Banned Books Week started in 1982 after a sudden increase in parents challenging the books their children could get at school libraries and the subsequent banning of books by school districts. The censorship epidemic made its way to the Supreme Court with the case Island Trees School District v. Pico. In this case, several high school students sued their school district for unconstitutionally removing books from a library, removing their access to certain information, and going against their first amendment rights. The court sided with the students, setting a precedent that schools could not remove library books to stop their students from gaining access to information they politically disagreed with.  

Banned Books Week is celebrated to end censorship and honor the right to read. Banning books isn’t helpful or ‘protecting students,’ it’s taking away their chance to learn about varying opinions, important coming of age topics, and seeing examples of discrimination along with how to address it. 

One commonly banned book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, a book that deals with the teenage experience. The main character, Charlie, struggles with discovering who he is, finding friends, his first love, and so many other relatable issues. The reasons why Perks makes this list are really straightforward: Charlie experiments with drugs, has sexual experiences, struggles mentally after the suicide of his best friend, and goes through the reemergence of his repressed childhood sexual abuse. 

Yes, these are dicey topics, but why should teens not read about them? This book in particular has something for everyone. It lets teens feel normal and understood by a character in the media. It calls attention to abuse, letting its readers recognize symptoms in others and themselves. It covers consent and its importance. It shows family relationships, the good and the bad. It depicts how to get help for mental health issues and why you need a support system along with adults in your life you can talk to. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower brings to light the main question Banned Books Week asks: Does protecting students from the dangers of the world outweigh the lessons they can learn from that literature?