Other Views: Read any banned books lately?

(U-WIRE) FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- I remember fondly as a child hearing the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and The Wizard of Oz. Later on in my childhood and into my teenage years I remember being enchanted with "Lord of the Flies," touched by "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl," fascinated with "Bridge to Terabithia," and challenged by "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." Most everyone I know has had similar experiences throughout their younger years.

Alas, for today's young people, they will not have the same opportunity to enjoy those books we cherished as children. Why?

A number of parents and school officials with undoubtedly good intentions wish to ban certain books from libraries and school curriculum because of offensive content.

They seek to protect young people from what they view as harmful and corrupting literature.

It would be useful to explore some of the reasons certain books that have been challenged or banned in different school districts to better understand their aims.

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by Maya Angelou, was challenged in the

Ponderosa High School curriculum in Parker, Colo., in 1994 because it is "a lurid tale of sexual perversion."

The Bible was challenged in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania school districts because it "contains language and stories that are inappropriate for children of any age, because it includes stories of incest and murder."

"Little Red Riding Hood, the Brothers Grimm" was challenged in Empire, Calif., because it depicts Little Red bringing wine to her grandmother.

"A Light in the Attic," by Shel Silverstein. Challenged in Lake County, Fla. because the book "promotes disrespect, horror, and violence."

"Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl " was banned in Greenwood, Tenn. school districts because the author seems religiously open-minded: "Oh, I don't mean you have to be Orthodox... I just mean some religion...It doesn't matter what. Just have to believe in something."

"Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain were challenged and banned in many school districts for use of the word "nigger."

"Twelfth Night," by William Shakespeare, was banned in Merrimack, N.H. schools for violating a "prohibition of alternative lifestyle instruction act." The play features romantic stories of a young woman who disguises herself as a boy.

I was horrified at reading the challenges and bans on these worthy pieces of literature. Perhaps it is because I am an English major that I feel so passionate about having these books available to our young people.

But regardless of one's academic persuasion, any perceptive and open-minded college student will feel disgusted at this abridgement of the First Amendment. Regardless of how a work's content might offend one's tender sensibilities, the First Amendment guarantees the author's freedom of expression.

Have you read a banned or challenged book lately? Perhaps you should, before they disappear forever.