It is a fact of life that sexual crudity, violence and other such content makes its way into a great amount of literature. However, the presence of mature themes should not prevent schools from integrating these books into their curriculum if they have educational and intellectual value.

Explicit material can have a profound effect on literature. It can make a message more powerful and can leave a deeper impact on readers that clean material could otherwise not accomplish. For example, an extremely violent scene in a story (such as Macbeth getting decapitated at the end of the play) can speak much more than an exchange of insults or a kick.

Mature themes can be necessary for a quality education. Students exposed to these themes in their education will be better prepared for when they eventually encounter them in the future.

Some mature themes, such as violence, are, unfortunately, a part of life and human nature. Sheltering kids from these ideas would inhibit the growth of their mind by showing them a world of ideals instead of the world they truly live in.

They might not be able to respond effectively to a fight or emergency without ideas in their head about what actually being there feels like. Although the world isn’t necessarily filled with things like violence and danger, it does exist and cannot be ignored.

Some content does require a certain level of maturity to be handled properly, which is why younger students do need a restriction on explicit content. Older students, on the other hand, are able to receive the information in a more mature fashion, allowing works with explicit content to be used in a teaching environment.

Needlessly adding mature material to curriculums can be unnecessary and potentially harmful. Consideration should be practiced when integrating work that contains potentially disturbing content. The age of the students, the class and many other factors should be taken into consideration when designing these curriculums.

Most kids in the United States have access to the internet, an unlimited source of anything from entertainment to education.

With the scope of the internet, it is an inevitability that one will come across explicit material. Internet literacy among teens is at an all-time high, making blocking explicit material in schools in the 21st century futile and pointless, as most students are bound to encounter it.

The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech. Authors and content creators have the freedom to create however they please with whatever content they feel adds to their work. Students also have the right to learn from and consume these books. They should not be limited by a school’s attempt to shield students from the world around them.   

Keeping mature themes and material away from kids is just delaying the inevitable and painting a false picture in their minds. While it may be wise to keep the most explicit things away from the youngest of hands, trusting older kids to handle these kinds of material can help them grow as people.