Censorship and banned books"Books are dangerous. They make you think... feel... wonder.... They make you ask questions (Weiss p.2)."At the moment current, at least seventy-five books are banned. This is hurting our culture more than it is helping. This must be stopped; books cannot be taken off shelves at today's rate. The books that are taken off the shelves are, for the most part, considered classics. The act of banning books places limitations on what authors can say and what readers can read (Dorshemer p.1). The book ban in America is a violation of our First Amendment rights. Amendment 1 of the United States Constitution states the following: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or restrict freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievance (Dorsheimer p.1). As long as humans have tried to communicate, others have tried to prevent it. Every day someone tries to limit what can be said, written, sung or broadcast. Almost every idea has proven objectionable to one person or another. Books, especially those from public and school libraries, are among the most visible targets. Books are often challenged because an individual or group of individuals considers them controversial, immoral, inappropriate, sexually explicit, divisive, corrupt, vulgar, violent, or even evil (Weiss p. 2.) Unfortunately, among the most banned books are some of the most beloved modern classics. But by far the most common type of censorship involves the silent disappearance of books from libraries. Sometimes a parent... middle of paper... tries to nail it in real life with real kids (Miner)." Age appropriateness issues are most common in elementary and middle schools. Teachers, Parents, and the Courts have generally recognized that the older the student, the more "right to know" he or she is. Of the issues related to age-appropriate material, the one that early elementary schools seem least prepared to address, in part because it is relatively new, is the controversy over the discussion of gay and lesbian families. Banning books not only violates our rights, but also puts our society in danger of not thinking for itself. books must be put back on our shelves for everyone to enjoy Goethe once said, “There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance (Weiss p.2).”.