Changed my stance on book bans after seeing one up close

I used to think banning books was just paranoid parents being annoying. Then a library in my town pulled 'Maus' from the kids section last month. I read it again and saw how it teaches about genocide without being graphic. Now I get why people fight these bans. Has anyone else changed their mind after seeing a ban happen locally?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake1911mo ago

Man, I heard a librarian talk about this on a podcast once and it really stuck with me. She said banning books like Maus actually makes kids more curious about the stuff they're trying to hide, so it backfires almost every time. I used to not care about this stuff either, but seeing how these bans hit communities makes you realize it's about who gets to tell the story.

kevin_schmidt971mo ago

Yeah for real, it's like the Streisand effect but with books. Kids are gonna go out of their way to read something just because they're told they can't lol.

robin_wright1mo ago

That is so true. It reminds me of how my nephew suddenly had to have a video game his mom tried to take away. You act like something is forbidden and kids treat it like treasure. Same thing happens with music too, parents banning a band almost guarantees their teenager will listen to them on repeat.