I graduated from Lehighton High School, and I am now the general manager of a bookstore, where I have to deal with this issue of banning books. People come to me and complain about the books on the shelves of which they disapprove. They expect me to remove them. The funny thing is, people on both sides of the political spectrum have done this.

The current group of book banners should think about that for a moment. What if your project creates a backlash, and the School Board leadership changes? If a left-wing campaign to ban books ever arose, you would have no defense.

Our decisions about libraries should be guided by principles, not personal preference. These places remain important, even in the age of the internet, as cradles of those essential American Rights of Free Thought and Free Expression. Every time someone is allowed to remove a book they find personally offensive, they pick away at those rights. It doesn’t take long before there’s nothing left worth saving.

We must all — Right and Left — resist the temptation to censor that which we personally dislike. A better response would be to politely ignore it; better still — give it a read, engage with it, understand how it works. Then you will know more precisely how you feel. Knee-jerk reactions are the province of fools.

And to those who worry about their children being exposed to dangerous ideas, I sympathize with your concern, but it would be much better to teach your kids how to THINK FOR THEMSELVES. It’s a messy world out there, and the sooner people can learn to deal with things they don’t like, the better off they will be. After all, you can’t ban hunger, sickness, or death. Banning books on your kids behalf accomplishes nothing except making them weak and setting them up for failure.

Michael Newton

Lehighton Area High School,

Class of 2005

Avon, NJ