Argument Essay

            Reading: a form of entertainment to teach and give information to people. Some people thinking reading some books can be dangerous for kids like middle school students. For example some parents don’t want their children reading certain books so these parents decide to ban or challenge the book. An example of a banned/challenged book is Flight by Sherman Alexie. The book Flight is about Zits, a boy who’s dad ran away and his mom died of breast cancer. After Zits ran away from many foster families he decided to shot a room full of people in a bank. When Zits “dies” he goes on a journey of racism, religion, and violence. The book Flight has been challenged or banned from some school libraries because of the violence, racism, and religion in the book. The book Flight should not be removed from middle school libraries because it teaches the reader a lesson about not to waste their life doing bad things.

            Banning books with topics like violence is wrong and should be kept in schools. In the article “Darkness Too Visible” by Meghan Cox Gurdon, “There’s nothing in my book that even compares to what kids can find on the Internet” says Alexie. This shows that kids can find these violent things on the Internet or on the daily. There is a part of the book where Zits shoots a room full of people in a bank (page 34-35). When kids read this and see how the people were reacting they can tell how violence is wrong and how they shouldn’t do violent things. Also another part of the book with violence was the battle with the whites and Indians (page 69-78). At the end of the battle the Indians won and captured 3 white soldiers. At the time Zits was in a little Indian boys body so he saw the battle. The Indian boy’s father wanted Zits to kill one of the white soldiers (about 15 years old) after the battle. Zits didn’t want to kill the boy because he was near Zits age and Zits thought the boy didn’t deserve this. This is another example of how it shows violence is wrong and people shouldn’t do violent things.

            Some books that are challenged or banned contain the topic of racism but these books also shouldn’t be banned. In the book on pages 59-64 of Flight Zits talks about an Indian camp in a bad way. Zits knew it was wrong to talk about peoples races so he stopped. This can show kids how it is wrong to talk bad about peoples races and background. Also another example of racism in the book Flight was on page 126-128. On these pages Zits is in the body of a man named Jimmy. Jimmy is a pilot who’s partner is named Abbad. Abbad was Ethiopian, a Moslem character so people assumed he was a terrorist and didn’t want him to become a pilot. This can show kids that assuming about races can’t always be right. Even though Abbad crashed a plan in Chicago it was an accident. This also shows racism is a problem and kids shouldn’t be racist.

            A third reason a book can be challenged or banned is because it can contain religious topics. For example on page 36 when Zits wake up in the first body after he was killed he prays to God that he really didn’t shot those people in the bank. This is only the first time Zits mentions God in the book. Zits mentions God many times in Flight. When kids read the part of Zits talking about God they can realize that talking about people religions in a good way is good and a bad way is bad. Also another example of religion is page 59-64 where Zits was talking bad about the Indian camps. This can also be considered religion because it talks about Indians past. If an Indian were to read this they could be offended. This shows kids that there are bad ways people can talk about other people’s religions. Another example is on page 131-132 where Zits is in the body of his father who was a drunk that ran away. It also shows how it can offend people in bad ways and teach kids not to talk about religion.

            Challenged or banned books aren’t always bad and can teach kids a lesson or two. Flight teaches the reader about violence, religion, and racism. Even though books teach people good lessons they are still challenged or banned. Since 2013 49 books were challenged for violence, 22 for religious viewpoint, and 11 for racism. This shows even good books like Flight are still challenged for violence, religious viewpoint, and racism. The parents that don’t want their child reading books like these don’t realize that these books are actually teaching their kids something. Those parents think that these books are poisoning their child’s brain when they are actually making their children mature and smarter.

Work Cited

Alexie, Sherman. Flight. New York City: New York, 2007. Print.

Cox Gurdon, Megan. “Darkness Too Visible” New York City: New York, 2011. Print.

Crum, Maddie. "Banned Books By The Numbers (INFOGRAPHICS)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.