Censorship For Middle School Students

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Censorship by definition is the suppression of speech or removal of communicative material which may be considered objectionable or repulsive. Censorship is nothing new and its effects are constantly felt throughout society. Many societies use censorship to protect the established moral and social order. Book censorship in western cultures can be traced to the earliest years of Christianity, when the church began to suppress opposing views as unorthodox. In ancient times, before the printing press and the mass production of literature, book burning was an effective form of censorship. This process guaranteed that no one would ever read them. Although book burning was very efficient it is now used as more of a gesture of protest to shock people rather than a real method of destroying a book. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of media including books, periodicals, plays, motion pictures, television shows and radio programs for the purpose of altering or suppressing parts thought to be offensive. Today’s censorship occurs when certain people succeed in imposing their personal or moral values on others. Censorship deals mainly with the first amendment constitutional. “The law requires that if a book is to be removed, an inquiry must be made as to the motivation and intention of the party calling for its removal. If the party’s intention is to deny students access to ideas with which the party disagrees, it is a violation of the First Amendment” [First Amendment Center]. Though the First Amendment bars government authorities from prohibiting the free exercise, abridging the freedom of speech or practicing religious censorship in the United States, individuals have successfully pushed to remove books from public and ...

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...hat some readers might find offensive. I believe that certainly some of this information is age appropriate and by withholding vital information from students, they are becoming naïve to real world situations.

References

Allen, J. (1999). Article. CNN Book News [Banned Books Week

spotlights battle over censorship ]. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from

http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9909/27/banned.books/

Bald, M. (2006). Banned books literature suppressed on religious grounds (2nd Ed.). New York, New York: Facts on File. (Original work published 2004).

Mullally, C. (2009). Article. In First Amendment Center [Banned Books].

Retrieved November 152009 from http: //www.firstamendmentcenter.org

/Speech/libraries/topic.aspx?topic=banned_books

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