Argument Essay

Kaitlyn Duong 

Ms.Galang

English 811

December 18, 2014

       Banning Books: Unconstitutional but Worth Breaking

Freedom of speech is expressed in the first Amendment in the Constitution. No freedom of speech is expressed in the act of book censorship. Carrie by Stephen King has been a frequently questioned book since the time it was published. The story about a girl, that performs a horrific act on her whole town with her telekinetic powers, was written about 40 years ago, yet it is still being challenged today.  Banning books threatens our rights in the first amendment. However, when these books contain content that parents may not like their kids reading, they should have the right to prevent their children from reading it since they have custody over their child. Therefore, banning books such as Carrie should be allowed. Although the text includes informative content for teens, middle school students should not have access to it due to its use of sex and explicit language.

        Most importantly, middle schoolers should not have access to the book because it uses sex in a way that doesn’t express its true meaning- love. It uses sex to show rape and a way to distract people. Sex is so commonly shown, that it doesn’t seem like true love. Books like Carrie have to be taken off middle school bookshelves because “The line between sexuality and pornography must be understood as the difference between the exploitation and sex as a natural aspect of life.” (Rich 1). What this evidence suggests is books containing many scenes of sex are turning into pornography and just exploiting it rather than being used as a natural response to love. What this makes clear is that books like Carrie is turning sex into porn, which parents most likely don’t want their children reading. Specifically, a part from Carrie that shows this is when Chris and Billy begin to have sex on a car after Billy didn’t want to talk to Chris. This doesn’t show affection,  in fact it misuses the purpose of sex, supporting the quote above. Its used as a distraction, rather than a natural part of life and a response to love. Overall, it becomes clear middle schoolers should not have access to Carrie due to its misuse of sex.

        Another significant reason Carrie should be banned is because it uses unnecessary, explicit language. There are other ways to express rage, not just swear words. Gurdon stated “The author makes free with language that can’t be reprinted in a newspaper.” (3) about Lauren Myracle’s books. The same goes for Carrie. A lot of the language can be deemed inappropriate by parents. Some may argue its how teenagers speak, so it is fitting in the situation. However, when it is used frequently in the book, it seems like it’s okay to say things like that. It encourages kids to speak like the characters because they have no consequences. In particular, after reading The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, Maycock says “[a] 6-year-old was suspended for calling a classmate ‘poo-poo’ head” (qtd. in DiBlasio 1). This illustrates how language can affect the way readers speak. In Carrie, the characters say things that parents and teachers probably don’t want their kids reading. It influences kids’ language and their lives because they think there would be no consequences if they do the same, but as shown here there are and potential suspension. The language in the book is censored in movies and rated R, so the same should apply for books. Therefore, Carrie should be censored from teens and in middle schools.

        On the other hand, some may say Carrie should be read by teens because it is informative in that it exposes teens to puberty. Books with coming-of-age content can help kids learn about what happens when they grow up. This can help them so they won’t turn out like Carrie, who was bullied for not knowing about puberty. Some people say, “Objectionable the material maybe for some parents, but it’s not grotesque.” (Gurdon 3). The book is appropriate for kids because it informs kids on puberty without making it unsuitable for kids. This may be true, but the book should not be read by middle schoolers because puberty  should be introduced by their parents. Since it is an important topic, parents may want to discuss it with their kids before they read about it. It may frighten them when it happens, similar to Carrie was when she got her period. Talking to their kids about puberty is a big responsibility for parents and having a book introduce it to their children, may upset them. Their kids may be hurt too because their parents didn’t talk to them about it first. Therefore, books involving puberty and coming-of-age should be reviewed by their parents before kids begin to read it. In other words, books should be censored before kids read it.

        Clearly, Carrie should be banned because it misuses sex and explicit language and includes a topic that should be discussed with a child’s parents first. People may say banning books are unconstitutional and hinders kids from learning about the world and their educational development. However, if movies can have age restrictions, so should books. This doesn’t mean books shouldn’t be read by teens, but that they should have permission from their parents first and be read only when they’re ready. If unconstitutionally banning some books means preventing kids from reading inappropriately deemed books, it seems worth the risk. 

Works Cited

Diblasio, Natalie. "Schools Once Again Face Bind Over Censorship vs. Book Lists." Usa Today 2011 aug 19: A.1 DB - SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.

Gurdon, Meghan C. "Darkness Too Visible." WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 4 June 2011. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.

Rich, Jake. "Can Book Censorship Save Our Children and Their Innocence?" University Wire (2014 Oct 07): N.p. DB - SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://sks.sirs.com>.

Social Awareness Project

Table of Contents

Media/News Immersion
A daily diary for five days on 1-2 articles from the news

Reading Response on Literary Work

Reading response on “Guess Who’s Looking at Your Facebook Page?”

Original Literary Piece

A poem named "Anne" on bullying

Media/News Immersion

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Article: “Major Reaction in School Allergy Fight” By: Aaron Short and Sophia Rosenbaum

Summary: The article discusses the large increase of Epipen supply in school due to a large concern of students’ allergies by their parents.

Social Issue: This social issue I see present in the article is health. Schools need to be ready if anything happens with someone’s allergies and cannot rely on the student knowing what to do in an emergency. They should not rely on students being able to determine what and what not to eat. For example, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are typical meals at schools and this can increase the Epipen supply because so many kids are allergic to nuts. It makes me think of budget cuts because it doesn’t cost that much to make that sandwich, so that might be why it is so commonly found. Schools need to recognize the allergies of their students and this is seen as a result of the increase in Epipen supply. This doesn’t mean kids should not be aware of their allergies, but they should and schools.

Article: “Kid’s a Duper Hero” By: Bruce Golding

Summary: The article is about a recent viral video showing a boy running through a hail of bullets and playing dead to save a girl behind a burning car in Syria that has been determined to be fake and staged.

Social Issue: The social issue displayed in the article and the video is the heroic personalities of kids in war zones. Kids living in places where war is common have a hard life because they are forced with hardships, such as family loss and destruction everywhere they go. However, this doesn’t mean people serving our country are not heroes. The video is meant to raise awareness to this situation because the spotlight is always on people serving the country, but is also very hard for the kids. It makes me think about how lucky we are because we don’t have to worry about war and bombings everywhere we go. These kids are resilient and brave, where as many of us are spoiled and take advantage as luxuries, such as school and family.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Article: “N.J. Boy, 12, Shoots Sis, 9; She’s Critical” By: Bill Hutchinson

Summary: The article explains an event that took place on the night of November 15th in New Jersey. A 12-year-old boy show his 9-year-old sister with a stolen 9-mm gun when he was playing with it. Their mom was charged for endangering children and charges are pending on her boyfriend.

Social Issue: The article expresses the social issue of gun control through an incident where a girl was shot by her brother. The gun should not be in the house in the first place, especially a stolen one. If there is a gun, it should be locked away securely. Since the boy, was able to retrieve it, the mom was probably not responsible enough to lock it up. Parents need to have responsibility and learn to take care of their kids at all times. Where were their mom? Shouldn’t she be watching them or have someone else with them? It makes me think about how some parents don’t care for their kids properly and when something happens to them they said it was their faults. It seems like very childish manner, whereas she should be watching her children.

Article: “UN: Now ISIS is Killing Kids” By: James Warren

Summary: The article is about how ISIS trains 5 to 16 year olds to kill others. It provides evidence on teen boys from Syria murdering teens from other nations. They are seen beheading and or shooting teens. Kids are not victims of ISIS says the UN.

Social Issue: The social issue is quite obvious- ISIS. ISIS is a big topic in the US currently in which the US are struggling to find a solution for it. The article makes me think about how much Syria hates the US because they train their kids from their youth to fight in combat. It feels really threatening being a teen myself. They are terrorizing the US which seems really hard to fight against. If the US fights back, it seems ISIS will make things worse and continue executing people, possibly even more frequently. This shows me that we are kind of stuck in a situation that we are unable to escape.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Article: “Deja Fool on B’klyn Bridge” By: Caitlin Nolan and Stephen Rex Brown

Summary: The article is about French tourist, Yonathan Souid, who climbed up on one of the Brooklyn Bridge cables around Sunday noon to get the best shots of the bridge with Manhattan traffic under him.

Social Issue: This article shows yet another time someone has gone past the NYPD without any trouble. If they were more careful, he probably would not have been able to get up there. Luckily, he went up there just to take a picture, but what would’ve happened if it was a bomb. Last time a flag, this time a photo, next time a bomb? When it is actually something that can hurt the bridge, will the police finally step in? They should be on guard at all times especially during a busy time like around lunch and at a large landmark and tourist spot. They should watch all of New York as a matter of fact. Although Souid was just taking a picture, he should’ve not been allowed up there. What’s next for the bridge?

Article: “Evil Below Lunatic Pushes Man to Death on Bronx Subway” By: Tanisha Morris, Pete Donohue, Caitlin Nolan, Bill Hutchinson

Summary: This article summarizes the tragic death of 61-year-old Wai Kuen Kwok, who was unexpectedly pushed into the subway tracks right in front of his wife. Kwok was a family man with 2 adult sons and a friendly wife. The one who pushed him in ran away and took the Bx35 bus for 3 stops.

Social Issue: The social issue of the article is subway safety. I feel like this is a very big topic that should be made aware of because the subway is such a large part of the everyday life of a New Yorker. Subway accidents are very common and cause many deaths and injuries in New York. We really need to find a solution to all these subway accident s because Subway has become a part of our culture, and if this continues, we would probably lose count of the number of accidents. This makes me think of my trip to Hong Kong over the summer because when I  was at the train station, I couldn’t help but notice a glass in between the tracks and the platform that only opened with the subway was here. If we had that here, there might be less accidents.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Article: “Ebola Doc Dies in US Hospital” By: Nelson Lampe

Summary: The article explains the death of Dr. Martin Salid, the second Ebola victim in the US. He was treated with the same medications as other Ebola patients. The medications cured some, but Salid dies in Nebraska at 4am on Monday.

Social Issue: The social issue of the article is a big topic in the US these past few months- Ebola. This makes me think of how our country is very advanced because many people diagnosed with Ebola in the US were cured, whereas more than 5,000 people have died in West Africa. The US are able to develop a treatment that helps with curing Ebola. On the other hand, people in Africa hadn’t had all the technology to save many people. This makes me think of all the diseases in history, such as malaria and smallpox, which have wiped out many people. I wonder what causes the diseases to just break out. How come they hadn’t been such a big case earlier?

Article: “Gay Gene Theory Boost” From Associated Press (AP)

Summary: The article describes a study by scientists with nearly 800 pairs of gay brothers to test if genes have an effect on sexuality. It isn’t scientifically proven but the data leads towards a chromosome affecting your sexual orientation.

Social Issue: The social issue is sexuality. When I first read this article, I thought it was just about an experiment. However, when I read it over, I thought why does it matter? Questioning gay people to create a scientific study seems kind of rude because trying to see if genes affect their sexuality is just like asking why there are gay. To me, it just seems a little like bullying. There looks like there’s no difference between this and bullying.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Article: ”MTA Big ‘Bonk’ers Over Backpacks” By: Thomas Tracy and Larry McShane

Summary: The article is about Charles Moerdler, an MTA board member that attempt to backtrack the idea of banning backpacks on subways. This proposal was made because many complain about getting hit with backpacks especially on crowded trains.

Social Issue: The social issue in the article is public transportation. I totally disagree with banning backpacks because as a student who takes the train home, it would outrageous to not be able to bring my backpack home on the train. This ban would affect many people including me because we would’ve have to find other ways to get home. It’s just a little push from a backpack, but that doesn’t mean that backpacks should be banned.

Reading Response on Literary Work

Before clicking that post button, think twice about tweeting about your horrible job and posting the picture of your teacher on Instagram. It may just seem like a joke or taking out your anger, but in the world, it seems like a whole lot worse. Alessandra Potenza expresses that privacy is very hard to find online, especially on social media in her article, “Guess Who’s Looking at Your Facebook Page?” Once it is online, anyone can see it- parents, teachers, and or employers. It is always up there and can never be erased. In other words, the claim Potenza is making is one of the only things you can’t find online is privacy.

            At the start, Potenza shows that there is no privacy online through someone losing their job from a post. Potenza starts off her article by introducing Kirsten Kelly, a waiter in Ohio. Potenza writes, “She posted her Facebook status update on a Friday night in July. By Monday, she was fired.” A customer had shown her manager a post Kelly wrote that complained about the lack of tips she was receiving. This shows social media hurt her because she became unemployed from the post. Online on a public website isn’t somewhere to complain about problems because it can have many consequences. Kelly thought she would just get yelled at most, but after that day, she realized the manager can do anything he or she wants. This part of the text shows me, there really isn’t much privacy online. Sharing personal information on websites is mistakenly thought of as private. However, in reality, there is no security on information online, especially on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Therefore, the example of Kirsten Kelly shows privacy is unavailable online.

            Furthermore, Potenza shows privacy is unavailable online by telling the story of Emma Sullivan. She was a high school senior when she tweeted about Governor Sam Brownback and faced consequences for her actions by her principal, who found it offensive. Potenza writes, “Two years later, the incident is still all over the internet if you google her name. And she worries it might affect her chances of getting a job.” This illustrates how the internet is like haunting ghost. There is no privacy online because her story is still around two years later. Posting things on the internet can permanently scar her from getting a scholarship, job, and many other things she might need in the future. Once it was out, its out, and she couldn’t take it back. She is stuck with for the rest of her life. From one pose, anyone can become famous, but known for something they will probably regret. Just because it is deleted, doesn’t mean it is offline. It is like a heavy burden that will never unload off your back. Emma Sullivan’s story shows posting things online can haunt people because privacy is so hard to find.

            After reading this article, I realized that one small post, picture, and or tweet can turn into a horrible nightmare. This makes me think of labels because on many occasions people get labeled from their online profile. Take Emma Sullivan for example, from now on she is remembered by her offensive comments. Online profiles seem to define us. This has created an interest in social media and thinking before I put something online. This article shows me how social media has become such a big part of many of our lives. Social media is how people get to know each other. However, anyone can get to know anyone. This concludes it, but what I’m still thinking is, is privacy even in the online dictionary?

Original Literary Piece

Anne

Anne once a bully

Then she lived with a burden

Anne is now alone

Process/Problem

            To write this poem, I listed all the social issues I could think of and once I had about 10 I stopped and chose one to focus on. I was kind of stuck on how to write it so, I looked up examples of poems dealing with social issues and read a few. One poem named, “Eric”, really stood out to me because the title was just one name and the short poem described many of his problems while only mentioning his name once. After reading five poems, I decided to write a haiku using the same style “Eric” used in which having a name as the title and describing their problem in a few lines. In other words, I used an example of a social issue poem to help me write my own.

            The social issue in the poem is bullying and how it can hurt you even though you are the bully. When people bully, it is mainly because they are insecure and trying to bring others down to suffer with her. The burden represents Anne’s guilt and how after bullying, people including Anne just feel worse about themselves. The last line shows how bullying just got Anne alone because her actions pushed everyone away from her. All in all, I wrote the poem by making every line a different part of her life and how it progresses.

Works Cited

Saturday, November 15, 2014 News- New York Post

Sunday, November 16, 2014 News- Daily News

Monday, November 17, 2014 News- Daily News

Tuesday, November 18, 2014- New York Post

Wednesday, November 19, 2014- Daily News

“Guess Who’s Looking at Your Facebook Page” by Alessandra Potenza from Upfront Magazine

Mentor Poem: “Eric” by Barry Taylor URL: http://www.poemsforfree.com/eric.html