Summary: The Role Of Censorship In School By Dr. Petress

Issues of censorship in public schools are contests between the exercise of discretion and the exercise of a Constitutional right. The law

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.

Each year, someone is guilty of challenging a book while others are guilty of banning novels from the classroom. The question remains, is censorship necessarily a negative thing? Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a novel that has caused havoc and controversy within the education system. While some critics argue Speak should be “hidden” from students, many believe otherwise. At a glance, this novel contains scenes involving issues of drugs, parents that are disengaged in their child 's life, sexuality, and rape. It may seem understandable that it has been challenged throughout the past, however, while reading this novel, these specific scenes introduce a student to much more than just “inappropriate content.” By censoring this novel from

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).

There is a book out there that talks about a topic that you do not agree with. While you may find the book offensive, others may find it inspiring or a reflection of their life. These varying points of view are what often lead to people calling for a ban of a certain book in a school or public library. This brings to light a topic that impacts all of us in one way or another, censorship in the form of book bans. This leads to a topic that can be the center of debate for many, whether or not we should allow the censorship of books, or other forms of media, in our libraries. And by censoring books, we are referring to taking them off of the shelves. Of course, many people have strong opinions on this. Coincidentally, I also have an opinion. My opinion is that we should not censor books, while making you understand why the idea of censorship in our school and public libraries goes against the fundamental values and freedoms that we hold dearly as citizens of the United States.

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.

I believe that books play a key role in school so they shouldn’t be banned.

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

In the pursuit of education, students strive to learn and develop their understanding of the world that surrounds them. Accordingly, it is the responsibility of the school administration to provide the means to that end. Yet, there is a polarized divide among schools and their interpretation of freedom of speech. This occurrence is experienced primarily at the university level but can be seen at all levels of education. At the epicenter of this dispute is the notion of censorship, specifically whether or not it is feasible to restrict what can and cannot be said by faculty and students alike. Advocates of freedom of speech assert that censorship violates our First Amendment right, a liberty that is inalienable. Proponents also argue that

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 Diary of Anne Frank”, “The Catcher and the Rye” and “Gone With The Wind” are examples of some famous books that have been made unavailable to students in public schools. These books, along with many others have culturally shaped America. Future students will now grow up without the knowledge these books have given past generations. This is due to censorship. According to Vocabulary.com “To censor is to review something and to choose to remove or hide parts of it that are considered unacceptable.” In public schools censorship is a big problem. The schools district will take a book out of students education because the books themes does not fit in with their ideals. Other times, a parent will complain because a book is being taught that does not support their religious beliefs. Public Schools should not censor literature based on intolerance for other viewpoints, because it disadvantages students education by not exposing them to world issues.

What would you do if you went to your child's school and saw that they were looking at inappropriate material on the internet? Would you react the same way if they were in a public library? Who decides what is okay for your children to view? Who decides where they can view it? What can you do about them being able to view these things? Are there any laws that can prevent this from happening? What are some schools and libraries doing to help prevent children form looking at such material? These are all issues that will be discussed in the next few paragraphs, along with my opinions on the matter.

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.

Tom Smothers stated, “The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen”. A violation of people's freedom of speech is an important issue that walks hand-in-hand with censorship. Individuality is threatened by limiting room for people to expand their thoughts and knowledge from what was predesigned for them. It prohibits the challenge to be a responsible reader and going through books and issues in context. Censorship is unconstitutional, limits both the individuality and the beneficial learning experience for

22). One form of silent censorship occurs out of fear of challenges (Kampen & Spino, 2007, p. 223). Allen (2007) notes the difficult balance an information professional must make when making selection decisions. Information professionals working in a school must contend with fear of reprisals from those within the school system. (p. 5). Author Norma Fox Mazer (1997) relates how a principal of a school allowed the fear of possible reprisals from the community to cancel Mazer's scheduled visit which had been arranged for nearly a year. As well as another incident where Mazer and another author were scheduled to visit a school, but were asked to not discuss a particular book. (p. 46-48).