argument essay

Khalia Parris - 812

Argument Essay

 A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah is based on a child soldier. There’s a lot of discussion in the book about guns, killing and there’s a small portion of the book that has sexual content but that’s alright. This book is based on a true story about war. It talks about war from the perspective of a person who was actually there. Children in the grades 5-6 should be able to read this book because but the right audience for this would be a middle school student. In middle school in Social Studies classes students start to learn and discuss the different wars that have occurred. Some parents might want this book banned just because they talk about rape, drugs and killing. I would disagree because these are topics that are discussed on the news daily. There is always a story on the news about someone being murdered, attacked, raped, gun violence and unrest erupting.

"Boom" the trigger is pulled and your are dead. At what age do you plan on talking to your kids about guns? Once your kids enter the fifth grade they should know what to do when they hear a gun go off. Most kids start to travel to school by themselves when they enter middle school and talking to them about what to do if a gun goes off in the fifth grade will prepare them for traveling alone to school. Their safety is important. They should always know what to do when they hear a gun.

In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael is a child soldier. He is just a younger version of an adult soldier who has the same responsibilities as an adult soldier.  His job is to kill people. “Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us I close my eyes and think of death”.  Books don’t need to be banned just because of little violence.

 In the article Can Book Censorship Save Our and Their Innocence said “if parents feel that their children are simply too young for such information, then there must be an establishment of a system where students must obtain a guardian’s permission”. If a parent doesn't want their child to read a book but also wants them to gain the knowledge the parent should read the book with the child instead of banning it. As the parent and their child are reading the book together and there is something that the parent thinks is inappropriate they can either skip it or explain it to their child in a way they would understand. There is also the option where the parent can research the book and see the reviews on it and if they don’t like it then you shouldn’t allow their child to read it. There are several different ways that you can prevent your child from reading something inappropriate.  

Drugs aren't the main topic in the book but it is discussed. This might make parents want to ban it. As I said before if you don't want your child to learn about this stuff but you know this is important you should read the book with them to educate them on what's right and what wrong. When I was in the 7th grade is when kids started talking about drugs, as I stated earlier in the book the appropriate audience for this book would be middle school students. Middle school is when you get introduced to the topic of drugs and learning about what it is but when you enter high school is when kids actually start using it. In the book when the soldiers would get bored they would take drugs, “ instead of playing soccer in the village square, I took turns at the guarding  post around  the village, smoking  marijuana and sniffing  brown brown, cocaine mixed with gun powder”. America has a huge drug issue and children need to be educated on drugs because The US Federal Government spends more than $51 million annually on the war against drugs. This is proof that drugs are an issue.  One day someone might offer drugs to your child and you want them to know what it is and their answer to that person should be no. Every parent should inform their children if they use drugs just once they can become addicted. No parent wants to see their child in jail or even worst bury them. I don't think the book should be banned            

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah shouldn’t be banned. The book talks about real life events and topics that are happening in 2014 such as rape, murder and shootings. Hopefully, kids would be grateful for what they have because some kids are living in war torn countries where many people are dying. This book should educate and show them the perspective of a person who has been at and lived in war.  A long Way Gone definitely should not be banned from schools or libraries.

Jake Rich. Can Book Censorship Save Our Child And Their Innocence?  university wire, ,n.p. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com