Ringel and Mullally

In the articles "How Banning Books Marginalizes Children" and "Banned Books," Paul Ringel and Claire Mullally provide a compelling discourse on the banning of books. Specifically, the authors explore the implications these decisions have on young students. 

One aspect of Mullally's article that I found especially interesting was her discussion of book banning today compared to book banning in the past. In its earliest days, book banning was often associated with the destruction of texts. If a book was deemed unsuitable for the public, it was common for the book to be burned and destroyed. At this point, this decision was controlled by secular and religious authorities rather than the individual beliefs held by people. Because this was prominent in Europe, it unsurprisingly spread to the Americas. Initially, book banning continued in the United States as a unified system. This is seen most prominently through the development of the Comstock laws, enacted by the U.S. Post Office. Thus, book banning of the past was much more uniform and regulated than it is in today's society.

While exploring the prevalence of book banning today, the authors establish that it is much less regulated and often has little justifiable reasoning. Though book banning of the past restricted texts from the entire population, today, children face the majority of the consequences created by this practice. In her article, Mullally states that between 82 and 97 percent of book challenges are unreported. I found this point to be one of the most striking in these articles. Through this point, Mullally conveys the notion that while book banning was once publicized, today it is hidden, allowing it to have even more damaging effects. Most damaging is that this practice prevents people from advocating for the preservation of these works. Thus, these works are permanently hidden behind the claim that they contain "diverse content." With no clear established definition, this claim allows people to restrict texts that oppose their personal beliefs. Not only does this negatively impact their worldliness, but it restricts all of society from important narratives that deserve to be heard.

The works of Ringel and Mullally should be read by all people who fight to ban books. By restricting texts, the rising generations of society are deprived of texts that will educate them and set them up for success throughout their lives.