    • The Dream Catcher by Monica Hughes (ages 12-16)
    • The Return by Sonia Levitin
    • The Pigman by Paul Zindel
    • The Chocolate War by Robert Cornier


Develop criteria for evaluating each book.

Be ready to defend your positions.
 

  1. Explain whether the book is a positive contribution to the school's library. Are there potential benefits?
  2. Discuss the motivations that an individual or group might have to censor a book. Debate whether the book should be banned.
  3. Discuss the benefits and values that the book has and whether it should be retained.
  4. Given the scenario of one of the following people or groups choosing to ban a book (any book from the list of banned books), role play the feelings, opinions and views displayed by everyone else involved. This scenario might be from an actual case study.
  • librarian
  • school board member
  • student
  • parent
  • ACLU
  • community group
  • administrator
  • clergyman
Role play situations can also depict one-on-one conflicts:
  • parent-child
  • parent-teacher,
  • teacher-child
  • librarian-parent


After researching the First Amendment, create a newspaper.  Include articles on the First Amendment, censorship cases, letters to the editor and an editorial.

5. Writing Activities
 

  1. As an introductory activity, write a composition defining censorship and explaining how and why you think a book gets censored.
  2. Write a five-page story that you feel would be censor-free.
  3. Distribute the written stories for evaluation and discussion. Is there anything in the story that could be censored?
  4. Write an imaginary letter to the editor expressing your desire to have a book banned from the school library. Examples could be The Chocolate War, The Pigman, Huckleberry Finn, The Diary of Anne Frank, Go Ask Alice, or any other book of your choice.
  5. Write a letter challenging the letter to the editor that has been written, expressing the desire to censor this book.
  6. Write a Library Bill of Rights for your school library.
  7. "Intellectual freedom allows people to believe, write, think and speak more effectively." React to this statement.
  8. Research and define freedom. Write a paper giving instances
  9. when it has been violated.
  10. Write a letter to the editor discussing how you feel about being denied the right to read.
  11. Research a list of books that have been censored over the years from schools and libraries. Select one of these books and present an oral report on your views of the book.
  12. Write a newspaper article covering the imaginary banning of a book in your town.
  13. Invite a lawyer to come in to talk about the first amendment and censorship.
  14. Write a letter to Nat Hentoff concerning your views on  censorship and your opinion of his book, The Day They Came to Arrest the Book.
      15. Nat Hentoff
      The Village Voice
      842 Broadway
      New York, NY 10003


EVALUATION
Evaluation will take place through the successful completion of student’s activities and projects, class participation and discussion, teacher observation, and student-teacher conferences.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bosmajian, Haig. Censorship, Libraries and the Law. New York: Neal-Schuman
Publishers, Inc., 1983.

Busha, Charles H. (ed.) An Intellectual Freedom Primer. Littleton, Co: Libraries
Unlimited, Inc., 1977.

Coffey, Jeff R. (ed.). Student Press Law Report Vol. VII, No. 3
Fall 1986.

Davis, Barbara. "Banned and challenged books know no boundaries. Show at library
illustrates diversity of books' rejections."  Providence Journal 29 September 1986.

The Day They Came to Arrest the Book. Videocassette. Ruby Spears  Pictures, 1988
(60 min.).

DeGrazia, Edward. Censorship Landmarks. New York: R.R. Bowker Company, 1969.

Downs, Robert B. and Ralph E. McCoy (ed.). The First Freedom Today. Chicago:
American Library Association, 1984.

Gibert, Barry. "Freedom and Liability." Editorial. Providence  Journal 28 January 1988.

Hafen, Bruce C. "Hazelwood Reaffirms First Amendment Values." Education Week.

Hentoff, Nat. The First Freedom. New York: Delacorte Press, 1980.

House, Roger. "Underground newspaper topics prompt editorial guidelines for student
 papers." Editorial. Providence Journal 8  June 1987: C-01.

Intellectual freedom Manual (sec ed.). Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American
Library Association. Chicago: American Library Association, 1983.

LaFarge, W.E.R. "Valued Work of Allen Ginsberg." Editorial, Providence Journal 23
February 1988.

Liston, Robert. The Right to Know: Censorship in America. New York: F. Watts, 1973.

McManus, Michael. "Many textbooks in public schools ignore religion's place in
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Peck, Robert S. and Mary Manemann. Speaking and Writing Truth. Chicago: American
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Perotti, Thomas A. "Students' Freedom of Speech." Editorial. Providence Journal 1
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A Resource Guide on Contemporary Legal Issues. Washington, D.C.: Phi Alpha Delta
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Riggs, Doug. "Judges, high school kids make Law Day ring true."
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Schexnaydre, Linda and Nancy Burns. Censorship: A Guide for Successful Workshop
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Scott, John Anthony. "Book Banning in the High Schools, 1975-81." Social Education
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Stone, Robert D. "School Libraries and the First Amendment: An Analysis of Island
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"Textbooks: court's deep thrust into the area of censorship," Providence Journal
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Turner, Mary Jane and Lynn Parisi. Law in the Classroom. Boulder, CO:
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Woods, L.B. A Decade of Censorship in America. Metuchen, NJ:
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