SC teachers, students concerned over potential book ban

By Damian Porter, Sheridan Eng, Charly Rousseau

The South Carolina Board of Education voted last November to remove seven books from public schools across the state because they contained material that described sexuality, race, or religion.

The Board did this under a vague new rule that went into effect last summer, allowing board members to ban any book from a public school they consider ‘developmentally appropriate.'

This has caused some negative reactions.

CofC English professor Dr. Anton Zee believes preventing students from accessing information in books or online can be more harmful than just allowing it. 

"I think for kids, it would just mean that they, you know, don't come to trust their educational institutions and their parents as sources of either valuable or attainable information in their own lives," he says.

And this book banning trend is not just in South Carolina. It's part of a troubling shift nationwide toward censoring sensitive information just because parents may not like it.