The Importance Of Censorship

Laurie Halse Anderson once said, “Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.” Censorship, by definition, is suppressing people from looking at books, movies, et cetera. In Fahrenheit 451 and The Book Thief, the government forces their community and the citizens within it to censor out what they read and look at. They do this out of fear of the people turning back on them and rebelling. And sometimes people censor themselves to stay blissfully unaware of the terror that surrounds them.

The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable. 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, such as The Catcher in

The American Library Association defines censorship as the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary or educational materials. Censorship can be subtle, almost unseen, as well as blatant and overt, but nonetheless, harmful. The abilities to read, speak, and express ourselves freely are core values. Throughout history many different governments and people have tried to ban books for many different reasons. People attempt to ban books because the material conflicts with their own beliefs. Some people believe that a child’s parent should be the only one able to censor what a child reads. Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents and only parents have the right and responsibility to restrict things from their children. According to the challenges by initiator, institution, type, and year, parents challenge books more often than any other group. The subject is very controversial causing many disagreements. Some people may believe that a book is wonderful, while others believe that it’s corrupting the youth. Books are banned to protect people, mainly children, from difficult ideas and information. Nudity, drugs, religious viewpoint,

The parents of our communities tend to fall on either side of the issue, divided into pro and anti-censorship groups. The big question that everyone is asking is if a student were to open a book and read about drugs, sex, or violence will this make a child more susceptible to this kind of behavior? Our United States board of education believes so, and has installed censorship safety precautions in the literature that is available in public schools and libraries. According to the American Library Association between 1990 and 2000 6,364 challenges against books were brought to Office of Intellectual Freedom by parents, teachers, and different pro-censorship organizations. The grounds for these challenges were that the books contained sexually explicit material, offensive language, satanic references, violence, homosexuality, or promotion of a religious belief. Some books that were on this list include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (for incessant use of the n word), The Catcher and the Rye (Depicts teenage depression, prostitution and use of the f word) and Go Ask Alice (Instances of Drug Use, sex, and suicide. People that are pro censorship argue that no books are being banned. That, in fact, you can buy those same books in many bookstores or other places. They argue that is their right, as taxpayers to decide what their children should have

When Mark twain's books were being banned his response was "Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak because a baby can’t chew it” I completely partially with this Idea. I think that all though most of the time censorship is unnecessary and at times even ridiculous, but I also think there are certain situations in which it is reasonable.For instance an Example of a time that it would be ok were if you had like a book like Huckleberry Finn at an elementary school that would make it ok to ban it censor it because that is when the children might still be to young t be read things with that kind of language. Although in cases like it being banned from a public library then it is no longer ok and if it taken to the extreme can even lead to more

In addition, “protecting” children from the difficulties of the world through censorship isn’t teaching them anything. They are just becoming more narrow-minded, shallow, and even less human. The information in books does not injure young people, they just open up their minds to new things and new ways. Such as in Fahrenheit 451, the people were not protected by censorship, but in the end they were hurt by it. I think that it is up to the parents to educate their children that just because they say it in a book, does not mean he or she should do or feel the same. Think about this, if we got rid of everything people object to, there would be nothing left in the world. Also with censorship, children are not being exposed to the “real world,”

Censoring books limit the available books to everyone. The reason this is bad is because not everyone has the same rules for what and what not to read. As said in, Banned Books: A School Librarian's Perspective, “In most cases, the complainants begin to look at the book in light of the whole process and realize that although they may not want their child to read a book such as "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson because it has several profanities, it is actually a very fine book that other parents might want their own children to read.” (Coatney) This shows how a book that

Some assert that censorship is not necessary because it violates the First Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees the right to free speech. In an article titled “Banned Books” it states, “According to the ALA President Carol Brey-Casiano, ‘Not every book is right for every person, but providing a wide range of reading choices is vital for learning, exploration, and imagination. The abilities to read, speak, think, and express ourselves freely are core American values.’” (Brunner 1). In this quote, the ALA President explains in her point of view why the use of censorship is unnecessary.

The real world cannot be censored; there will be sex, profanity, violence, and drugs withholding information about it from our youth doesn’t make those problems go away, it just leaves them un-educated and confused. Of course there are the issues with not censoring anything, some things children aren’t ready for, but that should be up to the discretion of the direct part, not the neighbors, or the government, or teachers. Children need to be protected to a certain point, but to a certain point they also need to be informed, by restricting books, you are restricted their education. People are reluctant to stand up against censorship because in doing so they are putting everything on the line.

However in certain cases like things that are not suitable for young audience like Swearing, but only for that audience. Otherwise, I think censorship is a crime against creators and or arthurs freedoms, they can write whatever they want. The second reason in certain severe cases is justified in my opinion is if a sorten media is calling for violence agent's other people. I don't think that this books should straight up band, but instead have captions next to the original text or for educational purposes like for Mein Kampf or the Communist

Ever since the first book was published, there has always been some books that people cannot read for their strong language, sensitive topic, or explicit content. This has lead to the current problem we have today, censoring books. Last year there were about 300 books banned in the in the United States. Even well known authors have banned books. For example, Harper Lee, J.D Salinger, and even J.K Rowling. In addition, there are those who say that censoring books protect our children from explicit content. Sooner or later these children are going to find the truths about this world and will not know how to react. That is why if censorship continues, then this will harm our society from being able to grow even further.

There is a six year old who desires to read Fifty Shades of Grey, they pray to God above for parental access; no avail do they receive such permissions, and therefore spared no pity in any superstitious form. Later on, however, they snag the copy from auntie Jean; the child reiterates every two passages, and illustrates each scenario with care. Here is where censorship is required. Novels, similar to Fifty Shades of Grey, should publish censored copies exclusive to fifteen to seventeen. Or when little Ruthberg browses the Internet, and explores for websites papa Joel stares at for hours on end. The producers of said websites should firsthand censor their media, just in case little minds tediously hack onto an easily accessible desktop, and eventually stumbles upon what big daddy Joel has been searching. Needless to say: censorship is doubled as a benefit and an annoyance.

Some people would say that we need censorship because we need to limit what our children can read about in our school. They say that if the children read these things that are too graphic for them that this could lead to them either being scared away from books or their minds might think differently in

Do you wonder why sometimes you watch Tv and a curse word has been said but instead of hearing the word you hear a *beep*. That is called Censorship, “ society should be allowed to limit children access to materials not suitable to their age.” (Censorship is the way to go). It shields children from corrupt ideas, Foul language, and images. Censorship also can protect our nation.

Censorship is a phenomenon that has a 100% chance to affect every person’s life and the future lives that will be brought into the world. In our education system, parents have been arguing about whether they should censor textbooks and other literature for children. There have been many protests throughout history either for or against such censorship. There are groups fighting for and against censorship interestingly enough almost for the same reason. They both tend to claim that censorship or lack of is to protect their children now and in the future. To truly understand censorship, we must find its definition, find the groups associated with promoting it, and groups associated with fighting it to truly understand censorship and