Throughout history, people have told their stories through writing, which is how we know our own history today, but what if I told you that the history we read is being limited? Book banning has always been a global problem, but in recent years it has increased exponentially, especially in the US. The number of books banned in the past few years has increased by over 40 percent, and I think that needs to stop.

It’s important that people are able to tell their stories without them being censored because of their point of view. Recently, people have been targeting more and more books in public and school libraries, saying that the books are “too graphic” or can make people feel “uncomfortable,” but I believe that that is the point.

The only way to improve our future is by looking at the past, recognizing our mistakes and moving forward. But if you get rid of our history, we are only going to end up making those same mistakes.

Along with history books, there has also been an attempt to ban books that express certain ideas such as support for LGBTQ+ people, or topics that tell a dark story, such as books that bring up the problem of racism and discrimination. In my eyes, I see that banning books with those ideas is a way of trying to make people think a certain way instead of freely.

People should be free to write whatever they want to write. I see writing as a form of expression, so I say express yourself however you want. To me, that’s the point of writing.

A lot of people get after younger people not wanting to read, but I think they should be focusing on not getting rid of the books we have for those who want to learn more about history.

Some people view book banning as a way to protect kids from reading something they don’t want them to read, but I think it shouldn’t be up to other people what we can read. I think we should allow people to choose what they want to read about.

So in the end, I view book banning as a terrible idea that can lead to disastrous consequences in the future.