The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of expression for every American citizen. This country is founded on the belief that individuals have the right to express themselves in anyway that they deem necessary, given that it doesn’t physically harm others. The First Amendment states that the U.S. government cannot impede upon an American citizen’s freedom of speech or of the press. This idea allows individuals to express themselves through speech or writing, yet the freedom doesn’t stop there. Lost in the shuffle is what the First Amendment actually stands for—that each individual is free to decide for themselves what to read and what to think. (Bertin, par. 5) The First Amendment implies that citizens have a right to consume any work of literature that is produced. Without this underlying concept, the freedom to produce a work of ideas is worthless. The American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Manual states that, “Freedom to!

It is unacceptable for a work to be censored because select citizens find the ideas articulated in the literature to be different from their own personal views. This notion is conveyed by the court case, Texas versus Johnson which found that, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable” (Banned, par 1). This ruling applies to all forms of government and extends to the public school system. Boards of Education should not have the authority to censor works of literature simply because parents find them offensive. School officials and disgruntled parents must take into account that adolescents

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