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The negative impact of censorship on children
Censorship in children
Censorship in children
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Everywhere someone turns there are censors, protection against “explicit material” and pixels to blur out the middle finger and body parts. If one turns on the tv, there will be blurs and bleeps between every channel and even parts being taken out of movies because of content that is censored from the audience. Words, music, and even television are censored to “prevent negative displays of cultures,individuals, or communities” (“Revealed…”).Censorship is mainly regarding parents and children- what they deem has the best and worst influence on them. Of course one can argue that censors are mandatory,for children especially, but in truth censors are non essential nuisances. What these censors do is create a barrier for teenagers and preteens from reality and what actually happens in real life. As well as shielding young children from harmful material that a child should not see. Although censors are needed to protect children from explicit material, there is also too much censoring in books,music, and television.
One can read books to gain knowledge and increase their level of reading but not to come across offensive language and words. Especially in school, children are censored from these books that are controversial in the classroom. Parents are the ones who have a hard time letting their children read these books because they use curse words or have morals that differ from personal values. As a parent it is their right to fight the banning of books that use language such as the “n-word” or characters depicted negatively. Presently in the classroom, “race matters in these books. It’s a matter of how you express that in the 21st century” (Schultz). When children read these novels they may think that it is acceptable for them to a...
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... censoring books, music, and television. Although parents may argue that these all need to be censored for the sake of their children, they are missing the fact that they have already been exposed to these types of things before. Even though books are being banned because they are controversial it is only depriving children of valuable lessons. Books also provide the youth with different ideas and can help them realize that variation in ideas is important. Censorship and music have often been debated as well, but music is everywhere censored and uncensored, so chances are children are going to hear songs that are “inappropriate.” Lasty, television is something that is censored all the time, when parents should decide what is censored and what is not censored. In conclusion, censorship is something that is becoming the topic of parents and children all over America.
Every one hundred years dialects change and what is considered “politically correct”, or socially acceptable, changes. “David Bradley argues that ‘if we'd eradicated the problem of racism in our society, Huckleberry Finn would be the easiest book in the world to teach’” (Zwick, Jim. “Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned?”). If we, as a nation, make it a point to rule out all books that could possibly offend students, then every hundred years or so our library of American Literature will be completely different. Even today, modern day authors use vulgar language, lurid sexual content, and racial slurs to get their point across. If The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is taken off of required reading lists across the country, then that could create a never-ending cycle of books being taken off of school shelves every time words and ideas become unacceptable. If this is the way that American society is turning then something must be done, and the Superintendents, Deans, and Principals of every High School around the country must take it upon themselves to do it because the students will not.
The authors of these passages have very different ideas about censorship. After evaluation I will determine which passage states a stronger argument. I believe that Passage 1 provides a stronger argument over Passage 2.
From the years 2000 to 2009, 5,099 books were challenged in school libraries, classrooms, and public libraries. Most of the books on this list were banned because of objectionable content such as sexual references, profanity, violence, and the fact that the book was considered “unsuited to age group” (American Library Association). Even prior to the year 2000, censorship and banned books had become an issue for schools in particular all across the country for these very reasons. While the The Color Purple by Alice Walker does contain the objectionable content mentioned prior, it should not be banned because objectionable content found in the book is accessible through the internet and social media, one person’s complaint should not determine another’s choice, and high school students should be mature enough to handle the adult content.
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
Censorship in School Libraries The most debatable and controversial form of censorship today is the banning of books in school libraries. Banning books that educate students is wrong and selfish. Censorship of books in school libraries is neither uncommon nor an issue of the past. Books with artistic and cultural worth are still challenged constantly by those who want to control what others read. The roots of bigotry and illiteracy that fuel efforts to censor books and free expression are unacceptable and unconditional.
Censorship is “the restriction or removal of information, or the prevention of free expression” (Taylor 8). There are many things that can be censored such as books, movies, TV shows, newspapers, and the way people dress. People censor things for a number of reasons- they do not agree with it, find it offensive, or think that it is just inappropriate in general. Different people consider different things inappropriate, so the content of what is censored varies. Anyone can censor, including parents, teachers, school officials, and board members (Taylor 8-10) Many things are censored in schools and places where children are present because parents do not want their kids to be exposed to inappropriate content (Taylor 10). Students are entitled to their First Amendment rights just as much as adults are, but schools still censor things like newspapers, books, and clothing.
Censorship is detrimental to society. People can’t learn from their mistakes if we hide them. People can’t decide the best option if we say there are no options. People can’t understand each other if they don’t know what anyone is thinking. People can’t mature when they are “protected” from mean words. People can’t be themselves when they are being censored.
Many people do not hate the book itself but rather the amount of racial slurs it contains, “219 accounts” of the “n-word”. (Smith) For many people more than one racial slur is offensive enough. However many people still see the importance of teaching the classic novel in school and therefore proposed an idea. The critics of the use of the "n-word” in the novel proposed that the "n-word” be changed with the word slave.
Those who are addicted to a recently outlawed substance will find a way to get it. "Brain changes interfere with your ability think clearly, exercise good judgment, control of your behavior, and feel normal without using drugs" according to national institute of drug abuse. Drugs target the limbic system, flooding it with large amounts of dopamine, causing the user to feel pleasure at the moment of use and for a short amount of time afterwards. Not using that substance for long periods of time can cause nausea, fatigue, etc..,making it a lot easier to continue using the substance. Once the substance is outlawed, it can no longer be bought in stores leaving very few options of where you can get the substance. "The black market is the world's
Censorship is one of the most controversial topics in the world of literature. To many, censorship is just another way of government or other organizations controlling the population. To others, it is the only way to ensure that children are readying appropriate materials. In theory, the idea of censorship is not entirely wrong. Developmentally, there are issues that children cannot handle at certain ages. For instance, a five year-old child should not be reading the same books as a twelve year-old, who should not be reading the same books as an eighteen year-old, simply because they are at varying degrees of developmental readiness for said books. The problem with censorship arises when observing the idea that the books that censorship is not occurring with consideration for the child.
Internet is a powerful tool that allows users to collaborate and interact with others all over the world conveniently and relatively safely. It has allowed education and trade to be accessed easily and quickly, but all these benefits do not come without very taxing costs. This is especially true when dealing with the likes of the Internet. Countries in the European Union and Asia have realized this and have taken action against the threat of net neutrality to protect their citizens, even at the cost of online privacy. Internet censorship is required to protect us from our opinions and vices. Every country should adopt Internet censorship and regulation since it improves society by reducing pornography, racism/prejudice, and online identity theft.
Hence, censorship is essential in society to eliminate discrimination on basis of race and gender, protect children, maintain stability and restore what censor sees as lost moral values. Censorship occurs when expressive materials like books, magazines, movies, videos, music or works of art are restricted to particular audiences based on their age or other characteristics. http://www.ala.org/oif/intellectualfreedeomandcensorship.html) Censorship is not a recent development. It wasn’t imposed properly or there weren’t strict regulations before.
Tackling censorship is much more important than it appears to be at the surface; taking down censorship would help preserve the expression of thought. It would help preserve the right to listen to the unaltered forms of everything. Most importantly, it would help preserve the rapidly weakening basic right of speech. Censorship has always altered the lives of many people, whether they know it or not. People are constantly exposed to the censored version of entertainment.
Many people think the definition of Freedom of Speech is “free speech” even though they
Censorship is an important and essential part of television. Without the presence of censorship television would be unsuitable for our younger viewers because censorship helps to filter out the appearances of nudity, real life violence, the use of profanity and other obscene gestures during the youth viewing hours. However, during the prime time viewing hours it?s a different story. The method the television stations use is a mere waste of time and money because a little symbol in the corner of the screen is not going to prevent a child from watching the program. The only way this method can work is if the parents/guardian is there to change the channel but let?s be realistic, how many parents/guardians actuarially have the time to monitor everything there children watch. So most children do end up viewing these programs anyway, and whether we like it o...