Yousef Abou Areda
Ms.Galang
Class 811
December 12, 2014
Perks Of Being A
Wallflower Argument Essay
According to the
U.S. Constitution, the first amendment states Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the 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 grievances. Authoritative figures are challenging this law in Middle school
classrooms and libraries where attempts are being made to prohibit and limit
the kinds of books students should read in these academic institutions. This is due to the
fact that many books from the curriculum contain “disturbing” attributes such
as homosexuality and drugs that authoritative figures believe should not be
exposed to children. One of these books is “The
Perks of Being A Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky, which is about a boy named
Charlie who describes many parts of his life through anonymous letters that
recount his adventures during his freshman year of high school. Throughout the
course of the book, Charlie is stuck between living his life and running away
from the reality of it. He does so by using drugs and alcohol to temporarily
escape all of the negative aspects of his life. While the novel deals with
gay-bashing and contains alcohol and drug abuse, the book should remain in the
8th grade curriculum because it benefits young people by expanding their
knowledge about the existing issues in our world. This possible ban on books disrupts
the free flow of information in classrooms and libraries. Through the
availability of these resources, students are exposed to many teen issues and these
outlets encourage diversity in classroom settings, which would allow for
students to accept
different identities such as LGBT.
To
start off, “The Perks of Being A
Wallflower” should not be banned because young children have a lot to gain
from reading about controversial issues in books. This can be further
exemplified in the article, “The Wilds of
Education” by Frank Bruni. The
article gives the perspective of Pat Scales, the director of the library
services for the Governor’s School, that details his stance on whether or not
he believes that these books should be banned. He argues that children will not
be able to comprehend the extent of these issues as they are still naïve and
have never been exposed to these kinds of subjects. In the article, he states
that, “ if a student brings a questionable book home from school, it should be
a teachable moment. Children will not learn sympathy or empathy if they don’t
understand how others live”. This illustrates the importance of books in the
8th grade curriculum. These books teach children about matters that exist in
our world everyday. Banning these books diminishes a child’s chance of feeling
sympathy or empathy for the people that experience these affairs. These books
will help students comprehend these common issues that affect both teens and adults.
A particularly compelling example of this could be Stein Deresiewicz, a teen
who learned about bullying from the books being banned from the eighth grade
curriculum. In the article “The Wilds of
Education”, it reveals, “ he recalls that in the eighth grade, he read a
book in which bullies tormented a kid… He was upset because the situation was
alien to his own experience. ‘It showed me that this happens. It made me
understand’ said Stein.” This underscores that reading banned books such as “The Perks of Being A Wallflower” have a
direct effect on children, such as Stein. If he hadn’t read that book, he might
never have developed sympathy for someone who is being bullied. To sum up, if
these books are banned, these authority figures are not being equitable to
children because they are weakening their ability to be open to all the
terrible things that occur in our
world.
In addition, books
such as “The Perks of Being A Wallflower”
should not be banned
because it disturbs the flow of knowledge
that encompasses a wide variety of subjects in school libraries and classrooms.
One of the main points of education is to continue expanding on one’s knowledge
in an effort to develop the skills required to apply it in the real world.
However, it becomes harder to do this when there is a powerful force trying to
take some of those sources away. In the article, “The Wilds of Education”, it asserts that, “education is about
growing bolder and larger. It’s about expansion, and that can’t happen if
there’s too strong an urge and push to contact the ground it covers, to ease
the passage across it, and pretty up the horizon.” What this evidence suggests
is that education is about growing as a scholar that seeks knowledge that
consists of all matters no matter how raw the material presented may be. This
can’t happen if there are authoritative figures that are banning these contentious
books. This strips children of the books they need to make grand connections to
the real world. Only giving youth, books about a perfect, happy world will not
teach them anything valuable as reality is not this black and white painting
that these hegemonic forces are describing. This idea can be further elucidated
by the article, “Banned Book Awareness:
The Perks of Being A Wallflower” by R.Wolf Baldassarro. Baldassarro speaks
about how these dominant figures in power are not giving children all the
support they need in order to understand the real world. In the article, the
author argues that, “you’re only diminishing a young person’s ability to go off
into the world and interface with all kinds of people from all walks in life.”
This illustrates that books help you as one grows older and faces some of these
very issues. It helps you confront all sorts of people and tackle complex
issues existing in every day life. This argument is illustrated in the “Perks of Being A Wallflower”, in the
scene where Charlie describes the suicide of his best friend, Michael during
the transition period between Middle school and High school. Ever since Charlie
was a little boy, Michael has been his only friend. Children should know that
suicide is an incident that occurs in our everyday lives. Reading the “Perks of Being A Wallflower” will
increase a child’s chance of learning about these issues. All in all, you’re limiting
the amount of information kids can apply to their every day lives by banning such
books from educational domains.
Some
may argue that books, such as “The Perks of Being A Wallflower”, should be
banned because it does not help children and seems to further confuse children
more about the dimensions of their sexuality. Many even believe that kids are
not even being harassed or discriminated against because of their sexual
identity, however this very theory is not correct as more and more students are
being bullied because of how they identify. According to a survey by the Gay,
Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, about 84 perfect of youth report being
verbally harassed because of their sexual orientation. In the book, “The Perks of Being A Wallflower”, Charlie’s
best friend, Patrick, gets both physically and verbally harassed for being gay.
This demonstrates how many people are treated in this derogatory and
deprecating way simply because of their sexuality. These books help teenagers
accept homosexuality because these they communicate ideas of tolerance and
acceptance of individuals of all identities. Over the course of “The Perks of Being A Wallflower”,
Stephen Chbosky portrays Patrick as a cordial character. This conveys that
children should treat and respect both gays and lesbians just like others that
identity as heterosexuals because they are no different in that they are both
equally given the right to express who they are to the fullest void of fear of
being persecuted for their identity. One of the biggest messages found in these
books is that students or youth should be open to homosexuality as being just
another identity that one could express. Most teenagers are currently at an age
where they should be thinking about their sexuality. It’s the age where most
teens are experimenting and growing as teenagers. Although most adults think
that books don’t have a big effect on adolescents, they greatly impact a
majority of them. According to the article, The
Wilds of Education, reading books about homosexuality, racism, and sexism
led students at Brandeis University to use their right of the First Amendment
of the Constitution (Freedom of Speech). The article reveals, “Brandeis
University reacted to faculty and student protests by rescinding its writer
whom bashed women’s rights [and gays]. Ayaan Hirsi Ali reacted when a writer
wrote negative statements about Islam”. This demonstrates the effect of reading
on teenagers. It gives them the confidence to fight for their basic rights.
They work together to insure that everyone gets the respect they deserve. To
summarize, the book “The Perks of Being A
Wallflower” along with other banned books promote tolerance for all
identities, and serves to give teens a voice.
In
retrospect, students reading books of all themes could have positive affects on
teens in many different ways as reading books, like “The Perks of Being A Wallflower” gives many teenagers comfort. This
is due to the fact that readers can relate to the characters that experience
these common issues. They can share their pain with them. Authoritative figures
want to ban these books because they suspect that teens will misinterpret the
messages that the author is trying to portray to their readers. However,
children in the eighth grade have matured enough to be able to understand these
messages, which is different than how perhaps a five year old in Kindergarten might
read this material. All in all, the current books being banned are very
beneficial to teenagers in a variety of ways.
Works Cited Page
Bruni,
Frank. "The Wilds Of Education." Sirs
Researcher. N.p., 28 Sept. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Baldassarro,
R. Wolf. "Banned Books Awareness." Banned Books Awareness. N.p., 15 May 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Chbosky,
Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
New York: Pocket, 1999. Print.
“Constitution
of the United States”
Rich,
Jake. "Can Censorship Save Our Children and Their Innocence?" Sirs Researcher. N.p., 7 Oct. 2014. Web.
22 Nov. 2014.
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