I’m always excited to celebrate the Freedom to Read with my students! During Banned Books Week, our discussions are always impactful. When we talk about what our shelves would look like without challenged books, students often express shock at the idea of not being able to read The Diary of Anne Frank or enjoy Captain Underpants. These conversations remind us that a book doesn’t have to meet the needs of every reader in order to have an important place on our shelf.

This year, I want to highlight another important aspect of Banned Books Week: Banned Website Awareness Day. This AASL advocacy day (always celebrated within Banned Books Week) brings attention to overly restrictive internet filters that limit our access to important online content. It’s an essential topic that deserves our focus.

Throughout Banned Books Week, my classes will learn that while we have the right to choose what we read, we also need to respect others’ choices. This principle extends to the online world. Many schools use restrictive filters that determine what information is acceptable for all students, limiting the ability to explore and research freely. Just as books don’t need to suit every reader, websites should be accessible for those who find them useful, even if they’re not for everyone.

We often assume that internet search results offer everything we need, but as schools face more pressure to impose restrictions, we must stay aware of the limits filters and bans can create. It’s crucial for our students to understand these barriers change the information they can see online.

While this topic is more nuanced than Captain Underpants, I’m committed to incorporating discussions about online censorship in future classes. Students may engage with the idea that social media and gaming sites shouldn’t be blocked at school. This can allow discussion on curated content for schools, in the same way that we curate our collections for school libraries and won’t have every book, regardless of the freedom to read.

One concern I can share with students is that becoming too comfortable with restrictive filters may create a false confidence in our “acceptable” content results. We may believe that what we see online represents the entire picture rather than a filtered bubble. Many of our students are researching topics for the first time, often without any background knowledge. If they don’t know what to look for, how can they even recognize what information is missing? What websites weren’t allowed to be shown?

Banned Website Awareness Day also allows us to discuss the troubling trend of banning educational databases in K-12 schools. Losing access to these resources is a form of censorship that will hinder student learning.

I look forward to the discussions that will arise from these discussions. Moving forward, I’ll make it a point to address online access restrictions when I mention censorship. After all, our students will be the decision-makers of tomorrow, and it’s vital that they have all the information they need.