Zach Gee

Class 805

             Why are people trying to get young adult books banned? Many people believe that YA books give the teens who read them a bad influence and cause them to do unacceptable things, but they are wrong. YA books are helpful and do much good to teens. YA books give scarred teens advice for their lives and how to cope with it. They also give teens something to relate to and it gives them a voice. It tells people what the lives of these scarred teens are like. YA books teach teens what not to do in life and they give abused teens something to relate and talk to.

            YA books give teens who have been bullied, witnessed murder, and teens who cut to cope with their lives something to relate to. It makes them feel like there’s someone waiting to talk to them and someone they can trust. YA books also give these teens a voice so they don’t feel unaided. In Meghan Gurdon’s article “Darkness too visible” she says “they validate the teen experience, giving voice to the tortured adolescent who would otherwise be voiceless.” If YA books didn’t exist, there would be many teens without a voice. No one would know what these teenagers have to live through everyday in order to survive. The horrible, disgusting things that their live force them to live through. YA books get teens to feel supported. If YA book didn’t exist, these scarred teens would feel like there isn’t anyone to help them and support them so they might just give up on life. Sherman Alexie says “I wrote my YA novel as a way of speaking to my younger, irredeemable self.” He wrote his book to release the emotion that he felt, he wanted to speak to his younger self who did things that he now regrets. He wants people to know that he realizes that what he did was wrong. This was his way of feeling better. Many teens are going through the same things that he had gone through and his book is a book that scarred teens can relate to. Not only are they relating to them, they’re also learning from them too. These books let them voice their conflicts and gets them feeling that there’s someone watching over them and guiding them.

            Aside from giving teens something to relate to, YA book teach lessons to teens and give them advice about their lives. YA books show teens things so horrible and gruesome that the teens will realize that they’re wrong. By reading these book teens will realize that what the characters are doing is wrong. YA books teach teens the difference between right and wrong. Sherman Alexie says “I read books about monsters and monstrous things, often written in monstrous language, because they taught me how to battle the real monsters in life.” He read YA books not to get influence, but because they taught him ways to fight the bad things that were happening in his real life. They gave him lessons in ways to fight the bad things in his life. He learned to cope with the violence around him, to not be scared, but to put on a brave face to get through it. YA books have the power to teach teens and people how to cope with the lives that they’re living. Alexie later says “I write to give them weapons-----in the form of words and ideas-----that will help them fight their monsters.” He writes metaphorically to give teens the power to fight the monsters in their lives, the bad things that are inside the lives that they’re living. YA books provide teens with a valuable weapon that can be used in their lives.

            Some may say that YA books give teens careless influences with careless writing. They believe that teens will mimic the things that they read. I agree, YA books to contain atrocious themes and gruesome content, I understand why they think that these themes will make teens have the urge to do them themselves. In Meghan Gurdons article she says “Books focusing on pathologies help normalize them, and in the case of self harm, may even spread their plausibility likelihood to yound people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures. “ However teens are smart enough to decipher the difference between what’s right and what’s wrong. YA book teach teens the wrong things in life. They’re smart enough to figure it out themselves. Mary Elizabeth Williams says “reading about homicide doesn’t turn a man into a murderer; reading about cheating on exams won’t make a kid break the honor code.” YA books may have disgusting content, but they won’t have such drastic effects. Reading about homicide won’t make a teen have an urge to go and murder someone. Sherman Alexie says “Does she believe a dystopian novel will frighten a kid who already lives in hell?” If a teen already lives horribly then they won’t be frightened by a book because they’ve already experienced much worse. By reading these novels they may even learn how to cope with their lives.

            Ya books shouldn’t be banned. Teens can learn a lot from these books and they can also relate to them. If YA books were to be banned then some teens wouldn’t know how to live their lives. Although there are some teens who don’t need relating, what about the teens who do? Without YA books no one would be able to see the lives of the lower side. I used to think so what if some books get banned, but now I can see the importance of these books. If YA books were banned then some teens would feel alone with no one to talk to. Do you really want to make them feel alone?