Censorship in Public Schools Essay -- essays research papers fc

beca enforce he thinks they might contain "obscenities or funky sexual references" (Berger59).-A Vermont high condition 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 security review in public schools atomic number 18 not unusual and there is evidencethat such challenges ar change magnitude (Woods 2). These challenges are actually typical ofthe ones being leveled a garnerst school libraries today. These challenges can stimulate fromone person or a group concerned with the suitableness of the material in question. In almostevery case, the effort to relegate books is said to be "justified by fear of the harmful personal effectsthat the books may have on young children" (Berger 59). The result of these censorshipattempts has been devil opposing sides one side believes that "more suitable materials can ordinarily be found from among the wealth of materials available on most subjects (Woods1), and the other(a) side believes that students "intellectual freedom" 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 snipe the First Amendments guarantee of freespeech? security review 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 be lieve that, although the federalgovernment is prohibit to censor, it is not unconstitutional for states and localcommunities to pass censorship laws (Berger 69). Also, since the US independent Courtdoes not believe the First Amendment protects all forms of expression (childpornography, etc.), wherefore proponents of censorship believe that censorship laws areconstitutional (Berger 69). Anti-censorship has the upper-hand, constituti... ...ensors respondwhen they recoup anything they deem objectionable in the school. Why will people reactemotionally, dismantle violently, to certain spoken or written words, time in many caseshaving mild reactions to the actions described by the words? While D.H. Lawrence hasseen colossal censorship due to his affinity for sexual content, Shakespeare hasenjoyed relative peace even though Othello and his lover made "the beast with twobacks" (I.I, 119-120). I, myself, will draw out to struggle against the censors who seek tocontrol writte n 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. newborn York Franklin Watts, 1982.Jones, Frances M. Defusing 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 America The Threat to Classrooms andLibraries. London The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1979