Why Should The Book, "Thirteen Reasons Why" Not Be Banned?

    There are many books out in this world being banned because of several reasons. It is my position that the book, "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher should not be banned. One of the main characters, Hannah Baker, committed suicide because of bullying and others being bystanders. Although the book has inappropriate text, the book gives a strong message to the readers on their social life, especially the teenagers.
    The text helps readers realize that being a bystander can lead to consequences. One of the characters, Jenny Kurtz, knocked down a stop sign while she was driving. Instead of calling the cops or asking for help, she drove away, thinking that it doesn't matter. Of course, it did matter, because an old man crashed his car and died because there was no stop sign there. This demonstrates that even small problems can cause big consequences, when it's not fixed. Another event is when a girl got raped during a party, but no one helped her. Two characters, Hannah Baker and Justin Foley, both saw and knew what had happened, but they were being bystanders, so the girl's life was ruined. Hannah stated that, "We both could have stopped it. We could have saved her. That girl had 2 chances. And both of us let her down." What this evidence suggests is that when there is someone in trouble, there should not be any bystanders, because there is no going back once one regret what they did not do. Many teenagers were being bystanders, and the book shows how being a bystander can affect other people.
    In addition, the book helps comfort some readers on their feelings. When Jay Asher was signing autographs for his book, a woman came and stated that after reading the book, she felt she could let go of some of the guilt about her son. Her son was 14 years old when he had taken his own life, and her mom was under a lot of pressure, but now, she can finally let go of the pressure. Most importantly, the text helps comfort readers that are experiencing what Hannah Baker is going through. There are many readers that can reflect on Hannah Baker's experiences, and that is what is strong about the meaning of the book.
    There are cases where the book has inappropriate or extreme text for some young readers, but the text also helps young readers understand more about the features that happens, while they're growing up. For example, Hannah Baker stated that, "Instead, you rubbed back and forth, gently, along my waist. Your pinky made its way under the top of my panties and rolled back and forth, from hip to hip" and also "I did not say no or push his hand away. All I did was turn my head, clench my teeth, and fight back tears." That text shows readers what they should not do in a situation like that, and also how to handle the situation better than what Hannah did. In particular, the book shows how bullying can lead to fear, drinking, physical touching, raping, lose of self-esteem, and suicide. As young people are growing up, they will experience more social issues, and the book shows them how to handle some situation, to prepare themselves for the future.
    Overall, it becomes clear that the book, "Thirteen Reasons Why" should not be banned, because the book helps readers understand the importance of not being a bystander and how bullying affects people. If some people are uncomfortable reading the book, then they can just not read the book. Anyone should have the right to read what they want to read, and refuse to read what they do not want to read. The book has a powerful effect on the readers' feelings or thoughts, and that can have a big impact on their lives.

Overview

   The presentation is about different kinds of bullying, and how it works in this society. The interview is about my mom's experience of being bullied in her childhood. The response is on a film that's about cyberbully. You should stand up for yourself and others, and remember that even the small issues can cause big problems.

Response on "Cyberbully"

   The film "Cyberbully" directed by Charles Biname, makes me think how even small issues can have big consequences, like cyberbully. In the film, a teenager tried to suicide because she was cyber bullied. I realized that very little people care about cyberbullying and many people thinks that cyberbully is no big deal. I think that the society should focus on all social issues, not just the huge ones, and that there should be more people that stands up for themselves and others.

Interview

Question: What problems have you faced when you were in school?

Mom: I was bullied in middle school, but only for a short while. Also, my parents died when I was 13, so life was hard.

Question: What did you do to solve your problems?

Mom: I stand up for myself and others when I was bullied. Eventually, the bullies got bored and stopped bullying me.

Question: How do you feel about the bullies?

Mom: I think that they don't care much about others, except themselves. I think that the reason they were being bullies were because they were bullied once, or abused.

   I think that my mom can handle being bullied really well. There isn't much people who stands up for themselves and others. She had a tough childhood, but she worked through it and overcome her fears. Even though her parents weren't there to support her, her brothers and her worked togther to live on. 

Poem

Ugly, worthless, poor. That's what they say.

Picking, gossiping, threatening you everyday.

You just have your own appearance.

They are no different.

Don't listen to their tolerance.

They have a lack of knowledge.

Don't let fear take your path.

It isn't as easy as simple math,

But stand up for yourself.

Because there's a brighter future,

Ahead of you.

   The book, "13 Reasons Why" by Jay Asher inspired me to write this poem. It's about bullying and how the people being bullied are feelings like. It explains how you should stand up for yourself when you're being bullied, and ignore their tolerance. You should be yourself, don't try to be like the bullies. Everyone is the same.

Non-Fiction Reading Response

    Being bullied as a child can affect their adulthood. Bullying is a social issue, happening everywhere in this world. The article, "Childhood Bullying May Lead to Social, Health Issues in Adulthood" by Michelle Castillo, shows how childhood bullying may lead to more issues. I agree with the author that childhood bullying is harmful, although no bullying tolerance should be allowed.
    Researchers researched the people that were bullied from the ages of 9 to 16, to when they are the ages of 24 to 26. They compared that group to the people that weren't bullied in their childhood, to when they are adults. The group that were bullied were more likely to have issues than the other group. For example, the author stated that "[They] were twice as likely to have problems with maintaining employment and actively saving money when they grew up compared to those who weren't involved in bullying." Also, they were more likely to have financial problems when they're adults, and have problems with long friendship and good relationships with their parents. Also, teens bullied are more likely to have suicidal thoughts, mostly from their peers. Childhood bullying creates many other issues when they grow up.
    Bullying can happen anywhere, anytime, and mostly people don't realized that they are bullying someone. Most people underestimate how much bullying can do, and how much it can hurt someone. Since bullying is one of the major social issues, many bullied children are facing more issues when they are adults. Areas where bullying are happening frequently should help build up the citizen's self-esteem, their emotional pain, and their anger and aggression. That may decrease the amount of bullying, or further damage from bullying.
    Overall, this article is very convincing and has a lot of strong evidence to support the claim. Michelle Castillo was every clear on her point of view, and I also learned many new things that I didn't know about bullying. Before reading the article, I thought that bullying was a common social issue that leads to suicide and other few issues, but i never knew it could affect you when you're an adult.

Reflection

   The trip to the "Museum of the City of New York" was fun, and there was many new histories that I've learned. I learned that from 1900 to 1920, an event that's happening was women suffrage. Women suffrage is a group of women, demanding that women should be granted the right to vote. Although the first women suffrage lost, the suffragists won when male voters gave women the right to vote in the state, in 1917. In 1919, the Congress finally passed the 19th Amendment, gaining the right to vote for American women. It was great to learn more about the history of New York, and I definitely enjoyed learning about some of the topics.
   Over all, I'm glad I went to the "Museum of the City of New York". There were many other topics I learned about, and saw many pictures produced from a famous photographer. It's always good to learn more about the history of New York, to understand more about the place where I'm living.