What if you didn’t have a choice? What if you could only read what someone else chose for you?

If you didn’t have the freedom to choose what you read you would be losing an important right. The Charter of Rights and freedoms allows us to express our opinion in any way we see fit and be able to choose what we want to read. Canada is a free country, but even so certain books and magazines are banned.  This affects the right of Canadians to decide for themselves what they choose to read.

Any type of reading is good for your language arts skills. Reading comprehension is an important part of education.  If you are reading something that some organization made you read, your knowledge will be limited because you are only exposed to certain opinions.  More important, you are not processing the information you would if you were reading a book that you enjoyed or chose on your own. 

What you choose to read is an important part of who you are.  With no choice in the matter, that part of your identity is no longer yours. Reading a book can take your mind off things that are hard in your life right now. Books can allow you to escape and take you on an adventure into another world where imagination becomes reality.

A quote by Judy Blume follows, “It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read.  And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” Remember this quote and you will realize what it would be like if you didn’t have the freedom to read.

Silenced Voices

On February 14, 1989, the spiritual leader of Iran called on all devout Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie because of references to the prophet Muhammed in his novel The Satanic Verses. In response, thousands of people worldwide showed their solidarity by wearing “I am Salman Rushdie” buttons. Rushdie went into hiding until 1998, emerging only when the order was lifted.

In a world without the freedom to read, I am Salman Rushdie.

I am 460 Confucian scholars suffocated to death so that recorded history would begin with the reign of Emperor Shih Huang Ti.

I am Martin Luther whose Ninety-Five Theses was burned, but not before it set the stage for the Protestant Reformation.

I am Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Johannes Kepler, John Stuart Mill, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and David Hume, whose masterpieces of science and philosophy, though critical to the development of Western Civilization, were prohibited by the Catholic Church’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum for almost 400 years.

I am Adam Smith whose The Wealth of Nations was banned in England and France because of ideas that inform our capitalist economic system today and contribute to its prosperity.

I am Nobel laureates American John Steinbeck whose books were burned for depicting the plight of migrant farm workers, South African Donald Woods who was driven into exile for denouncing Apartheid, and dissident Liu Xiaobo, imprisoned for criticizing China’s human rights record.

I am Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi beaten to death after documenting the suffering in Iranian prisons, but whose story has yet to be told fully by either the Canadian or Iranian governments.

I am schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, brutally shot for blogging about girls’ rights to education in Pakistan.

In a world without the freedom to read, I am anyone who has ever been censored into silence.

I live for the laughter and joy of life,

I live to understand those who have been through thick and thin,

I live to see you grow up in becoming a husband or wife,

I live in learning to raise my head up and be proud of my kin.

I live in holding the love of nature,

I live for the fresh splash of the waves and for its terrifying, devouring tsunami,

I live in laying on the lush, soft grass, admiring the cool breeze and waiting for an adventure.

I live for the strong storms with winds that slice like ice and feeling the whammy.

I live in crying tears of emotion,

I live in grasping more knowledge with experience,

I live for trying true loves potion,

I live for success and hardworking brilliance.

I live for hearing spine-chilling and inspiring stories,

I live for watching the change of the world,

I live for helping people achieve their glories,  

I live in monitoring the way situations get unfurled.

I live in reading and writing amazing things that take me into a place of imagination,

I live in expressing my feelings for the rights of people and for the rights of everyone,

I live in exploring the depths the world has hidden and become untied as a nation,

I live for freedom.

I believe in freedom.

What is Freedom?

 Freedom is the right to read any book

Freedom is the right to be free

Free from anything or anyone saying what and what you can and can’t read

Freedom is not being held captive for books you read

Freedom is your liberty from control

Freedom is truth; truth to know why a book you read is banned.

Freedom is

You.

To say i am kind

would be a lie

i scream, i shout, i say nasty things

my victim just stands there

stares back at me,

calls me a fool

says im unwanted

laughs at my size

my face, and my eyes

its hard to forget

what you know is the truth

its hard to forget

because mirrors never lie

This is my question to the world.

Why is there bulling?

It's Absolutly NOT fair,and people are suffering from depression because they have been bullied or teased.

This is a little email my freind sent me about bulling:

Dear Bullies,

See that little boy who you call small and ugly?

He has a %5 chance of living because he was a premature baby.

(born at 6 months)

See that boy doing his homework in his homeroom?

Last night he talked his friend out of suicide.

See that girl you just called fat?

She's starving herself.

See that old man you made fun of because of his ugly scars?

He fought for our country.

See that young boy you made fun of for always being sick?

He has to walk home in the snow because his family is to poor.

Thats it thats all!

Thank you for reading I hope that you pay closer attention to bulling now!