At some point, both blacks and southern parents believed “To Kill a Mockingbird” should have been censored. In the mid-sixties southern parents began to discover that the book had a firm place in the senior high American literature studies but they did not approve of having the book in the presence of their children (“In Defense”). African Americans began to censor the book when Reverend Carl Hadley, a New York man, threatened to create a private Christian school because public school libraries contained such “filthy, trashy sex novels” (Doyle). Many African Americans believed that the book “does psychological damage to the positive integration process and represents institutionalized racism” (“In Defense”). The censorship is too restrictive because in society people will read and watch what they want. Usually children read books that reflect on their lives and some parents do not realize that because they’re so caught up in trying to keep their children away from these types of books. Some of these books help children prepare for real life …show more content…
How do books influence young adolescents and their actions? Well the truth is, not all books are beneficial to society, some of them have a huge influence on young adolescents but others do not. “To Kill a Mockingbird” has influenced many people, not just adolescents. It has impacted society due to how strong the context is and what the true meaning of the book has. Some people read this book and don’t get the true meaning of the context. In the title, “mockingbirds” stands for the good, innocent people who are destroyed by evil because mockingbirds do not harm people. A good example of this could be the character of Boo. In chapter 10, the book shows us that he doesn’t harm anyone even after having a hard childhood with his abusive father. Instead, he leaves Jem and Scout presents, covers Scout with a blanket during the fire, and eventually saves the children from Bob Ewell (Lee). There is a moral to each story and the moral to this story is very significant to life. The moral to this story, helps one realize that it is important to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities of a person. In the book, Atticus tries to help his children, Jem and Scout to understand this so that they know it is possible to live with conscience without losing courage or becoming pessimistic (Doyle). Parents believe that this book can be dangerous because they think that their child will either repeat the