Banning Books
“It’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written, the books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers” (Blume 1999). Judy Blume can not explain the problem of book censorship any clearer. The children are the real losers because they are the ones that are not able to read the classic works of literature which are the backbone of classroom discussions all across the United States.
The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) defines censorship as: “The removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials… of images, ideas, and information…on
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Censorship based on religion views sexual works as attacks on the religious faith itself. Also, anti-religious works are damaging to the religious beliefs. Themes that are viewed as communistic, un-American, or ungodly would be censored based on their changes in the political structure. Obscenity is used by these censors to cover up the objections on political groups and beliefs. Lastly, minority rights censors often want their own special group values recognized. This category is mainly censored by ethnic minorities and women who are struggling against established stereotypes that have been the norm for a long time.
There are many lists of censored books that come out every year; one of those lists is the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000. On this list the Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger ranks at number 13. Forever by Judy Blume ranks at number eight and the Harry Potter series by R.K. Rowling ranks at number seven. Catcher in the Rye is censored because of the incidents of depression, nervous breakdown, impulsive spending, sexual exploration, vulgarity, and other erratic behavior. Mainly these are problems that go against traditional American values. Judy Blume’s, Forever is censored because of its sexual content involving two high school seniors and their decision to have sex for the first time. Lastly, Christian activists are vocal about the Harry Potter
Although it is ridiculous to ban books, it is somewhat understandable. Some books are extremely heavy on the controversial side, and include a boat load of inappropriate content. “My corduroys. My boxers. Two layers. I could feel the warmth of her cheek on my thigh. There are times when it is appropriate, even preferable, to get an erection when someone’s face is in close proximity to your penis” (Green). It is easy to see why someone with a closed mind would take offense to this kind of content being in a book for young
In “Censorship: A Personal View”, the author, Judy Blume, argues that the censorship is the biggest restrictions that turn young people away from books that they are interested in. Blume first indicates that the censorship already existed while she was a kid. She provides her personal experience as a kid toward the curiosity about adult world that she wanted to read from books, but her parents and school were very careful and selective about what books she could read. Blume then expresses her own views on censorship while she likes to write the controversial topics as a writer. She provides her own experience while many of her books were banned because the topics in her book were dangerous to young people, and the censorship proposed the alternative
Censorship is a concept with several different meanings. To each individual censorship has its own meaning. Is it a violation of our rights or is it a protection for our well being? Censorship in the generic sense refers to the suppression of information, ideas, or opinions. It occurs in all forms of communication from technological media to print media. Each society, culture, or individual's belief is violated by the codes of censorship that our society instills.
Censorship dates all the way back to 443 BC in ancient Rome with the Office of Censor. In that time this was an office of great repute, the Office of Censor was charged with the shaping of the character of the people. Thus it was considered to be an honorable task, since then the connotation of the word and such an office has changed greatly. Today censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc. and suppressing “unacceptable parts” based on whoever is defining “unacceptable.” Unacceptable has been considered to be a wide range of concepts from ideas to sexually explicit content. Historically in the USSR most leaders used censorship in every form as a means of suppressing whatever or whoever was perceived as a
Censorship has happened everywhere and happens everyday especially inside schools. In city schools there have been conflicts over what students should or should not learn. Censors decide that they should protect students from materials and activities that are upsetting and issue the wrong ideas. These ideas are said to "weaken parental authority, challenge students political moral, or religious views, or brainwash them into other ways of thinking (Sherrow10)." By protecting them they mean targeting academics. Courses that deal with drug prevention, sex education, development of character, or clarification of
Censorship has happened everywhere and happens everyday especially inside schools. In city schools there have been conflicts over what students should or should not learn. Censors decide that they should protect students from materials and activities that are upsetting and issue the wrong ideas. These ideas are said to "weaken parental authority; challenge students political moral, or religious views; or brainwash them into other ways of thinking (Sherrow10)." By protecting them they mean targeting academics. Courses that deal with drug prevention, sex education, development of character, or
The practice of the censorship of books in schools has been prevalent due to the explicit content of them. Parents have been complaining to schools about books that count as required reading because they disapprove with the points made in the book. If a book consists of offensive or sexually explicit material, then parents would challenge the schools about them in order to prevent their children from reading them. Censorship in general has been an intensely debated issue because it is considered an infringement to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution while others argue it is used to conceal inappropriate things (Aliprandini and Sprague). The banning of books in school curriculum has also been debated since parents see
The word censor comes from the Latin term censere which means to appraise, value, judge ("Online Etymology Dictionary”). According to Wikipedia and Dictionary.com censorship is defined as a practice of filtering the media and suppressing the unwanted parts.
Nudity, Profanity, and religious beliefs, oh my! What do all three of these things have in common? They are all censored for the sake of our children. But think realistically; almost every child anymore is exposed to these things whether or not parents want them to be. The outside world isn’t censored at all. People streak, curse, and state their religious beliefs at their leisure. There is no way to guard a child from everyday life. In time, everyone will be exposed to those same concepts and ideas that we are trying so desperately to hide from. Censorship is unnecessary and shouldn’t be interfering with people’s daily lives.
It is my belief that since by the time the child is required to read such literature in school, they are at an age where they can distinguish between things that should and should not be said and it is the job of the parents to educate the child that just because they say it in a book does not mean he or she should.Another subject common to banned and censored books is sexuality.
One of the main themes of the novel Fahrenheit 451 is censorship. Censorship is n: the action of a censor esp. in stopping the transmission or publication of matter considered objectionable. That is, of course, according to the guys over at Merriam-Webster.
Censorship is very important in maintaining government authority which helps in stabilizing the society. The society enjoys freedoms, rights and privileges due to the stability of the ruling body. Without this stability, the society would lapse in to a condition of scenery where the lives would be solitary, poor, and brutal and short as put by Thomas Hobbes (Merryman & Elsen 564). The stability of the government and society is always assumed to exist without understanding the causes of this stability. The exposure of the social upheavals poses a great threat to destabilizing the government through free speeches from the opposition and parties. Since the criminalization of homosexuality in some African states, there have been free speeches that have posed threats to the individual government from the west that require to be concealed before being released to the public because they may spark hatred and distrust. Some of the expressions which are offensive attack the traditional values of the society and are considered harmful (Caso 13). Censorship helps to protect these values from attack.
"The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world's its own shame." ~Oscar Wilde.Censorship, one word so many different definitions, to many different people. So what exactly is censorship exactly? The actual definition is, “ The suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions”. To others, it means their lives, freedom, who they are as an individual or group. Shielding them from the world, that needs no protection from. There are so many different kinds of censorship, music, internet, political, films, and the most obvious
Censorship can take different shapes depending on the public school system: Schools can give teachers a list of acceptable books to teach, just provide guidelines, or leave it up to the teachers to judge which books are appropriate (Agee, 1999). Teachers are often very nervous about including texts that are not traditional or specifically approved by the school, especially because of the highly publicized cases of teachers whose careers have been ruined because of censorship debates in courts and school systems (Agee, 1999).
To "censor", as defined by Vocabulary.com, is to review something and to choose to remove or hide parts of it that are considered unacceptable. Censorship is the name for the process or idea of keeping things like obscene word or graphic images from an audience. It is the removal of material for the public, or the ability told hold that material from being published. Censorship refers to the examination of communication media, that being books, television, radio programs, news reposts, films and plays for the purpose of suppressing what may be thought to be offensive towards viewers. The material may be considered not only