The Obscenity of Banning Books
Book bans are a dangerous expansion of state power and don't help or protect anyone.
In my high-school freshman English class, I had some of my first serious discussions on difficult but important topics. I recall, for instance, learning about suicide and racism while diving into Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mockingbird, respectively. Thoughtfully reading and discussing good books helps students understand important principles for living a good life and managing challenges, preparing them to encounter sensitive topics as adults. Through books, students can learn to empathize with people in situations they’ve never been in and discover heroes they might emulate. For students to develop into independent thinkers and rational adults, they need to learn how to think critically. Among other things, they need to explore the world through art, to understand and analyze new perspectives and ideas, and to expand their worldview accordingly. But students may now miss out on many such opportunities.
In July 2024, Utah, Tennessee, and South Carolina implemented laws banning books that portray or discuss sex.1 Many use broad language; Utah’s ban includes “material that constitutes pornographic or indecent material.”2 Of course, what one considers “indecent” will vary from person to person, but Utah’s initial list includes Judy Blume’s Forever, which is about a teen girl losing her virginity and her first serious relationship.3 South Carolina and Tennessee haven’t yet released lists of what will fall victim to the new laws, but the wording could apply to such classics as 1984—which is already banned in school districts in Pennsylvania and Texas under similar policies.4 These laws apply not only to elementary schools but to all government-run schools in these states. A few laws include further restrictions; Tennessee’s, for example, also bans books with “excessive violence.” Another, passed in Idaho, requires that books containing nudity or descriptions of sex be held in separate, adult-only areas in all public libraries, thereby reaching beyond the school system.5
These laws are part of a broader trend.6
The American Library Association noted that more books were banned or removed for review in 2023—from specific schools, districts, or whole states—than in any other year on record, with relatively high numbers in 2022 as well.7 Most of the banned books discuss, describe, or depict sex, homosexuality, transgender people, or race. Many others that have been removed from shelves for lengthy review processes involve mental health issues, violence, abuse, death, and grief.8
Legislators who sponsor and advance such bans claim to have students’ best interests at heart. Mike Lee, U.S. senator for Utah, insists that schools “should be removing these [books]. Shame on them if they don’t and shame on those who want to groom children sexually.”9 The connection between the banned books and sexually grooming children is anyone’s guess. However, Lee’s essential position—that such books must be removed from schools to protect children—is shared by less absurdly conspiratorial book-ban advocates. Tennessee state senator Jon Lundberg defended the new ban in his state, saying, “We’re trying to keep kids safe and make certain that what they’re reading and what they’re seeing in public libraries are appropriate for their age.”10
Of course, some things are obviously inappropriate for young children. This fact is not in question; the relevant question is who should decide what’s appropriate for a given child. Heavy-handed bans such as those recently passed—which fail even to distinguish between elementary and high school—violate the rights and intellectual freedom of parents, and by extension, children. Parents, not the government, are morally responsible for what their children may read—though they may partially delegate this responsibility to others, including teachers.
Intellectual freedom is a vital aspect of liberty, leaving us free to think for ourselves and, when opinions diverge, to disagree peacefully with others. It is essential to our very nature to think freely and follow our judgment, and our right to do so is a recognition of this fact. Children are not yet fully able to exercise that right, so it is held in trust by their parents or guardians until they can.
If a school provides books that violate a parent’s convictions about what their children should be exposed to, the parents have options, including legally removing their children from the school. Unfortunately (except in states with robust school-choice programs), this comes at the cost of paying at least twice for their child’s education—once through taxes and again through private-school tuition, tutors’ salaries, or a parent’s forgone earnings if he chooses to homeschool his children instead of work. In many states, parents and students can choose private schools, micro-schools, or homeschooling, but—given the cost—removing students from public schools is not viable for many.
Some regard public-school policy as properly within the purview of government, given that these schools are government-run and government-funded. But, in fact, governments make no money of their own; taxpayers fund public schools. These taxpayers have no choice whether to pay taxes, regardless of whether they have children or agree with policies set by government schools, school districts, and state education departments. The moral solution is to end forcibly funded, “one-size-fits-all,” government-run schools so that parents can select the best education for their children, contracting with educators on whatever terms they mutually decide. (For an exploration of the moral necessity and challenges of doing so, as well as a vision of and steps toward that ideal, see C. Bradley Thompson’s “Education in a Free Society.”) Failing that, the rights of parents and teachers to work together within the current system as flexibly as possible should be respected and protected.
Many books that the recent legislation has banned are ones that most rational parents wouldn’t want their younger children to read. Utah has banned several books by popular author Sarah J. Maas, whose works—which are not intended for children or even teenagers—contain sexually explicit material.11 Some are also concerned that book discussions about race, sex, violence, and other hot topics are being used to teach children values that parents regard as wrong. These concerns highlight the crucial importance of freedom in education: Parents shouldn’t have to fund or send their kids into a system they regard as immoral, irrational, or destructive. Parents have valid concerns about what their children are being taught, but banning literature is not the solution. Educational freedom is.
Though some parents may appreciate having these books pulled off shelves, such bans are a dangerous expansion of state power. As South Carolina librarian Shanna Miles put it, “They’re not going to stop at one aspect of society they don’t like; they will keep on going. Now that they have a taste of power, this is never going to end.”12
Granting governments the ability to violate intellectual freedom by banning books from schools doesn’t help or protect anyone. It is an obscene way of stunting developing minds at a crucial juncture of life and handing the state yet another tool for controlling us.