I read the news at least once every day. Sometimes I watch it, or rather, I listen to it, when I don’t necessarily have the time to browse the newspapers all day. I’m a writer, with the dream of being a journalist someday and as such, I believe in the power of the free press. So, okay, let’s see how it goes.

This morning as I was doing research for a listicle about books for the readers on your Christmas list, I discovered that a school system in Virginia is meeting tonight to determine the fate of two of the most iconic novels in all of literature, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. This debate stems from the complaint of one parent whose child attends the school system in question in Accomack County, VA. Her concern is that of the books containing too much offensive language and too many racial slurs which, in her opinion, deem the books unreadable. While she doesn’t deny that they are considered classics she is just concerned about the damage this can do in today’s society.

I have to wonder though, what exactly would banning these books accomplish? Yes, I agree the language in them in not ideal, but I have read them. I read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” when I was ten and I read “ To Kill a Mockingbird” when I was about thirteen when the local librarian finally agreed to let me check it out. In fact, I have not only allowed my fifteen-year-old daughter to read them, I have encouraged her to do so. If for no other reason, then to open a dialogue in my household about racism, violence, and the world around us. It’s a sensitive subject, to say the least. No parent wants to have to discuss these things and you always feel as though you’re not explaining them in a way that truly satisfies their importance, but if we ignore them we cultivate a much larger problem than just reading a few books.

Instead of removing these books and subsequently the discussion of their topics from our schools, libraries, and our collective conscience, shouldn’t we be encouraging teens and young adults to read them? Imagine what that could do for our world. Sure, it would cause a bit of inner turmoil for a while, but then it would lead to discussions, dialogues about controversial topics, and ideas that could lead to a better understanding of the world, and quite possibly, even lead to change. What is so wrong with that? Why are we so afraid of a few books when what we should really be afraid of is the reason they were written to begin with? Did no one stop to think about that?

We live in a world that is so inundated with hatred, anger, violence, and fear and instead of blaming ourselves for creating the problem, we blame the music, the movies, the media, and the books. The entertainment industry did not create this problem, we did and now it is our job to get the discussion going so that future generations will not be left sitting in a library looking at empty shelves because we stopped writing for fear of offending someone else. We need to keep talking so that the movie screens and television screens will not be filled with static, but with new ideas. We need to keep reading, because the more we read the more we talk and the more we talk the more open this world can be. Open minds are not a danger; they are a wonder. Embrace them, interact with them, celebrate them, because one day soon we’ll have nothing left to ban.