Censorship in Public Schools Essay -- essays research papers fc

because he thinks they might contain "obscenities or offensive cozy references" (Berger59).-A Vermont high crop librarian is forced to resign because she fought the schoolboards decision to remove Richard Prices The Wanderers, and to "restrict" the use ofStephen Kings Carrie and Patrick Manns Dog Day Afternoon (Jones 33).-An Indiana school board takes action that leads to the burning of many copies of atextbook that deals with drugs and the sexual behavior of teenagers (Berger 61).These cases of censorship in public schools ar not unusual and on that point is evidencethat such challenges be increasing (Woods 2). These challenges are actually typical ofthe ones being leveled against school libraries today. These challenges posterior come fromone person or a group concerned with the suitability of the material in question. In almostevery case, the effort to ban books is said to be "justified by guardianship of the harmful effectsthat the books may have on yo ung children" (Berger 59). The result of these censorshipattempts has been two opposing sides one side believes that "more suitable materials canusually be found from among the wealth of materials available on most subjects (Woods1), and the other side believes that students "intellectual liberty" can be upheld only ifstudents are allowed to examine "any available relevant materials in order to gain theinsights needed to reach their own conclusions" (Woods 1). In the simplest terms, thedebate is between censorship and the freedom to read.The most important question when discussing censorship deals with itsconstitutionality does censorship violate the world-class Amendments guarantee of freespeech? Censorship advocates actually use the words of the First Amendment to maketheir point "the amendment reads, Congress shall make no law...", it does not say,"There shall be no law..." (Berger 69). They believe that, although the federalgovernment is forbidden to censor, it is not unconstitutional for states and topical anaestheticcommunities to pass censorship laws (Berger 69). Also, since the US Supreme Courtdoes not believe the First Amendment protects all forms of expression (childpornography, etc.), then proponents of censorship believe that censorship laws areconstitutional (Berger 69). Anti-censorship has the upper-hand, constituti... ...ensors reactwhen they find anything they deem objectionable in the school. Why will people reactemotionally, even violently, to certain spoken or indite words, turn in many caseshaving mild reactions to the actions described by the words? While D.H. Lawrence hasseen considerable censorship due to his affinity for sexual content, Shakespeare hasenjoyed relative peace of mind even though Othello and his lover made "the beast with twobacks" (I.I, 119-120). I, myself, will continue to struggle against the censors who seek tocontrol written expression in our schools while waving the banner of freedom, for it iscensorship that we must fear, not words, and hope that in the future, the true obscenitiesof the world (poverty, hunger, war) will be what we shall strive to censor.Works CitedBerger, Melvin. Censorship. New York Franklin Watts, 1982.Jones, Frances M. inactivation Censorship The Librarians Guide to Handling CensorshipConflicts. Phoenix The Oryx Press, 1983.Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston Little, Brown and Company, 1945.Woods, L.B. A Decade of Censorship in the States The Threat to Classrooms andLibraries. London The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1979