Censorship in Schools today

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Censorship in Schools today

• Kate Trefzger
• Alisha Burger

2
What is censorship?

• Censorship is the removal or restriction of
  certain materials by a school system or other
  government organization with the intent of
  withholding information.
• The removal, suppression, or restricted
  circulation of literary, artistic, or educational
  materialsof images, ideas, and informationon
  the grounds that these are morally or otherwise
  objectionable in light of standards applied by
  the censor.

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Why does censorship occur?

• Censorship occurs in schoolswhen materials are
  taken out of the curriculum for ideological,
  religious or other reasons that do not relate to
  educational relativity.
• It occurs when material seems inappropriate or
  portrays a thought or idea that is seen as
  questionable.

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• The first amendment states that school officials
  and community members may not remove materials
  from the classroom simply because of a personal
  objection to the ideas portrayed in the material.
  The school board decision to remove material from
  the classroom must be based on educational
  relevancy.

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Can censorship in schools be a good thing?

• Many agree that censorship to a certain extent
  can be a good thing since there are many
  materials that most people would agree to be
  completely inappropriate for young readers or
  viewers but
• the question is where does censorship stop and
  who gets to decide?

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• Although there is a process for banning books or
  other materials from schools, many schools find
  easier ways to avoid such materials.
• Many will simply not order the material and
  others will avoid the use of the materials if
  they are in the schools.

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Examples of banned books in some school
curriculums and libraries

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck for profanity
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Mya Angelou
  for being anti-white and a rape scene
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark
  Twain for use of the n word
• Harry Potter for witchcraft
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• Daddys Roommate by Michael Willhoite
• Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm
  Grimm
• And many many more!

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Quotes against censorship

• Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify
  oppression of free speech and assembly. Men
  feared witches and burnt women. It is the
  function of speech to free men from the bondage
  of irrational fears.
• The fact is that censorship always defeats its
  own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind
  of society that is incapable of exercising real
  discretion.  Henry Steele Commager
• Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the
  privilege to do so, too.  Voltaire

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Arguments for censorship

• Many believe Hollywood to be a huge influence
  on teenagers and children today and to be the
  cause of many issues in todays society,
  including violence. There have been many appeals
  to Hollywood to use some sort of censorship, or
  to "take modest steps of self-restraint" to make
  television, movies, and music less violent and
  lewd. One example of such an appeal was Steve
  Allens Appeal to Hollywood, an article putting
  pressure on Hollywood to analyze itself.
  Hollywood seems to be unresponsive to appeals
  made by censorship supporters.

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Resources

• http//pages.zdnet.com/trimb/id25.html
• http//712educators.about.com/cs/bannedbooks/a/boo
  kbanning.htm
• http//www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid
  10038
• http//7-12educators.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.
  htm?sitehttp3A2F2Fwww.nytimes.com2Flibrary2F
  cyber2Fnation2F082297nation-list.html
• http//www.jewishworldreview.com/weekly/standard08
  2099.asp