The Perks of Being a Wallflower should not be banned in schools even though it explores controversial subject, such as sexual assault and drug use. While exposing students to characters who have been raped or encouraged to use drugs in literature, it might be disturbing for them. It is a way to prepare teens for the fact that people in the real world are often hurt by other people, even by people they love and trust. The book was easy to read but hard to write about and would be better for discussion with parents and teachers and other students. The Perks of Being a Wallflower teaches, and explores the truth, that people often don’t suffer any bad consequences for their actions, and it is up to people to figure things out for themselves, with the help of good friends, family, teachers and psychiatrists.
An example of date rape is when Charlie was younger and he witnesses sexual assault. Years later he talks about it with his friend Sam to try to understand what happened. “Sam just shook her head this time. She then explained about all the things you need to go through to prove it, especially in high school when the boy and girl are popular and still in love.” (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, p.32). This shows kids that staying quiet doesn't help but telling doesn’t always change the situation either. In the article “University of Virginia Fraternity Rape Case: Stopping Sexual Assault on Campus” (written by Brad Knickerbocker, published on Christian Science Monitor), Ms. Erdely writes "Rapes are kept quiet, both by students - who brush off sexual assaults as regrettable but inevitable casualties of their cherished party culture - and by an administration that critics say is less concerned with protecting students than it is with protecting its own reputation from scandal”. Erdely reports, “Since 1998 183 people have been expelled for honor-code violations at UVA such as cheating on exams, but not a single student has ever been expelled for sexual assault.” Don’t expect everything to work out if you just ignore it. This shows readers that there are no benefits from staying quiet and there are no downsides for telling the truth.
Another example of not saying something when something happens is when Charlie was younger, and he is molested by his aunt who he remembers as his favorite person. For most of the book he doesn’t even remember it happened but knows he has emotional problems. Years later, at the end of the book, when he is in the psych hospital he says “But I kind of figured out that everything I dreamt about my aunt Helen was true. And after a while I realized that it happened every Saturday when we would watch television. The first few weeks in the hospital were very hard...But the doctor has helped me work out a lot of things since then...The thing that helped the most though, was the time I could have visitors.” (page 209) Talking about things helped Charlie get better. If he had said something when he was young he could have prevented a lot of his problems he has currently. Most of the book is Charlie trying to fix these problems. This shows readers if they see something say something, because if they don’t it can produce bigger problems later on in life.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower explores Charlie’s decision to try drugs when his friends offer them to him. Although LSD makes him feel good temporarily, he discovers it isn’t worth the disorienting after effects. While the viewpoint of Charlie seems to be that there’s nothing really wrong with drugs, the book also shows that the use of drugs has no real benefits because they don’t really make him feel better. The article “The Other Teen Drug Problem” (written by Sharon Sloane, published on Christian Science Monitor), even though it’s talking about prescription drug abuse, it confirms this idea that a lot of teens think drugs are ok, “The Office of National Drug Control Policy reported last year that 3 out of 10 teens don't see pain relievers as addictive, and one-third of teens believe that there is "nothing wrong" with occasional abuse of prescription medication.” Even though drug use is not a good idea, it does happen. The book challenges readers to come to an independent decision for themselves, about this important subject matter regarding safety and health issues around drug use.
Sexual assault and drug use are examples of controversial issues that are depicted in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The author; through his characters’ difficult choices about their own involvement with sexual assault or drugs provides a real life example, that teens can relate to, that might help readers to be more prepared to manage these problems in their own lives. I think reading and studying novels such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower should not be banned but is more beneficial if it is read in reading groups or the whole class rather than for a student to read it alone and write about it because you can take more from the experience if there are viewpoints other than your own.
