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The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is an alliance of more than 50 national non-profits, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor and civil liberties groups. They have engaged in direct advocacy and education to support First Amendment principles. NCAC is unique in that they are national in scope, but often local in their approach, as they work with community members to resolve censorship controversies without the need for litigation.
NCAC presents the following collection of materials on the topic of censorship in schools for the use of students, educators and parents everywhere. This information is not intended as legal advice. If you are embroiled in a censorship controversy, we hope you will consult the resources below for guidance - if you need additional assistance, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Free Speech, Public Education, and Democracy
The First Amendment and Public Schools
A. The First Amendment
B. The Public Schools

Censorship
A. Understanding Censorship
B. Distinguishing Censorship from Selection
C. Consequences of Censorship

How Big a Problem Is Censorship?
A. The Numbers
B. What Kind of Material Is Attacked?
C. What Does "Age Appropriate" Mean?
D. Who Gets Censored?

Roles and Responsibilities
A. School Officials, Boards and State Mandates
B. Principles Governing Selection and Retention of Materials in Schools
C. Complaint Procedures

Censorship Policies
National Education Association (NEA)
The National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association (NCTE/IRA)
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
American Library Association (ALA)
National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)

Avoiding Censorship in Schools
A. Policies and practices designed to respect free expression and encourage discourse and discussion are rarely, if ever, disturbed by courts
B. The decision to remove material is more vulnerable, and often places motivation for the removal at issue since actions motivated by hostility to particular ideas or speakers is not permitted
C. The deference frequently shown school administrators with regard to the curriculum is not always accorded when a dispute arises over material in the school library

The First Amendment safeguards the right of every American to speak and think freely. Its promise of freedom of expression and inquiry is important to educators and students. The First Amendment protects educators' ability to exercise their judgment in accordance with professional standards, and provides the latitude to create learning environments that effectively help young people acquire the knowledge and skills needed to become productive, self-sufficient, and contributing members of society.

This document describes in practical terms what the right to freedom of expression means for the public schools. We hope it provides students, teachers and administrators with a deeper understanding of their constitutionally guaranteed rights and responsibilities, as well as renewed respect for the power of free expression to enhance the educational experience.

Our founders recognized that public schools are a vital institution of American democracy. But education, they also knew, involved more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Education in a democratic society requires developing citizens who can adapt to changing times, make decisions about social issues, and effectively judge the performance of public officials. In fulfilling their responsibilities, public schools must not only provide knowledge of many subject areas and essential skills, but must also educate students on core American values such as fairness, equality, justice, respect for others, and the right to dissent.

Rapid social, political, and technological changes have escalated controversy over what and how schools should teach. Issues like sexuality and profanity have raised questions for generations, but they are even more complicated now, when most school communities bring together different cultural traditions, religions, and languages. Thus, educators frequently face a daunting task in balancing the educational needs of a diverse entire student body while maintaining respect for individual rights.

The First Amendment establishes the framework for resolving some of these dilemmas by defining certain critical rights and responsibilities. it protects the freedom of speech, thought, and inquiry, and requires respect for the right of others to do the same. It requires us to adhere to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis' wise counsel to resort to "more speech not enforced silence" in seeking to resolve our differences.
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. -First Amendment of the United States Constitution ratified December 15, 1791. A. The First Amendment
The first provision of the Bill of Rights establishes the rights essential to a democratic society and most cherished by Americans: the right to speak and worship freely, the right to assemble and petition government, and the right to a free press. It embodies human rights that are celebrated throughout the world. As the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Few countries, however, provide the level of protection for free speech that the First Amendment guarantees.

The potential for tyranny and abuse of government authority particularly worried the Framers. In a letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787, Thomas Jefferson argued that "a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse or rest on inference." Thus, before enumerating rights, the First Amendment begins by prohibiting government conduct that would obstruct certain rights-i.e., "Congress shall make no law respecting...." These strictures, like most of the Constitution, control only what the government may do, and have no effect on private individuals or businesses, which can do many things government officials cannot.

Therefore, public schools and public libraries, as public institutions, are bound by obligations imposed by the First Amendment and many other provisions of the Constitution. However, the First Amendment applies somewhat differently in schools than it does in many other public institutions.
B. The Public Schools
Public schools embody a key goal of the First Amendment: to create an informed citizenry capable of self-governance. As many commentators have observed, a democracy relies on an informed and critical electorate to prosper. On the eve of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Rush stated that "to conform the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens to our republican form of government, it is absolutely necessary that knowledge of every kind should be disseminated through every part of the Unites States." Not surprisingly, universal access to free public education has long been viewed as an essential to realize our democratic ideals. According to the Supreme Court in Keyishian v. Board of Education, 1967:

"The classroom is peculiarly the 'marketplace of ideas.' The Nation's future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to that robust exchange of ideas which discovers 'truth out of a multitude of tongues, [rather] than through any kind of authoritative selection."'

Schools must, of course, convey skills and information across a range of subject areas for students of different backgrounds and abilities. They must also help students learn to work independently and in groups, and accomplish all of this in a safe environment that promotes learning. Given the complexity of these responsibilities, school officials are generally accorded considerable deference in deciding how best to accomplish them.

Recent Supreme Court decisions have made it clear that the right to free speech and expression can sometimes be subordinated to achieve legitimate educational goals. (See discussions of Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier and Bethel School District v. Fraser.) A school is not comparable to a public park where anyone can stand on a soapbox, or a bulletin board on which anyone can post a notice. While students and teachers do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate" (Tinker v. Des Moines), speech is not quite as free inside educational institutions as outside.

This does not mean that students and teachers have no First Amendment rights at school. Quite the contrary. But within the educational setting, the right to free speech is implemented in ways that do not interfere with schools' educational mission. Students cannot claim, for instance, that they have the right to have incorrect answers to an algebra quiz accepted as correct, nor can teachers claim a right to teach anything they choose.

A. Understanding Censorship
Censorship is not easy to define. According to Webster's Dictionary, to "censor" means "to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable." Its central characteristic is the suppression of an idea or image because it offends or disturbs someone, or because they disagree with it. In many countries, censorship is most often directed at political ideas or criticism of the government. In the United States, censorship more often involves social issues, and in schools it is commonly directed at "controversial" materials.

Advocates for censorship often target materials that discuss sexuality, religion, race and ethnicity-whether directly or indirectly. For example, some people object to the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in science classes because it conflicts with their own religious views. Others think schools are wrong to allow discussion about sexual orientation in sex education or family life classes, and others would eliminate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the English curriculum because of racist language.

Most pressures for censorship come from parents who disapprove of language or ideas that differ from their personal values, but demands can emerge from anywhere across the religious, ideological, and political spectrum. The range of "controversial" topics appears limitless: religion, science, history, contemporary and classical literature, art, gender, sexuality, "one-worldism," health, multiculturalism, and so on. Many demands appear motivated by anxiety about changing social conditions and traditions- from feminism to the removal of prayer from schools, or the emergence of the gay rights movement.

Censorship demands require educators to balance First Amendment obligations against other concerns - maintaining the integrity of the educational program, meeting state education requirements, respecting the judgments of professional staff, and addressing deeply-held beliefs in students and the community. Educators are on the strongest ground if they are mindful of two fundamental principles derived from the Supreme Court's First Amendment decisions:

1) educators enjoy wide latitude in exercising their professional judgment and fulfilling their educational mission if their decisions are based on sound educational and pedagogical principles and serve to enhance students' ability to learn;

2) The decisions most vulnerable to legal challenge are those motivated by hostility to an unpopular, controversial, or disfavored idea, or by the desire to conform to a particular ideological, political or religious viewpoint.

Pursuant to these principles, lower courts generally defer to the professional judgment of educators. This sometimes means that courts will uphold a decision to remove a book or discipline a teacher if it appears to serve legitimate educational objectives, including administrative efficiency. However, administrators and educators who reject demands for censorship are on equally strong or stronger grounds; most professional educational organizations strongly promote free expression and academic freedom. Access to a wide range of views, and the opportunity to discuss and dissent, are essential to education and serve schools' legitimate goals to prepare students for adulthood and participation in the democratic process.
It is highly improbable that a school official who relied on these principles and refused to accede to pressure to censor something with educational value would ever be ordered by a court to do so.
There are practical and educational as well as legal reasons to adhere as closely as possible to the ideals of the First Amendment. School districts such as Panama City, Florida and Hawkins County, Tennessee have been stunned to find that acceding to demands for removal of a single book escalated to demands for revising entire classroom reading programs. The school district in Island Trees, New York encountered objections to 11 books in its library and curriculum, including Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Black Boy, by Richard Wright, and The Fixer by Bernard Malamud. Other jurisdictions have been pressed to revise the science curriculum, the content of history courses, sex education, drug and alcohol education, and self-esteem programs. Experience has shown far too many times that what appears to be capitulation to a minor adjustment can turn into the opening foray of a major curriculum content battle involving warring factions of parents and politicians, teachers, students and administrators.
B. Distinguishing Censorship from Selection
Teachers, principals, and school administrators make decisions all the time about which books and materials to retain, add or exclude from the curriculum. They are not committing an act of censorship every time they cross a book off of a reading list, but if they decide to remove a book because of hostility to the ideas it contains, they could be. As the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and International Reading Association (IRA) note, there is an important distinction between selection based on professional guidelines and censorship: "Whereas the goal of censorship is to remove, eliminate or bar particular materials and methods, the goal of professional guidelines is to provide criteria for selection of materials and methods."

For example, administrators and faculty might agree to take a discussion of evolution out of the second grade curriculum because the students lack sufficient background to understand it, and decide to introduce it in fourth grade instead. As long as they were not motivated by hostility to the idea of teaching about evolution, this would not ordinarily be deemed censorship; the choice to include the material in the fourth grade curriculum demonstrates this was a pedagogical judgment, not an act of censorship.

Not every situation is that simple. For example, objections to material dealing with sexuality or sexual orientation commonly surface in elementary and middle schools when individuals demand the material's removal with the claim that it is not "age appropriate." On closer examination, it is clear that their concern is not that students will not understand the material; rather, the objecting adults do not want the students to have access to this type of information at this age. If professional educators can articulate a legitimate pedagogical rationale to maintain such material, it is unlikely that an effort to remove it would be successful.

Of course, hardly anyone admits to "censoring" something. Most people do not consider it censorship when they attempt to rid the school of material they consider profane or immoral, or when they insist that the materials selected show respect for religion, morality, or parental authority. While parents have considerable rights to direct their own child's education, they have no right to impose their judgments or preferences on other students and their families. School officials who accede to such demands may be engaging in censorship. Even books or materials that many find "objectionable" may have educational value, and the decision about what to use in the classroom should be based on professional judgments and standards, not individual preferences. Efforts to suppress controversial views or ideas are educationally and constitutionally suspect.

"The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations." -- Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. at 535 (1925).
C. Consequences of Censorship
What's so bad about getting rid of materials containing profanity? Many people don't want their children using that kind of language, and believe that seeing profanity in books or hearing others swear encourages youngsters to do the same, especially if the act goes unpunished. Yet profanity appears in many worthwhile books, films, and other materials for the same reasons many people use it in their everyday language-for emphasis or to convey emotion. As Shakespeare's Hamlet says to the players, the purpose of drama is "to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature."

Works with profanity often contain realistic portrayals of how an individual might respond in a situation, and some teachers intentionally select such materials to remove the allure from cursing. But even minor use of profanity has not shielded books from attack. Katherine Paterson's award-winning book Bridge to Terabithia contains only mild profanity, but it has been repeatedly challenged on that ground, as have long-acknowledged classics like Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Profanity, however, is only one of many grounds on which books are challenged. Almost every classic piece of literature-including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Diary of Anne Frank and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet -has been challenged for some reason, in some place, at some time.

As these examples illustrate, censorship based on individual sensitivities and concerns restricts the knowledge available to students. Based on personal views, some parents wish to eliminate material depicting violence; others object to references to sexuality, or to racially-laden speech or images. Some parents oppose having their children exposed to fiction that doesn't have a happy ending, teach a moral lesson, or provide noble role models. If these and other individual preferences were legitimate criteria for censoring materials, school curricula would narrow to only the least controversial-and probably least relevant-material. It would hardly address students' real concerns, satisfy their curiosity or prepare them for life.

Censorship also harms teachers. By limiting resources and flexibility, censorship hampers teachers' ability to explore all possible avenues to motivate and "reach" students. By curtailing ideas that can be discussed in class, censorship takes creativity and vitality out of the art of teaching; instruction is reduced to bland, formulaic, pre-approved exercises carried out in an environment that discourages the give-and-take that can spark students' enthusiasm. Teachers need latitude to respond to unanticipated questions and discussion, and the freedom to draw on their professional judgment, without fear of consequences if someone objects, disagrees or takes offense.

When we strip teachers of their professional judgment, we forfeit the educational vitality we prize. When we quell controversy for the sake of congeniality, we deprive democracy of its mentors.-- Gregory Hobbs, Jr (dissenting in Board of Education of Jefferson County School District R-1 v. Alfred Wilder)

Censorship chills creativity and in that way impacts everyone. In a volume titled Places I Never Meant To Be, author Judy Blume, whose books are a common target of censorship efforts, collected statements of censored writers about the harms of censorship.

According to one frequently censored author, Katherine Paterson: "When our chief goal is not to offend someone, we are not likely to write a book that will deeply affect anyone."

Julius Lester observed: "Censorship is an attitude of mistrust and suspicion that seeks to deprive the human experience of mystery and complexity. But without mystery and complexity, there is no wonder; there is no awe; there is no laughter."

Norma Fox Mazur added: "...where once I went to my writing without a backward glance, now I sometimes have to consciously clear my mind of those shadowy censorious presences. That's bad for me as a writer, bad for you as a reader. Censorship is crippling, negating, stifling. It should be unthinkable in a country like ours. Readers deserve to pick their own books. Writers need the freedom of their minds. That's all we writers have, anyway: our minds and imaginations. To allow the censors even the tiniest space in there with us can only lead to dullness, imitation and mediocrity."

Censorship represents a "tyranny over the mind," said Thomas Jefferson-and is harmful wherever it occurs. Censorship is particularly harmful in the schools because it prevents student with inquiring minds from exploring the world, seeking truth and reason, stretching their intellectual capacities, and becoming critical thinkers. When the classroom environment is chilled, honest exchange of views is replaced by guarded discourse and teachers lose the ability to guide their students effectively.
A. The Numbers
Censorship occurs every day. Sometimes it's obvious even if no one uses the "C" word. Sometimes it's invisible-when a teacher decides not to use a particular story or book or when a librarian decides not to order a particular magazine because of fears about possible complaints. No one can quantify this kind of "chilling effect" and its consequences for education. After discovering his 2007 novel Boy Toy fell prey to such "self-censorship," acclaimed YA author Barry Lyga called it " sort of a soft, quiet, very insidious censorship, where nobody is raising a stink, nobody is complaining, nobody is burning books.... They're just quietly making sure it doesn't get out there."

The American Library Association (ALA), which tracks and reports censorship incidents, records a problem of significant magnitude, and they estimate that for each incident reported, there are four or five that go unreported. ALA states that between 1990 and 1998, 5,246 challenges were reported to or recorded by its Office for Intellectual Freedom. During the 1995-1996 school year alone, there were 475 challenges to educational materials, according to People for the American Way (PFAW). Both PFAW and ALA report challenges from all regions of the country and most states.
B. What Kind of Material Is Attacked?
Almost 70% of censorship demands are directed at material in school classrooms or libraries. Most of the remainder are aimed at public libraries. Parents lodge 60% of the challenges. The ALA offers an instructive analysis of the motivation behind most censorship incidents:

"The term censor often evokes the mental picture of an irrational, belligerent individual. Such a picture, however, is misleading. In most cases, the one to bring a complaint to the library is a concerned parent or a citizen sincerely interested in the future well being of the community. Although complainants may not have a broad knowledge of literature or of the principles of freedom of expression, their motives in questioning a book or other library material are seldom unusual. Any number of reasons are given for recommending that certain material be removed from the library. Complainants may believe that the materials will corrupt children and adolescents, offend the sensitive or unwary reader, or undermine basic values and beliefs. Sometimes, because of these reasons, they may argue that the materials are of no interest or value to the community."

Of more than 5,000 challenges recorded by the ALA over the past eight years, 1,299 challenges alleged the materials' content was "sexually explicit;" 1,134 objections concerned "offensive language" in the material; 1,062 alleged the material was "unsuited to age group;" 744 complained about an "occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism;" and 474 concerned objections about homosexual issues or "promoting homosexuality." Other reasons for objecting to materials included nudity (276), racism (219), sex education content (190), or anti family sentiments (186).

While demands for censorship can come from almost anyone and involve any topic or form of expression, most involve concerns about sexual content, religion, profanity or racial language. Many incidents involve only one complaint, but can nonetheless trigger a contentious review process. Often, parents who support free expression do not step forward to the same extent as those seeking to remove materials, leaving school officials and teachers relatively isolated. It is then their task to carefully assess the pedagogical value of the materials, to avoid simply giving in to angry demands that could undermine educational objectives and invite additional challenges in the future.
C. What Does "Age Appropriate" Mean?
One of the most common demands for censorship involves the claim that certain school materials are not "age appropriate." The term is often used to mean that students of a particular age shouldn't be exposed to the material, not that they are too young to understand it. The objection usually comes up when the material concerns sexuality, reflecting a fear that exposure to this subject undermines moral or religious values. Since many non-objecting parents support informing even young children about sexual matters, it is clear that the content of the material as much as the age of the child lies at the heart of the objection. Acceding to pressure to censor in this situation can be tantamount to endorsing one moral or religious view over another.

Conversely, educators generally use the term "age appropriate" for the point at which children have sufficient life experience and cognitive skills to comprehend certain material. Education proceeds in stages, with increasingly complex material presented as students gain the intellectual ability and knowledge to understand and process it. For this reason, young children usually do not learn physics or read Shakespeare. Similarly, educators may decide that detailed scientific information about human reproduction might not be age-appropriate for six-year-olds, but would be appropriate for 12-year-olds who have been introduced to basic biology.

According to high school teacher Vicky Greenbaum, writing in The English Journal (Feb.1997), the term comes from psychological concepts defining age-appropriate behaviors. She observes, however, that the rationale for psychological descriptions of the age at which certain behaviors generally occur has limited relevance to the selection of educational materials and literature in the classroom. If students understand the sexual allusions in Hamlet, she believes the discussion of it is "age-appropriate." In contrast,

"[a]dults who cling to this vision of youth [as innocent] have a corresponding vision of what's appropriate, hoping perhaps that if youth are unexposed to certain elements in the world, they will remain pure, and the world will be a better place. Indeed, for such adults a pristine vision of youth often forms a wall between themselves and any adolescents they happen to know. Youth are people already possessing knowledge and vulnerabilities in ways akin to adults, and their greatest need may be for thoughtful consideration or guidance, while making sense of a vast, difficult, not always appropriate world."

Responding to questions about age appropriateness, the National Council of Teachers of English noted that "materials should be suited to maturity level of the students," and that it is important to "weigh the value of the material as a whole, particularly its relevance to educational objectives, against the likelihood of a negative impact on the students. ... That likelihood is lessened by the exposure the typical student has had to the controversial subject."
D. Who Gets Censored?
Between 1982 and 1996, the ALA reported the most frequently challenged authors were Judy Blume, Alvin Schwartz, Stephen King, John Steinbeck, Robert Cormier, J.D. Salinger, Roald Dahl, Maya Angelou, Mark Twain and Katherine Paterson. By 2014, they were Dav Pilkey, Sherman Alexie, Toni Morrison, John Green, Rudolfo Anaya, Stephen Chbosky, Suzanne Collins, Lisa McMann, Gary Paulsen, Jeff Smith and Tanya Lee Stone.

The books targeted by censors included both popular and classic titles, affecting almost every age group. PFAW's list of most challenged books from 1982-1996 included:

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War

Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Alvin Schwartz, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Alvin Schwartz, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Anonymous, Go Ask Alice

Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia

Roald Dahl, The Witches

For years later, many of these works were still prime targets of censorship demands.

According to the ALA, the most frequently challenged books in 2014 included:

Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell, And Tango Makes Three

Brian Vaughan & Fiona Staples, Saga

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Jaycee Dugard, A Stolen Life

Robie Harris, It's Perfectly Normal

A. School Officials, Boards and State Mandates
The school board's role is to define an educational philosophy that serves the needs of all its students and reflects community goals. Most districts see a role for parents and other community members in this process. Educational advisory boards can also assist educators in discerning the community's needs and perspectives. Open school board meetings can keep the public informed about the school district's educational philosophy and goals, encourage comments, questions, and participation, and increase community support. Although public debate provides opportunities for community input and can assist educators in meeting students' needs and concerns, actual curriculum development and selection are tasks uniquely suited to the skills and training of professional educators.

While curriculum development relies heavily on the professional expertise of trained educators, it is also controlled by state law and policy. Educators' choices are influenced by competency standards, graduation requirements, standardized testing, and other decisions made at the state level.
B. Principles Governing Selection and Retention of Materials in Schools
Sound curriculum development requires that educators with professional expertise decide which materials are educationally appropriate, consistent with the school district's educational philosophy and goals and state law. School officials also have the constitutional duty to ensure that curriculum development and selection decisions are not made with the aim of advancing any particular ideological, political or religious viewpoint.

Many professional educational organizations and individual school systems have articulated the principles that should ideally govern selection and retention of materials; they uniformly emphasize reliance on the expertise of professional educators in developing materials that will best serve the needs of students. NEA Resolutions state that "quality teaching depends on the freedom to select materials and techniques. Teachers and librarians/media specialists must have the right to select instructional material/library materials without censorship or legislative interference."

Similarly, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) policy on textbook selection emphasizes that its "first commitment" is "preservation of the student's right to learn in an atmosphere of academic freedom," and that "[s]election of materials will be made by professional personnel through reading, listening, viewing, careful examination, [and] the use of reputable, unbiased, professionally prepared selection aids." The NCTE and the International Reading Association advise selecting curricular materials that 1) have a clear connection to established educational objectives; and 2) address the needs of the students for whom they are intended.

Significantly, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) cautions that ""judgment must not be completely subservient to the popular will. Educators' primary allegiance must be to the integrity of knowledge and the welfare of students ... materials must never be removed or restricted for the purpose of suppressing ideas."

Policies governing school libraries and classroom resource materials reflect the priority placed on inclusion of a wider range of materials, because of libraries' traditional role to offer choices for all readers. The ALA Library Bill of Rights, first adopted in 1948, recognizes the library's essential role in providing resources to serve the "interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community." With minor modifications, these principles also apply in the school setting.

The considerations specifically relevant to school libraries are identified by NSBA guidelines:

To provide materials that will enrich and support the school's curricula...

To provide materials that will stimulate knowledge, growth, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, ethical standards and leisure-time reading;

To provide information to help students make intelligent judgments;

To provide information on opposing sides of controversial issues so that students may develop the practice of critical reading and thinking; and

To provide materials representative of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups that have contributed to the American heritage.

As is true with curricular materials, the ALA cautions that library materials "should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval."
C. Complaint Procedures
Many school districts adopt formal policies and procedures for responding to complaints about materials-and for good reason. They clarify how complaint processes work; help faculty, staff, and administration fulfill their legal obligations; let parents and students know what criteria are used for removing materials and how they are applied; provide opportunities to understand more about community perspectives and values; and protect teachers' academic freedom.

When materials are challenged, schools with well-articulated processes for handling complaints and reviews are more likely to resist censorship pressures than districts that lack such guidelines. Having policies in place and following them scrupulously ensures that complainants will receive due process, and that challenged materials will be judged on their educational merits rather than personal opinion. It is important for teachers and administrators to be familiar with these policies and understand their significant function. Armed with knowledge of these policies, schools officials are less likely to submit to pressure or react with unilateral decisions to remove books.

Different school systems implement complaint procedures in different ways, but most provide that:

Complaints must be made in writing;

Complainants should identify themselves both by name/address and their interest in the material (i.e., as a parent, student, religious leader, etc.);

Complainants must have read/seen the entire work objected to;

The complaint must be specific about the reasons for the objection;

Complaints should request a specific remedy (i.e., an alternative assignment for an individual, or removal/exclusion affecting the entire school community); and

Complaints, standing alone, will not be considered grounds for disciplining teachers or librarians.

It is advisable for policies to contain a statement supporting intellectual and academic freedom, and an explanation of the importance of exposing students to a wide variety of material and information, some of which may be considered "controversial." Policies should also clearly indicate that certain kinds of objections do not provide legally permissible grounds for removal, exclusion or restriction. Disagreement with a specific idea or message-and personal objections to materials on religious, political or social grounds-are the most common grounds for challenges and the most suspect. Such concerns may justify a parent's request that his or her child be assigned alternate material, and if shared more widely they may suggest the need for discussion about how teachers and school officials can better explain the material's educational value, and ways in which any perceived harms can be alleviated, perhaps through inclusion of additional materials. But such personal viewpoint-based concerns, standing alone, rarely justify removal of material, and may raise First Amendment issues.

A committee-often composed of instructional staff, library staff, and administrators, and sometimes including students and parents-ordinarily processes complaints. Their recommendation is usually subject to a review process, but such a committee's professional judgment is entitled to deference if grounded in sound educational and pedagogical principles. Its decision should only be reversed for compelling educational reasons. Materials should never be removed unless the complaint procedures are followed, and materials should never be removed prior to completion of the complaint process.

These principles, if uniformly and consistently implemented, protect students whose right to learn should not be limited by some other individual's or family's preferences. They also protect educators in their exercise of professional judgment, and help insulate them and the school district from legal challenges and community pressure.

School administrators and teachers should work together to develop an understanding about how they will respond if material is challenged, recognizing that it is impossible to predict what may be challenged.

Educators should always have a rationale for the materials employed-regardless of whether they think something is potentially "controversial."

In approaching material that may be controversial, keep parents advised about what material students are using and why it has been selected.

Encourage parents to raise questions about curricular materials directly with their child's teacher, and encourage teachers to be willing and available to discuss concerns with parents.

Schedule regular meetings for parents. In one innovative program in South Carolina called Communicate through Literature, librarian Pat Scales invited parents to the library once a month, without students, to discuss contemporary young adult books that their children might be reading, to understand how the books helped their children grow intellectually and emotionally, and to encourage parents to discuss books with their children. She never had a censorship case, but had many calls from parents asking her to recommend books for their children to address troublesome issues (Pat Scales' book, Teaching Banned Books (American Library Ass'n, 2001) describes this program in detail.).

Involve members of the community in any debate over challenged materials. Broadening the discussion usually reveals that only a small number of people object to the same material or on the same ground, but that if one person's preferences are taken into account, others will expect the same treatment-making almost everything vulnerable to challenge.

Support the value of intellectual and academic freedom. Conscientious teachers who are unlucky enough to get caught in the middle of a censorship dispute-and it could happen to anyone-deserve support from their colleagues and the community if their choices are educationally justifiable. Without such trust and some latitude, teachers will stick only to the tried and true, or the bland and unobjectionable.

​
Major Educational Organizations Take a Stand for the First Amendment
Many national and international organizations concerned with elementary and secondary education have established guidelines on censorship issues. While each organization addresses censorship a little differently, each is committed to free speech and recognizes the dangers and hardships imposed by censorship. The organizations couple their concern for free speech with a concern for balancing the rights of students, teachers and parents. Many place heavy emphasis on the importance of establishing policies for selecting classroom materials and procedures for addressing complaints. The following summarizes the censorship and material selection policies adopted by leading educational organizations.

National Education Association (NEA)

The NEA is America's oldest and largest organization committed to advancing the cause of public education. Its 2.5 million members work at every level of education. Elected representatives from across the country are responsible for setting policy, which includes resolutions on selecting and developing education materials and teaching techniques. The resolutions embody NEA's belief that democratic values are best transmitted free from censorship and deplore "pre-publishing censorship, book burning crusades, and attempts to ban books from the ... curriculum." The NEA encourages its members to be involved in developing textbooks and materials and to seek the removal of laws and regulations that restrict selection of diverse materials.

The National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association (NCTE/IRA)

A 80,000-member organization devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts, the NCTE offers support, advice and resources to teachers and schools faced with challenges to teaching materials or methods. The NCTE has developed a Statement on Censorship and Professional Guidelines recognizing that English and language arts teachers face daily decisions about teaching materials and methods.

The IRA has 90,000 members worldwide, working in a variety of educational capacities. Its goal is to promote high levels of literacy by improving the quality of reading instruction and encouraging reading as a lifetime habit. The IRA supports "freedom of speech, thought and inquiry as guaranteed by the First Amendment."

The NCTE and IRA have issued a joint statement on intellectual freedom: "all students in public school classrooms have the right to materials and educational experiences that promote open inquiry, critical thinking, diversity in thought and expression, and respect for others."

Their mutual policy sets out four principles aimed at translating the ideals of the First Amendment into classroom reality: (1) to actively support intellectual freedom; (2) to foster democratic values, critical thinking and open inquiry; (3) to prepare for challenges with clearly defined procedures; and (4) to ensure educational communities are free to select and review classroom curricula to meet student needs.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

The ASCD is an international organization of professional educators committed to excellence in education. Its mission is to "forge covenants in teaching and learning for the success of all learners." The ASCD recognizes the importance of balancing the rights and needs of students, teachers and parents with freedom of expression:

"When challenges arise, school officials should bear in mind that education is governed by the public. ... [Educators] should recognize the value of citizen participation and respect the right of parents to shape their children's schooling. At the same time, educators should insist that, as in other fields, professional judgment must not be completely subservient to the popular will. Educators' primary allegiance must be to the integrity of knowledge and the welfare of students."

The ASCD stresses the importance of establishing complaint procedures and affirms that materials are never to be restricted for the purpose of suppressing ideas.

American Library Association (ALA)

The ALA, "the voice of America's libraries," is dedicated to providing leadership for the "development, promotion and improvement of library and information services...in order to enhance learning and access to information for all." The ALA has a widely emulated Bill of Rights affirming all libraries as forums for information and ideas. The ALA's policies stipulate that libraries should provide materials from all points of view; challenge censorship; cooperate with free speech groups; grant access to all regardless of origin, age, background or views; and provide exhibit space on an equitable basis. Drawing on the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights, the ALA emphasizes the importance of free speech: "We know that censorship, ignorance, and limitations on the free flow of information are the tools of tyranny and oppression. We believe that ideas and information topple the walls of hate and fear and build bridges of cooperation and understanding far more effectively than weapons and armies."

National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)

Dedicated to assuring that every American boy and girl receives the world's best elementary and middle school education, NAESP sets policy on curriculum and instruction. In its statement on censorship and academic freedom, "NAESP affirms the right of the student and teacher to use a wide variety of curriculum and literary materials and to explore divergent points of view." NAESP also emphasizes the importance of establishing procedures to address selection of materials and challenges to selections. These procedures are to be carried out "professionally and equitably," according to established professional criteria and the values and needs of the community.

National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)

Founded in 1974, NCAC is an alliance of over 50 national non-profit organizations-including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties group-united in their support of freedom of thought, inquiry and expression. NCAC works with teachers, educators, writers, artists and others around the country dealing with censorship debates in their own communities; it educates its members and the public at large about the dangers of censorship and how to oppose them; and it advances policies that promote and protect freedom of expression and democratic values.

Efforts to remove books and other materials from the classroom, curriculum and school library represent one of the most significant forms of censorship in the United States. Classics of Western literature like Lysistrata and The Miller's Tale, the Harry Potter series, celebrations of Earth Day, studies of world religion, discussions of feminism and more have all been challenged. Sometimes these efforts are initiated by a parent or other member of a community; sometimes organizations campaign to change educational norms and practices to reflect their particular views and perspectives. They may circulate a list of "objectionable" books, stimulating challenges in communities around the country.

Local school boards generally have the authority to prescribe the curriculum, within state-approved guidelines. Two Supreme Court cases, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) and Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986) grant administrators considerable discretion in deciding what is educationally suitable. For example, lower courts upheld action against one teacher for permitting violations of school policy against profanity in teaching creative writing ( Lacks v. Ferguson Reorganized School District (8th Cir. 1998) and against another for staging a dramatic production with controversial content ( Boring v. Buncombe County Board of Education (4th Cir. 1998). However, courts defer to administrators and educators equally when their decisions promote, rather than suppress, speech-as when schools administrators elect to include controversial materials in the curriculum ( Monteiro v. Tempe Union High School 9th Cir. 1998).

The outcome of censorship cases often depends on the factual context, how competing interests are balanced, and in some cases motive. As a result, decisions vary widely, and the same action can be upheld in one district and struck down in the next. This can be confusing, but a few rules of thumb are available:
A. Policies and practices designed to respect free expression and encourage discourse and discussion are rarely, if ever, disturbed by courts
They may be challenged by students or parents who are offended by certain books or other materials with racial or ethnic content (e.g., Monteiro v. Tempe Union School District (9th Cir. 1999), or with content that offends religious beliefs (e.g., Altman v. Bedford Central School District (2d Cir. 2001). However, it is rare that a court will order educators to remove materials that have legitimate educational purposes, even if they cause offense to some. Many schools will offer students alternative assignments in such cases.
B. The decision to remove material is more vulnerable, and often places motivation for the removal at issue since actions motivated by hostility to particular ideas or speakers is not permitted
E.g., Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board (5th Cir. 1995). As the Supreme Court has observed: "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." Texas v. Johnson, 109 S. Ct. 2533 (1989).
C. The deference frequently shown school administrators with regard to the curriculum is not always accorded when a dispute arises over material in the school library
Under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling, school administrators may regulate library content based on "educational suitability," but may not do so to suppress ideas or instill political orthodoxy ( Board of Education v. Pico). Noting the importance of "the regime of voluntary inquiry" that characterizes the library setting, as distinct from the "compulsory environment of the classroom," the Court has affirmed students' right of access to a broad range of information "to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding." Observing this distinction, lower courts tend to inquire more searchingly into decisions to remove library materials, and to order materials restored when there is proof of an impermissible motive ( Case v. Unified School District (D. Kans. 1995); Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board (5th Cir. 1995).

Useful information is available from the American Library Association, including the Library Bill of Rights, Tips for Library Directors, and Tips for Young Adult Librarians:

Make sure the library has an up-to-date selection policy, reviewed regularly by your library board, which includes a request for reconsideration form.

Have the request for reconsideration form available at your major service desk.

Work with your trustees (school board representatives) to ensure that they know and understand the library's policies.

Model the behavior you want staff to practice. When confronted by a parent or other individual who wants an item removed or reclassified, listen carefully to what is being said (and what is not). Respect that person's right to have an opinion, and empathize. Keep the lines of communication open to the greatest possible extent.

Work with your frontline staff (reference librarians, circulation, support staff, etc.) to make sure they understand the library's policies.

Build a good working relationship with your local media before controversy arises. Provide them with positive, upbeat stories about what the library is doing.

Put key contacts on the library's mailing list. The time to build these relationships is before you need them.

Once a school district accedes to a demand to censor, it can become increasingly difficult to resist such pressures. Once one perspective is accommodated, those with a different view come to expect similar treatment. Listening to community concerns and taking them into account in structuring the educational environment is not the same as removing material because someone does not agree with its contents. School officials always have the legal authority to refuse to censor something. They may need to do more to help members of their community understand why it is the right choice for children's education.

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Censorship in Schools: Learning, Speaking, and Thinking Freely: The First Amendment in Schools

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The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) is an alliance of more than 50 national non-profits, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor and civil liberties groups. They have engaged in direct advocacy and education to support First Amendment principles.

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Banned Books Week is an annual event that highlights the value of free and open access to information.

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This statement was originally developed in 1981, revised April 2009 to adhere to NCTE's Policy on Involvement of People of Color, and revised again in September 2018. The Right to Read and the Teacher of English
Overview: The Students' Right to Read provides resources that can be used to help discuss and ensure students' free access to all texts. The genesis of the Students' Right to Read was an original Council statement, "Request for Reconsideration of a Work," prepared by the Committee on the Right to Read of the National Council of Teachers of English and revised by Ken Donelson. The current Students' Right to Read statement represents an updated second edition that builds on the work of Council members dedicated to ensuring students the freedom to choose to read any text and opposing "efforts of individuals or groups to limit the freedom of choice of others." Supported through references from text challenges and links to resources, this statement discusses the history and dangers of text censorship which highlight the breadth and significance of the Students' Right to Read. The statement then culminates in processes that can be followed with different stakeholders when students' reading rights are infringed.

For many years, American schools have been pressured to restrict or deny students access to texts deemed objectionable by some individual or group. These pressures have mounted in recent years, and English teachers have no reason to believe they will diminish. The fight against censorship is a continuing series of skirmishes, not a pitched battle leading to a final victory over censorship.

We can safely make two statements about censorship: first, any text is potentially open to attack by someone, somewhere, sometime, for some reason; second, censorship is often arbitrary and irrational. For example, classics traditionally used in English classrooms have been accused of containing obscene, heretical, or subversive elements such as the following:

Plato's Republic: "the book is un-Christian"

Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days: "very unfavorable to Mormons"

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: "a filthy book"

Shakespeare's Macbeth: "too violent for children today"

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment: "a poor model for young people"

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick: "contains homosexuality"

Modern works, even more than the classics, are criticized with terms such as "filthy," "un-American," "overly realistic," and "anti-war." Some books have been attacked merely for being "controversial," suggesting that for some people the purpose of education is not the investigation of ideas but rather the indoctrination of a certain set of beliefs and standards. Referencing multiple years of research completed by the American Library Association (ALA), the following statements represent complaints typical of those made against modern works of literature:

D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: "profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and the disabled"

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: "uses the name of God and Jesus in a vain and profane manner"

Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson's And Tango Makes Three: "anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group"

Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: "promotes racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy"

Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia: "occult/Satanism, offensive language, violence"

Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye: "offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group"

Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings's I Am Jazz: "inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group"

Some groups and individuals have also raised objections to literature written specifically for young people. As long as novels intended for young people stayed at the intellectual and emotional level of A Date for Marcy or A Touchdown for Thunderbird High, censors could forego criticism. But many contemporary novels for adolescents focus on the real world of young people-drugs, premarital sex, alcoholism, divorce, gangs, school dropouts, racism, violence, and sensuality. English teachers willing to defend classics and modern literature must be prepared to give equally spirited defense to serious and worthwhile children's and young adult novels.

Literature about minoritized ethnic or racial groups remains "controversial" or "objectionable" to many adults. As long as groups such as African Americans, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Latinxs "kept their proper place"-awarded them by a White society-censors rarely raised their voices. But attacks have increased in frequency as minoritized groups have refused to observe their assigned "place." Though nominally, the criticisms of literature about minoritized racial or ethnic groups have usually been directed at "bad language," "suggestive situations," "questionable literary merit," or "ungrammatical English" (usually oblique complaints about the different dialect or culture of a group), the underlying motive for some attacks has unquestionably been discriminatory. Typical of censors' criticisms of ethnic works are the following comments:

Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: "homosexuality, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group"

Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima: "occult/Satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, violence"

Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner: "sexual violence, religious themes, 'may lead to terrorism'"

Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: "anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence, depictions of bullying"

Books are not alone in being subject to censorship. Magazines or newspapers used, recommended, or referred to in English classes have increasingly drawn the censor's fire. Few libraries would regard their periodical collection as worthwhile or representative without some or all of the following publications, but all of them have been the target of censors on occasion:

National Geographic: "Nudity and sensationalism, especially in stories on barbaric foreign people."

Scholastic Magazine: "Doctrines opposing the beliefs of the majority, socialistic programs; promotes racial unrest and contains very detailed geography of foreign countries, especially those inhabited by dark people."

National Observer: "Right-wing trash with badly reported news."

New York Times: "That thing should be outlawed after printing the Pentagon Papers and helping our country's enemies."

The immediate results of demands to censor books or periodicals vary. At times, school boards and administrators have supported and defended their teachers, their use of materials under fire, and the student's right of access to the materials. At other times, however, special committees have been formed to cull out "objectionable works" or "modern trash" or "controversial literature." Some teachers have been summarily reprimanded for assigning certain works, even to mature students. Others have been able to retain their positions only after initiating court action.

Not as sensational, but perhaps more important, are the long range effects of censoring the rights of educators and students to self-select what they read and engage with. Schools have removed texts from libraries and classrooms and curricula have been changed when English teachers have avoided using or recommending works which might make some members of the community uncomfortable or angry. Over the course of their schooling, many students are consequently "educated" in a system that is hostile to critical inquiry and dialogue. And many teachers and other school staff learn to emphasize their own sense of comfort and safety rather than their students' needs.

The problem of censorship does not derive solely from the small anti-intellectual, ultra-moral, or ultra-patriotic groups which will typically function in a society that guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The present concern is rather with the frequency and force of attacks by others, often people of good will and the best intentions, some from within the teaching profession. The National Council of Teachers of English, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Library Association, as well as the publishing industry and writers themselves agree: pressures for censorship are great throughout our society.
Where suspicion fills the air and holds scholars in line for fear of their jobs, there can be no exercise of the free intellect. . . . A problem can no longer be pursued with impunity to its edges. Fear stalks the classroom. The teacher is no longer a stimulant to adventurous thinking; she [sic] becomes instead a pipe line for safe and sound information. A deadening dogma takes the place of free inquiry. Instruction tends to become sterile; pursuit of knowledge is discouraged; discussion often leaves off where it should begin.
The material that follows is divided into two sections. The first on "The Right to Read" is addressed to parents and the community at large. The other section, "A Program of Action," lists Council recommendations for establishing professional committees in every school to set up procedures for book selection, to work for community support, and to review complaints against texts.
The Right to Read
-Justice William O. Douglas, United States Supreme Court: Adler v. Board of Education, 1951

An open letter to our country from the National Council of Teachers of English:

The right to read, like all rights guaranteed or implied within our constitutional tradition, can be used wisely or foolishly. In many ways, education is an effort to improve the quality of choices open to all students. But to deny the freedom of choice in fear that it may be unwisely used is to destroy the freedom itself. For this reason, we respect the right of individuals to be selective in their own reading. But for the same reason, we oppose efforts of individuals or groups to limit the freedom of choice of others or to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.

One of the foundations of a democratic society is the individual's right to read, and also the individual's right to freely choose what they would like to read. This right is based on an assumption that the educated possess judgment and understanding and can be trusted with the determination of their own actions. In effect, the reader is freed from the bonds of chance. The reader is not limited by birth, geographic location, or time, since reading allows meeting people, debating philosophies, and experiencing events far beyond the narrow confines of an individual's own existence.

In selecting texts to read by young people, English teachers consider the contribution each work may make to the education of the reader, its aesthetic value, its honesty, its readability for a particular group of students, and its appeal to young children and adolescents. English teachers, however, may use different texts for different purposes. The criteria for choosing a text to be read by an entire class are somewhat different from the criteria for choosing texts to be read by small groups.

For example, a teacher might select John Knowles's A Separate Peace for reading by an entire class, partly because the book has received wide critical recognition, partly because it is relatively short and will keep the attention of many slower readers, and partly because it has proved popular with many students of widely differing skill sets. The same teacher, faced with the responsibility of choosing or recommending books for several small groups of students, might select or recommend books as different as Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Malcolm X's The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, Carlos Bulosan's America Is in the Heart, or Paul Zindel's The Pigman, depending upon the skills and interests of the students in each group.

And the criteria for suggesting books to individuals or for recommending something worth reading for a student who casually stops by after class are different from selecting material for a class or group. As opposed to censoring, the teacher selects texts, and also helps guide students to self-select them. Selection implies that one is free to choose a text, depending upon the purpose to be achieved and the students or class in question, but a book selected this year may be ignored next year, and the reverse. Censorship implies that certain works are not open to selection, this year or any year.

Wallace Stevens once wrote, "Literature is the better part of life. To this it seems inevitably necessary to add / provided life is the better part of literature" (1957). Students and parents have the right to demand that education today keep students in touch with the reality of the world outside the classroom. Many of our best literary works ask questions as valid and significant today as when the literature first appeared, questions like "What is the nature of humanity?" "Why do people praise individuality and practice conformity?" "What do people need for a good life?" and "What is the nature of a good person?" English teachers must be free to employ books, classic or contemporary, which do not hide, or lie to the young, about the perilous but wondrous times we live in, books which talk of the fears, hopes, joys, and frustrations people experience, books about people not only as they are but as they can be. English teachers forced through the pressures of censorship to use only safe or antiseptic works are placed in the morally and intellectually untenable position of lying to their students about the nature and condition of humanity.
The Threat to Education
The teacher must exercise care to select or recommend works for class reading and group discussion. One of the most important responsibilities of the English teacher is developing rapport and respect among students. Respect for the uniqueness and potential of the individual, an important facet of the study of literature, should be emphasized in the English class. One way rapport and respect can be developed is through encouraging the students themselves to explore and engage with texts of their own selection. Also, English classes should reflect the cultural contributions of minoritized groups in the United States, just as they should acquaint students with diverse contributions by the many peoples of the world. Finally, the teacher should be prepared to support and defend their classroom and students' process in selecting and engaging with diverse texts against potential censorship and controversy.

Censorship leaves students with an inadequate and distorted picture of the ideals, values, and problems of their culture. Writers may often represent their culture, or they may stand to the side and describe and evaluate that culture. Yet partly because of censorship or the fear of censorship, many writers are ignored or inadequately represented in the public schools, and many are represented in anthologies not by their best work but by their "safest" or "least offensive" work.

The censorship pressures receiving the greatest publicity are those of small groups who protest the use of a limited number of books with some "objectionable" realistic elements, such as Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, George, The Joy Luck Club, Catch-22, Their Eyes Were Watching God, or A Day No Pigs Would Die. The most obvious and immediate victims are often found among our best and most creative English teachers, those who have ventured outside the narrow boundaries of conventional texts. Ultimately, however, the real victims are the students, denied the freedom to explore ideas and pursue truth wherever and however they wish.
The Community's Responsibility
Great damage may be done by book committees appointed by national or local organizations to pore over anthologies, texts, library books, and paperbacks to find passages which advocate, or seem to advocate, causes or concepts or practices these organizations condemn. As a result, some publishers, sensitive to possible objections, carefully exclude sentences or selections that might conceivably offend some group, somehow, sometime, somewhere.

Individuals who care about the improvement of education are urged to join students, teachers, librarians, administrators, boards of education, and professional and scholarly organizations in support of the students' right to read. Widespread and informed support in and across communities can assure that
A Program of Action

enough residents are interested in the development and maintenance of a rigorous school system to guarantee its achievement;

malicious gossip, ignorant rumors, internet posts, and deceptive letters to the editor will not be circulated without challenge and correction;

news media will observe that the public sincerely desires objective reporting about education, free from slanting or editorial comment which destroys confidence in and support for schools;

the community will not permit its resources and energies to be dissipated in conflicts created by special interest groups striving to advance their ideologies or biases; and

faith in democratic processes will be promoted and maintained.

Censorship in schools is a widespread problem. Teachers of English, librarians, and school administrators can best serve students, literature, and the profession today if they prepare now to face pressures sensibly, demonstrating on the one hand a willingness to consider the merits of any complaint and on the other the courage to defend their literacy program with intelligence and vigor. The Council therefore recommends that schools undertake the following two-step program to protect the students' right to read:
Procedures for Text Selection

establish a diverse committee that is representative of the local school community to consider book selection procedures and to screen complaints; and

promote a community atmosphere in which local residents may be enlisted to support the freedom to read.

Although one may defend the freedom to read without reservation as one of the hallmarks of a free society, there is no substitute for informed, professional, and qualified book selection. English teachers are typically better qualified to choose and recommend texts for their classes than persons not prepared in the field. Nevertheless, administrators have certain legal and professional responsibilities. For these reasons and as a matter of professional courtesy, they should be kept informed about the criteria and the procedures used by English teachers in selecting books and the titles of the texts used.

In each school, the English department should develop its own statement explaining why literature is taught and how books are chosen for each class. This statement should be on file with the administration before any complaints are received. The statement should also support the teacher's right to choose supplementary materials, to build a diverse classroom library, and to discuss controversial issues insofar as they are relevant. In addition, students should be allowed the right to self-select books to read from classroom and school library shelves.

Operating within such a policy, the English department should take the following steps:

1. Establish a committee to support English teachers in finding exciting and challenging texts of potential value to students at a specific school. Schools without departments or small schools with a few English teachers should organize a permanent committee charged with the responsibility of alerting other teachers to new texts just published, or old texts now forgotten which might prove valuable in the literacy program. Students should be encouraged to participate in the greatest degree that their development and skill sets allow.

2. Devote time at each department or grade-level meeting to reviews and comments by the above committee or plan special meetings for this purpose. Free and open discussions on texts of potential value to students would seem both reasonable and normal for any English department. Teachers should be encouraged to challenge any texts recommended or to suggest titles hitherto ignored. Require that each English teacher give a rationale for any text to be read by an entire class. Written rationales for all texts read by an entire class would serve the department well if censorship should strike. A file of rationales should serve as impressive evidence to the administration and the community that English teachers have not chosen their texts lightly or haphazardly.

3. Report to the administration the texts that will be used for class reading by each English teacher.

The Legal Problem
A procedure such as this gives each teacher the right to expect support from fellow teachers and administrators whenever someone objects to a text.

Apart from the professional and moral issues involved in censorship, there are legal matters about which NCTE cannot give advice. The Council is not a legal authority. Across the nation, moreover, conditions vary so much that no one general principle applies. In some states, for example, textbooks are purchased from public funds and supplied free to students; in others, students must rent or buy their own texts.

The legal status of textbook adoption lists also varies. Some lists include only those books which must be taught and allow teachers and sometimes students the freedom to select additional titles; other lists are restrictive, containing the only books which may be required for all students.
Preparing the Community
As a part of sensible preparations for handling attacks on books, each school should ascertain what laws apply to it.

To respond to complaints about texts, every school should have a committee of teachers (and possibly students, parents, and other representatives from the local community) organized to
Defending the Texts

1. inform the community about text selection procedures;

2. enlist the support of residents, possibly by explaining the place of literacy and relevant texts in the educational process or by discussing at meetings of parents and other community groups the texts used at that school; and

3. consider any complaints against any work. No community is so small that it lacks concerned people who care about their children and the educational program of the schools, and will support English teachers in defending books when complaints are received. Unfortunately, English teachers too often are unaware or do not seek out these people and cultivate their goodwill and support before censorship strikes.

Despite the care taken to select worthwhile texts for student reading and the qualifications of teachers selecting and recommending books, occasional objections to a work will undoubtedly be made. All texts are potentially open to criticism in one or more general areas: the treatment of ideologies, of minorities, of gender identities, of love and sex; the use of language not acceptable to some people; the type of illustrations; the private life or political affiliations of the author or the illustrator.

Some attacks are made by groups or individuals frankly hostile to free inquiry and open discussion; others are made by misinformed or misguided people who, acting on emotion or rumor, simply do not understand how the texts are to be used. Others are also made by well-intentioned and conscientious people who fear that harm will come to some segment of the community if a particular text is read or recommended.

What should be done upon receipt of a complaint?

If the complainant telephones, listen courteously and refer them to the teacher involved. That teacher should be the first person to discuss the text with the person objecting to its use.

If the complainant is not satisfied, invite them to file the complaint in writing, but make no commitments, admissions of guilt, or threats.

If the complainant writes, contact the teacher involved and have the teacher call the complainant.

For any of the situations above, the teacher is advised to be aware of local contractual and policy stipulations regarding such situations, and keep a written record of what transpired during the complaint process.

Request for Reconsideration of a Text
An additional option is to contact the NCTE Intellectual Freedom Center to report incidents and seek further resources ( https://www2.ncte.org/resources/ncte-intellectual-freedom-center/).

Author ____________________________________________

Paperback_____ Hardcover _____ Online _____

Title ______________________________________________

Publisher (if known) __________________________________

Website URL (if applicable) ___________________________

Request initiated by __________________________________

Telephone _________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________

City / State / Zip _______________________________________________

Complainant represents
____ (Name of individual) ___________________________
____ (Name of organization) ___________________________

1. Have you been able to discuss this work with the teacher or librarian who ordered it or who used it?
____ Yes ____ No

2. What do you understand to be the general purpose for using this work?

Provide support for a unit in the curriculum?
___ Yes ___ No

Provide a learning experience for the reader in one kind of literature?
___ Yes ___ No

Provide opportunities for students self-selected reading experiences?

___ Yes ___ No

Did the general purpose for the use of the work, as described by the teacher or librarian, seem a suitable one to you?
____Yes ____ No

1. What do you think is the author's general purpose for this book?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

2. In what ways do you think a work of this nature is not suitable for the use the teacher or librarian wishes to carry out?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

3. What have been students' responses to this work?
____ Yes ____ No

If yes, what responses did the students make?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Have you been able to learn what qualified reviewers or other students have written about this work?
____ Yes ____ No

If yes, what are those responses?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

1. Would you like the teacher or librarian to give you a written summary of what qualified reviewers and other students have written about this book or film?
____ Yes ____ No

2. Do you have negative reviews of the book?
____ Yes ____ No

3. Where were they published?
__________________________________________________________

4. Would you be willing to provide summaries of their views you have collected?
____ Yes ____ No

5. How would you like your library/school to respond to this request for reconsideration?
____ Do not assign/lend it to my child.
____ Return it to the staff selection committee/department for reevaluation.
____ Other-Please explain
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

6. In its place, what work would you recommend that would convey as valuable a perspective as presented in the challenged text?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

Signature __________________________________________

Date______________________________________________

At first, the English teacher should politely acknowledge the complaint and explain the established procedures. The success of much censorship depends upon frightening an unprepared school or English department into some precipitous action. A standardized procedure will take the sting from the first outburst of criticism and place the burden of proof on the objector. When the reasonable objector learns that they will be given a fair hearing through following the proper channels, they are more likely to be satisfied. The idle censor, on the other hand, may well be discouraged from taking further action. A number of advantages will be provided by the form, which will

formalize the complaint,

indicate specifically the work in question,

identify the complainant,

suggest how many others support the complaint,

require the complainant to think through objections in order to make an intelligent statement on the text and complaint (1, 2, and 3),

cause the complainant to evaluate the work for other groups than merely the one they first had in mind (4),

establish the familiarity of the complainant with the work (5),

give the complainant an opportunity to consider the criticism about the work and the teacher's purpose in using the work (6, 7, and 8), and

give the complainant an opportunity to suggest alternative actions to be taken on the work (9 and 10).

The committee reviewing complaints should be available on short notice to consider the completed "Request for Reconsideration of a Work" and to call in the complainant and the teacher involved for a conference. Members of the committee should have reevaluated the work in advance of the meeting, and the group should be prepared to explain its findings. Membership of the committee should ordinarily include an administrator, the English department chair, and at least two classroom teachers of English. But the department might consider the advisability of including members from the community and the local or state NCTE affiliate. As a matter of course, recommendations from the committee would be forwarded to the superintendent, who would in turn submit them to the board of education, the legally constituted authority in the school.

Teachers and administrators should recognize that the responsibility for selecting texts for class study lies with classroom teachers and students, and that the responsibility for reevaluating any text begins with the review committee. Both teachers and administrators should refrain from discussing the objection with the complainant, the press, or community groups. Once the complaint has been filed, the authority for handling the situation must ultimately rest with the administration and school board.
References
Freedom of inquiry is essential to education in a democracy. To establish conditions essential for freedom, teachers and administrators need to follow procedures similar to those recommended here. Where schools resist unreasonable pressures, the cases are seldom publicized and students continue to read works as they wish. The community that entrusts students to the care of an English teacher should also trust that teacher to exercise professional judgment in selecting or recommending texts. The English teacher can be free to teach literacy, and students can be free to read whatever they wish only if informed and vigilant groups, within the profession and without, unite in resisting unfair pressures.

Stevens, W. (1957, April). Adagia Part One. Poetry, 41-44.

American Library Association. (2018). Top Ten Most Challenged Books Lists. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10#Before%201990 (Accessed July 15, 2018)

American Library Association. (2018). Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2017: Resources & Graphics. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/NLW-Top10 (Accessed July 15, 2018)

American Library Association (2013, March). Banned & Challenged Classics. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics (Accessed June 15, 2018).

The Committee on the Right to Read of the National Council of Teachers of English:
Statement Authors

Edward R. Gordon, Yale University, New Jersey, Chair

Martin Steinmann, University of Minnesota, Associate Chair

Harold B. Allen, University of Minnesota

Frank A. Doggett, D. U. Fletcher High School, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Jack Fields, Great Neck South High School, New York

Graham S. Frear, St. Olaf College, Minnesota

Robert Gard, Camelback High School, Phoenix, Arizona

Frank Ross, Detroit Public Schools, Michigan

Warren Taylor, Oberlin College, Ohio

This document was revised by an NCTE working committee comprising the following:

Benjamin "Benji" Chang, Education University of Hong Kong, Chair

Anna Lavergne, Houston Independent School District, Texas

Kim Pinkerton, Texas A&M University, Commerce

Pernille Ripp, Oregon School District, Oregon, Wisconsin

Gabe Silveri, Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District, Houston, Texas

Permission is granted to reproduce in whole or in part the material in this publication, with proper credit to the National Council of Teachers of English. Some schools may wish to modify the statements and arrange separately for printing or duplication. In such cases, of course, it should be made clear that revised statements appear under the authorization and sponsorship of the local school or association, not NCTE.

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This statement was originally developed in 1981, revised April 2009 to adhere to NCTE's Policy on Involvement of People of Color , and revised again in September 2018. The Right to Read and the Teacher of English Overview: The Students' Right to Read provides resources that can be used to help discuss and ensure students' free access to all texts.