Argumentative Essay On Censorship

It is probably no accident that freedom of speech is the first freedom mentioned in the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The Constitution's framers believed that freedom of inquiry and liberty of expression were the hallmarks of a democratic society.

Censorship is a highly controversial topic regarding the arts, controlling the freedom of expression of artists to convey what is deemed acceptable within society. Ai Weiwei falls victim under the power of the regime and the influence of censorship guidelines within China, limiting the display of his art due to the important messages he raises. Andres Serrano has experienced attempted censorship on his provocative image, Piss Christ, and has been attacked for producing offensive art. Censorship aims to conceal certain artworks which clash with the viewpoints of others; however, it should not be enforced as they are confrontational, challenging audiences and act in response to political, social and cultural contexts.

Book censorship today in America isn’t quite as drastic as that, but still is reflecting the same concepts. I remember in junior high school when we would have banned book week. This was where the school celebrated having the right to read censored and banned books. Written word is one of the most important aspects of free speech. In no circumstance whatsoever, should any piece of writing be censored. Writing thoughts and ideas and whatever else comes into someone’s mind has been a practice of humans ever since historians know that man existed. Telling people what they can and cannot read is an invasion of not only the reader’s rights, but the author’s as well. If someone doesn’t like what an author of a piece of literature has to say then that person has a right not to read it, or better yet form their own opinion and write about that. Book banning is and ungodly practice and the people of this world should learn from the mistakes of the past and not allow the censorship of written material. The only opposition that I can find to the censorship of books would be taking the same mindset on the topic as the Nazis did when they burned all of the Jew’s books. Trying to wipe out an entire race or group of people’s ideas and beliefs should never be done anywhere for any reason.

Censorship is defined by Caso as the suppression of speech or any other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive politically incorrect as determined by the government or any other control body (3). Censorship may be justified from the conservative view whereby the free speech can be maltreated where it undermines the customary principles and communal solidity as withheld by a particular community.

Book banning is a prime target for censorship. Censorship in print media, notably book banning, occurs across homes, schools, stores, and other facilities daily. Censorship in the schools is the most widespread and exposed place for book banning. Do

Many books have been questioned and challenged. Even as far as to banning them. But what exactly is a banned book and why are they banned? A banned book is a book that has been censored by an authority, a government body, a library, or a even school system. A book that has been banned is actually removed from a library or school system. The actual contextual reasons as to banning them is use of explicit violence, gore, sexuality, explicit language, religion, or dark times in history. On the non-contextual side of the reason why they are banned books are usually because with the best intentions to protect people, frequently children, from difficult philosophies and information. Teachers, or even more common adults, often censor books from

Imagine a scenario where Kanye West is in his Los Angeles home with his wife and daughter and the police knock on his door. They arrest him based on exposing the American population to vulgarity, indecency, racist and sexist comments that offend many people. The government does not want America to be subjected to this type of music and turn the American culture into something more bigoted than it already is. However, a situation like this would never occur in the present day American society. That does not mean it could not happen in the future. Many American citizens are promoting censorship to an extreme that it could possibly become a reality. The American citizens claim that censorship is needed to shelter America’s citizens, but

In her essay, “Censorship: A Personal View” Judy Blume gives readers insight on the impact of censorship based on her personal experiences as a young reader and then later in life as a censored writer. She provides numerous examples of educators who were affected by censorship and chose to take a stand against it (345). Although the piece lacks evidentiary support for these accounts, and draws on sarcasm for emphasis, the original objective remains clear and strong. Blume succeeds in exposing what censorship is capable of, what this means for readers and writers, and how activist groups like the National Coalition Against Censorship [NCAC] can

Books provide so much more knowledge for students and people of all ages in our society. Some books, however, can be considered harmful to readers, or too graphic for certain individuals. Many parents do not want their children reading a lot of the content in more mature books, especially in school where a lot of the reading is done out loud. Books should be banned to the extent of specific age groups and locations. Books should be banned from locations, such as schools, if they feature very graphic or ideologically sensitive material that some parents may not be comfortable with their children reading or learning about.

Firstly, books can contain educational information about controversial topics that may be considered reasons to ban

The censorship of books is a division of censorship that, apart from Internet censorship, receives the most publicity. Banning books is the most popular form of such censorship. Many banned books are literary classics,

Censorship is a very controversial issue in the world with many different types and has many positive and negative effects on us. Censorship is looked at by many as a necessity in people’s lives while others believing it to be a bane that annoys and bothers them. The advocates to censorship believe that it protects and keeps our youth safe from corruption that could affect them in negative ways. People who hate censorship believe it to be a burden on us and keep us from getting what we need sometimes. Different types of censorship such as pornographic censorship have positive effects like keeping the youth safe from corruption by some materials, but it also has negative effects like limiting the amount of materials that people can use for things like research.

"There is more than one way to burn a book," (176) says Ray Bradbury when explaining the reason he wrote Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury at the time was upset about "condensed books", or books which had been simplified for easier reading. Luckily, this fad seems to have passed. However, he was also upset about people who wrote asking him to change the role of women or African-Americans to make them more or less dominant in some of his works. One of the major themes in Fahrenheit 451 was just that; a society where everyone got what they wished and literature was eliminated entirely so it wouldn't offend anyone. Sadly, this still continues to happen in the United States. Many books have been banned from school and public libraries because

Today's society is and always has been a struggle for freedom. America fought in the revolutionary war against Great Britain to enhance the freedom of Americans. Censorships in libraries are an invasion of a citizen's rights. Throughout history there are an extreme amount of examples of the rights of Americans being invaded and abolished. The first amendment, moral agency, and religious beliefs are all the ultimate reasons that censorships in libraries should not be aloud or legal.

Furthermore, censors can be parents, teachers, administrators, or community members (Kelsey). Boyd and Bailey shared, “Although parents and guardians have the right to demand that their child will not read a particular book or view a specific film, no one parent or guardian has the right to demand that an entire classroom, school, or district should not read a particular book or view a film.” On the contrary, there are people who are against censorship, such as the School Library Media Specialists. The SLMSs recognize that adolescents cannot be irreparably harmed by the words and concepts of books (Kelsey). Charlene C. Cain, from Librarians and Censorship: The Ethical Imperative, notes that “some censors have low tolerance for diversity, ambiguity,