Censorship is Up 898%

Some sobering facts about a new reality in education

graphic courtesy of ALA

This week is Banned Books Week, an annual reminder of the rapidly growing threat of censorship in our schools and libraries. Last year alone, 2,452 different books were targeted for censorship. To put that in perspective, over the twenty year period of 2001-2020, the average number of targeted books was 273. This means last year’s censorship efforts were up a whopping 898% from recent history.

If you think it can’t happen here in East Penn, think again. Book banning isn’t something that only happens in distant places. A book banning attempt in East Penn was one of the chief reasons I first got involved in advocacy for our schools more than a decade ago. In only the last two years, there have been attempts to censor books in Parkland, Nazareth, and Lehighton. PEN America, in their report on the danger of normalizing book censorship, identifies 73 different book banning episodes in Pennsylvania in the last year.

The fact is, a majority of Americans across the political spectrum oppose censorship when they are clearly identified for what they are: book bans. And so those who seek censorship now cover their attempts by claims that books are pornographic or racist, and thus banning them doesn’t ‘count’ as censorship. Charges like these leveled against books in schools are almost never true. And the book one family might find objectionable may be the very thing another family needs to help their child learn and grow. I’m grateful we have school librarians with expertise and experience in selecting age appropriate books to curate what is best not just for an individual family and their worldview, but for all of the families and different worldviews that make up our community.

One of the recent changes in censorship is they are now primarily the work of organized pressure groups-- or school board members they’ve lobbied-- rather than individual concerned parents. In East Penn, as in almost all school districts, there is a clear and transparent process for concerned parents to ask that school reading material be reevaluated by librarians and others with educational experience and training. But organized political groups, often driven by funding and ideologies that originate far outside the community, try to bypass such procedures. Last year fully 72% of attempted book bans came from such groups. By contrast, ten years ago only 14% of book ban attempts were a part of organized censorship campaigns.

The thing that concerns me most these days, though, is the increasing pressure for self-censorship. The reality is that we don’t know how many quality books haven’t been written, or haven’t been published, or haven’t been chosen by librarians, because they are intimidated by the prospect of being attacked by book banners. I personally know of several examples of bulletin boards and lesson plans that have been abandoned by teachers in East Penn not because they weren’t appropriate or creative or educational, but solely out of the (well-founded) fear they might attract unwanted “controversy.” In fact, the East Penn teachers union recently warned district teachers that they should consider self-censoring themselves even outside of school, to avoid the potential of impeding their “employer’s effectiveness or efficiency.” This kind of silent censorship is the direct result of the chilling effect that book bans are having. According to a recent study by the RAND Corporation, a majority of K-12 teachers nationwide report limiting their instruction “because they were afraid of upsetting parents and felt uncertain about whether their school or district leaders would support them if parents expressed concerns.”

So an 898% increase in censorship attempts is frightening. But it’s only the tip of the iceberg in the efforts by some to control how others think and express themselves.

To honor Banned Books Week, I ask that you consider which candidates for East Penn School board are most likely to stand up against censorship efforts. And I encourage you to choose one of the top 10 most banned books in America last year to take a look at what all the fuss is about. I’m choosing Crank, a debut novel by Ellen Hopkins about the dangers of drug addition and inspired by the real-life struggles of her own daughter. I don’t know if it’s any good, but I figure there is only one way to find out.

PS: As grim as the news of censorship is this year, the fact that it was even worse last year (4,190 titles targeted) gives me hope. Ordinary people from across the political spectrum are starting to stand up to these efforts. I’m sharing my thoughts above with the hope they can contribute in some small way to reducing the power and momentum of the book banning.

PSS: Perhaps the most articulate statement opposing book censorship in schools is this clip from young adult author John Green. His book Looking for Alaska has remained a top target of book censors for years (#6 last year). You won’t regret taking the time to listen:

You might also be interested in:

• Is This Pornography?

• Enjoying (and Protecting) Theater in Our Schools

• Censorship in Our School District