Censorship As A Teenager

According to “Freedom of Speech” by Gerald Leinwand, Abraham Lincoln once asked, “Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its people, or too weak to maintain its own existence (7)?” This question is particularly appropriate when considering what is perhaps the most sacred of all our Constitutionally guaranteed rights, freedom of expression. Lincoln knew well the potential dangers of expression, having steered the Union through the bitterly divisive Civil War, but he held the Constitution dear enough to protect its promises whenever possible (8).

The word censorship is from the Latin word root of censere, which means to give an opinion or expression to be judged upon. Censorship is the restriction of certain material, and due to its expression it is seen offensive to someone else. The origin of expression of censorship can be tracked back to the Roman Empire when Roman officials assessed the conduct and attitudes of other Roman citizens. The Roman government viewed that in order to have a strong government, the behavior and conduct of the peopled had to be changed according to what they thought was correct. Censorship continued to be a controversy over time. It remained a controversy over time, through many empires, the age of Enlightenment, World War II, and even today. As censorship progressed through the ages it still continues today. Today, censorship occurs at schools. It occurs in libraries, classrooms, and even in student publications. Even though censorship can occur to a certain extent at schools, students’ First Amendment rights are still protected at school. The First Amendment protects freedom of expression, speech, press, religion, and assembly. Students are allowed to express themselves freely at school as long as they do not affect the education and as long as it is not an activity supported by the school system.

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.

There has recently been a renewed interest and passion in the issue of censorship. In the realm of the censorship of books in schools alone, several hundred cases have surfaced each year for nearly the past decade. Controversies over which books to include in the high school English curriculum present a clash of values between teachers, school systems, and parents over what is appropriate for and meaningful to students. It is important to strike a balance between English that is meaningful to students by relating to their lives and representing diversity and satisfying worries about the appropriateness of what is read. This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss

Knowledge is power. Using knowledge, people can reshape society and the world as a whole, changing it for the better. However, gaining access to the necessary wealth of information requires a full education: people should be taught multiple ideologies and topics from an unbiased perspective. They must receive access to various viewpoints in their entirety. Teaching only one worldview strips students of their ability to truly analyze the world and its issues, because they cannot look beyond the one restrictive narrative they learned and therefore cannot develop their own perspective. Censorship hinders schools, institutions with the purpose of informing students and helping them develop their beliefs. Therefore, schools should not practice censorship when selecting literature for students because censorship obscures the purpose of literature, because censorship fails to expose students to a variety of ideas, and because censorship removes students’ ability to develop unique opinions and worldviews; education should provide an unbiased view of the world and many ideologies, so students can take their own stance on various issues rather than blindly following what they learn.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger tells the painful tale of a hormonal teenage boy, who has been kicked out of multiple schools, and is searching for himself in a world of phonies. June Edwards’ article, “Censorship in the Schools: What’s Moral about The Catcher in the Rye?” deals with the novel’s values and argues over Salinger’s written intentions. She describes Holden as an insecure young man, who makes some poor decisions, but turns his life around and becomes a good influence, contrary to what censors would claim.

Young journalists in schools around America feel like they are being denied their first amendment. In Ocean Lake high school 2 out of 5 school papers aren't published. Censorship issues have been going on for years. The "Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier" Supreme Court case, in 1988, states that students cannot be censored by student officials if they have established the paper as a public forum(Innterobang/2007/3). Two of the articles were about teen pregnancy in, which he interviewed some, and Parent divorce. The articles were thrown out because there was no time to edit it, in which lead to the students claiming their first amendment was violated. If the paper receives any funding from the school, the school can have special guide lines the paper has to follow. Some of the rules are understandable like promoting drugs, hate articles, and much more shouldn't be in a school paper.

In a perfect world, student publications wouldn’t be censored, but as many people know, the world is far from perfect. Censorship is an unfortunate reality for many student publications across the nation and although it is perfectly legal for them to be censored, many advisors and publications staff members are unhappy.

In the United States we pride ourselves on being a free country and having our rights and privileges but are our universities slowly taking away our rights as citizens to have freedom of speech? Speech is an important way of expressing ourselves and our opinions through verbal communication. Now in our bill of rights speech is defined as many different forms of communication such as music, poetry, television, and even clothing. College student are usually some of the strongest users of freedom of speech. During college many students sometimes take part in protest and very often are required to write some form of writing exercise that could be controversial. Without freedom of speech these protest and articles could be deemed illegal and in some countries it is illegal. Countries such as north Korea are not able to speak freely and the majority of countries have heavy censorship placed on what they can and cannot say. So why are university

I have to disagree with you. I personally, don't think that lack of parental supervision can land a juvenile back to a detention facility to me it seems that the juvenile land back due to their actions let me give you an example; My daughter was caught smoking marihuana in the girls bathroom along with her friends. We went to court she was under parental supervision and had to take some drug abuse class and had to do random urine samples which she did okay but towards the end of the program she fail one of the urine samples due to the fact that she smoke marihuana again. I have a full time job because I have bills to pay she smoke marihuana while a I was at work and unable to see what she was doing I can't not control how she behaves when I

landmark cases for future legal actions. One of the most famous of those cases was Pico

Young adults are reading more than ever these days, and with the young adult literature expanding there are many options for this age group. Parents should be thrilled, but some are horrified with what their children are reading. Some are concerned that the mature topics and profanity in novels makes them too inappropriate for certain young adults. To know the content in the books their children are reading they suggest a rating system similar to movies and video games. Others believe that the rating system would be too constricting to young adult authors and is a form of censorship. Anti-rating system people believe books can help young adults understand the world and themselves. There should be a middle ground to make both groups happy. Both

I am going through some issues with my sponsor, because I came here with my husband our files are linked together (Student and dependent got a scholarship). Since my husband (student) graduated last semester my sponsor requires me to finish 50% or more in order to get a separate file. I’m trying for the second time to ask for separating my file. I’m writing to you seeking help. If you don’t mind I need a letter from you to show my commitment and seriousness in getting the degree. If you believe that I deserve it. It is highly respected if a course coordinator writes to them. Although I got 5.50 that seems not enough for them. I am trying to use my last chance this time. I really need your support. I finished my plan for the thesis, and I have

Monkey see, monkey do, a simple phrase relevant to today’s society. Those in society that simply do not know any better, such as children, are inclined to imitate what they see being done. Without censorship daily television shows are increasingly exhibiting more violence, foul language and sexuality to susceptible youth. Due to lack of censorship, explicit music lyrics and inappropriate images on music videos are being introduced to impressionable children. There is a lack of control on the internet leading to internet addiction and forces vulnerable adolescents to face cyber bullying. In a variety of mediums not enough censorship is used, which influences impressionable youth to think and behave negatively.

To have certain information be censored that could be exposed to the youth by a state government is a practice that has existed and upheld for centuries, from the years when Athena was praised as the goddess of wisdom and sagacity in the temples that lined the streets of Athens, to the tense years during the Cold War, when students habitually watched videos on when to hide underneath their wooden desks if a nuclear bomb came crashing down from the planes of their Soviet counterparts. But when, in the name of censorship, falsified information is given to the youth to indoctrinate them into believing a specific ideology, or when the words or the ideas or not censored, but the people themselves, that is when basic human rights are infringed upon