OPINION: Closing the minds of Alaska’s students

The Mat-Su Borough School District has become Alaska’s leader in book banning. Book banning has become a big problem nationwide, but the rate at which the Mat-Su is banning books is alarming. Although many parents may not want their children to read certain books, limiting what students get exposed to in school has long-lasting consequences, such as decreasing critical thinking and limiting awareness of social issues.

Fifty-six challenged books are being reviewed by the Mat-Su Valley School District’s Library Citizens Advisory Committee. The challenged books include classics such as “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and “Catch-22″ by Joseph Heller. The Committee’s reasons for these challenges range from anti-white messaging and sexually explicit material to profane language and the use of racial slurs.

On April 22, 2020, the Committee voted to remove those books from the school curriculum, along with “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison and “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. And in 2023, they voted to remove four more books from their schools. These challenges completely disregard the period these books are set or written in, as well as the authors describing their own experiences.

Some parents claim that particular topics like sexual assault are not suitable for students under certain ages to read, and parents believe books that mention those issues, promote the negative behavior and fear the impact that it will have on their children’s innocence. Supporters of book bans argue that parents should have a bigger role in ensuring the school’s curriculum is appropriate, believing it is their responsibility to make sure they agree with every topic that is taught in schools.

These targeted bans are a blatant attempt to create a one-sided view of the world and history. Many books that are banned include people of color or LGBTQ+ characters, and parents argue that these characters are unsuitable for kids to read about. However, banning books often has the opposite effect of what is intended, with a surge in popularity often happening after a book is banned, especially in the case of older books. In the information age, where mass media is digitally accessible, book bans are mostly ineffective. Ironically, the majority of people who challenge books have not even read them, and therefore, they do not have the full context for a small, controversial portion of the book.

Removing books from schools also limits students from accessing information, which reduces the range of perspectives to which they are exposed. In Board of Education v. Pico (1982), the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that removing books from school libraries simply because some people do not like the content violates the Constitution because it restricts the fundamental right to receive information. School districts must consider the fundamental right of parents to make decisions about their own children’s education without impeding the rights of others.

To stop the spread of book bannings, either at the state or federal level, legislation needs to be enacted. In addition, the Supreme Court ruling should be respected and enforced. In 2023, Illinois became the first state to do so by signing legislation against banning books, protecting libraries from limits on materials they are allowed to add to their collections. A few months later, California followed suit with protections for school libraries. Alaska needs to adopt these same protections for libraries to ensure equal access to all its students. If the cycle of banning books continues, society will become more ignorant and even more closed-minded. This ignorance has seeped into the nation’s legislation, resulting in laws that are based on personal beliefs, not science.

Reagan Binek is a rising senior at South Anchorage High School.

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