Amy Watson
Research expert covering news and publishing
Book bans aimed at children and teens in the U.S. - statistics & facts
Children’s book sales revenue, with the exception of 2022, went from strength to strength and was on track to reach three billion U.S. dollars. With a sales drop of just under seven percent between 2021 and 2022, the category did not perform at its best in the latter year, but remains one of the most lucrative revenue categories for publishers. The figures are generally good news for the industry and highlights the continued interest U.S. children and young adults have in reading. However, in the last six months of 2022 alone, almost 1,500 of books were banned in schools across the United States.
Censorship attempts were made for a number of reasons, with individuals and institutions taking issue with books tackling certain topics. Two topics in particular were deemed problematic – the books most likely to be banned were those dealing with violence and physical abuse, or those focusing on health and wellbeing for students. The majority of banned titles were in the young adult category, aimed at those aged 13 to 17 years old. This makes teens the group most affected by the restriction of books in educational environments – but who are the people seeking to have these books removed?
Regardless of the reasons some parents seek to prevent their children accessing books with specific themes, the reality is that monitoring the content young people consume is becoming more difficult. Children’s social media usage is growing, and in 2021, over 20 percent of U.S. kids aged 11 years or younger had a TikTok account. Realistically, then, removing books from school environments may feel like an achievement for those challenging certain titles, but will not prevent children from seeking out similar content online.
Sales on the up, bans on the rise
Children of all ages in schools all around the country are affected, and interventions by groups seeking to remove books from young people’s reach are impacting access to content on key topics. While the state with the most bans was Texas, with more than 400 titles banned in school classrooms and libraries over a six-month period, overall the number of book ban attempts on unique titles in the first eight months of 2022 was higher than in all of 2021, and efforts to ban books are most prevalent in educational institutions. More than 60 percent of challenges made to books happened in schools or school libraries, begging the question – which books are being banned, and why?Censorship attempts were made for a number of reasons, with individuals and institutions taking issue with books tackling certain topics. Two topics in particular were deemed problematic – the books most likely to be banned were those dealing with violence and physical abuse, or those focusing on health and wellbeing for students. The majority of banned titles were in the young adult category, aimed at those aged 13 to 17 years old. This makes teens the group most affected by the restriction of books in educational environments – but who are the people seeking to have these books removed?
Challenges to books aimed at young people
According to a 2022 study, parents were the principal group challenging books in the U.S. A third of book ban attempts originated from parents, almost double the share initiated by political or religious groups. With parents increasingly seeking to censor books teenagers and children can access in educational and public spaces, it is possible that young people also face limitations in terms of the kinds of content they are permitted to consume at home.Regardless of the reasons some parents seek to prevent their children accessing books with specific themes, the reality is that monitoring the content young people consume is becoming more difficult. Children’s social media usage is growing, and in 2021, over 20 percent of U.S. kids aged 11 years or younger had a TikTok account. Realistically, then, removing books from school environments may feel like an achievement for those challenging certain titles, but will not prevent children from seeking out similar content online.
