Censorship

Should books containing questionable or controversial topics be banned in schools or censored? There are definitely people who hold a variety of opinions about the answer to this question, and all have their reasons, I'm sure. I think that as students, part of the learning process is learning to form our own opinions and take our own stands for what we think is right, even if it goes against the public opinion. Our opinions are our opinions and we have our own reasons for having them, reasons which, to us are completely vaild. If we are encouraged then, to have our own opinions, isn't censorship or book banning a direct conradiction to that? The authors write the things they write in their books for a reason, and they have the right to their own opinions. They are in no way forcing you to believe what they are writing because, really, that is not physically possible. They can try to pursuade you to believe a certain thing and colour their writing to suit that belief, but in the end, what you take from the novel is your choice.
There are a lot of things in Slaughterhouse Five which are potentially insulting to readers, some of which are more obviously insulting, but others which may be insulting only to specific people for specific reasons all their own. Isn't it like that with all other books though? There are things each person finds insulting for his/her own reasons, and they may be bizarre to one person, to that one person they are insulting. Does that mean we should censor everything that anyone and everyone finds insulting? I don't think that would be a good idea because that wouldn't leave much out there for us to read.
The other books we have read this year also contain content some people would find insulting. much of it, in a way, may be considered propaganda for the "enemy." Yes, it gives people ideas, but it is not forcing people to act on anything or believe in anything because it cannot physically change what you believe. I think the controversy scares people and in order to defend themselves from the fear, they try to abolish that which inspires their fear, not even stopping to think that that is not necessarily a solution.
Slaughterhouse Five may very well be a controversial text which inspires fear and questioning from various sources, but it should not be banned because, just like every other piece of writing I have ever read, it contains someone's opinions (even when you don't necessarily notice them), and those opinions, just as every other opinion, should be respected and heard, even if they do not meet agreement in the end.