In her article, “Banning Books From the Classroom: How To Handle Cries For Censorship,” Sharon Cromwell uses a format that is easily understood to explain the issues involved with the challenging and banning of books. Ms. Cromwell strives to present both sides of the argument equally, and begins by presenting the issues in the statements:

…advocates of banning certain books maintain that children in grades K-12 will be harmed if we don’t pr

In the article, “Banning Books From the Classroom: How to Handle Cries for Censorship,” by Sharon Cromwell, specific steps are given for the proper procedure to avoid challenges being made and ways to deal with those challenges once they occur. The steps to avoid challenges include the following: asking the parents to contribute to developing book lists, using recommended rather than required lists, have copies of professional reviews to support choices, and have specific rules to define acceptable material. While the ways to handle challenges that occur include meeting with the challenger and attempt to resolve the issue early on, requesting a written complaint that includes suggested replacement materials, giving the challenger a copy of district policies and explaining procedures, reviewing the material in a committee meeting that the challenger is informed of, providing for an appeals process, while the challenge is being investigated you should keep the material available to the students. School boards should endeavor to include parents in planning the materials that will be used in classes, as well as remain flexible and give alternative choices for questionable materials. The policies of the school system should be clearly stated to avoid gray areas that lead to controversy. The main goal of all schools should be to avoid disruptive book controversies, but in the event that they do arise, the goal should be to handle the matter in a way that meets parents concerns while preserving the rights of the students (Cromwell 3).

otect them from inappropriate materials. Opponents are equally heated in insisting that censorship of books and other curriculum materials violates the academic freedom and diversity of thought protected by the U.S. Constitution (2).

Rita Delfiner of the New York Post focuses on the books that are included in the American Libraries Association’s list of the 100 most frequently challenged books from 1990-1999 as a way of pointing out that the “Harry Potter” books really do not belong on the list. She begins her article by explaining about the list and its release during Banned Books Week, which she describes as, “a celebration of the freedom to read, sponsored by the ALA, publishers, and book sellers.” She then defines a challenge as, “a written complaint by parent, library users or others who cite varies reasons for asking a book to be removed from public library or school shelves.” All of this merely sets the reader up for the statements made at the end of the article by Judith Krug, the director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. Ms. Krug is quoted as saying many people believe children that read the books will become believers in witchcraft, but she then states, “Children understand the difference between a story and reality, and these are stories.” This statement leads to the unspoken conclusion that those people who want the books banned cannot comprehend reality as well as children. In this way, the author is allowing Ms. Krug to make a statement that would not ordinarily be included in a New York Post article for fear of offending the wrong person. Ms. Krug goes on to say that the number one pick on the list is a group of scary stories and if they are too scary for children then do not read them to children. The article ends with a final quote from Ms. Krug that makes a very definite statement about book banning, which reemphasizes the view of the entire article, which seems to be against banning books. Ms. Krug states, “Libraries are there for choice. You have a broad spectrum of ideas and information, so people can choose what they want to look at or listen to” (Delfiner 1)

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has created quite a stir, especially here in the United States where the freedom of speech is still in effect. If p

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