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Nobody wants their rights taken away. Nobody wants to be censored or to have their audience limited. Censorship is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. Direct censorship may or may not be legal, depending on the location, content or type of censorship. Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and frequently a claim of necessity is made to balance conflicting rights and determine what can or cannot be censored. We may ask ourselves, what kind of person, people or organization would choose to employ censorship of rights or expression? The rationale for censorship is different for various types of information censored:
A censored telegram with sensitive information blacked out. Throughout history, societies have practiced various forms of censorship in the belief that the community, as represented by the government, is responsible for molding the individual. For example, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato advocated various degrees of censorship in The Republic, believing that to have a good society we must promote good material and suppress bad material. The content of important texts and the spreading of knowledge were tightly controlled in ancient Chinese society (as is much information in modern China). For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church’s List of Prohibited Books proscribed much literature as contrary to the church’s teachings. The Republic‘s overall argument for censorship combines a particular idea of morality with authoritarian politics. The argument is as follows:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates media content in the United States today, and its decisions and policies have been challenged many times in the last century. Books often run into issues with censorship, particularly in regards to younger readers. One of the most obvious places where book censorship comes into play are public schools. Conflict ensues when parents believe that certain school books contain material that is objectionable and should be banned in order to protect their children from exposure to allegedly harmful ideas. Remember that for people, censorship is intended to protect younger minds from materials that they may not be ready for as well as making sure the content is strong and useful. In some instances, school boards have responded by physically removing books from school library shelves. In general, advocates of book banning maintain that censorship is warranted to redress social ills, whereas critics believe that freedom of speech is more important and useful to society than imposing values through censorship. Book banning as a way to remedy social problems was first tested by the Supreme Court in Board of Education v. Pico (1982). In this case, parents objected to eleven books in the high school library, most of which were subsequently removed by the school board. The nine books included Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.; Naked Ape, by Desmond Morris; Down These Mean Streets, by Piri Thomas, and Best Short Stories of Negro Writers, edited by Langston Hughes.
High school senior Steven Pico brought the case to debate the authority of local school boards to censor material in the interest of protecting students. The case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that it is unconstitutional for public school boards to abridge students’ First Amendment rights by banning books. Although school boards have the power to determine which books should sit on library shelves, they do not have the authority to censor what students read on their own time. Section Objective: Through discussion and theatrical exercises, students will explore reasons for censorship, articulating what they feel are good and bad reasons for silencing or banning certain messages or presentations. In exploring what has been censored, they’ll also be invited to explore the worth of the media they consume and the positive impacts it has had on their lives. Discussion Questions:
Citations / Further Exploration: Exercise: The Censor Has SpokenSubject(s): English, Theatre, History Goals: Students will be able to:
Supplies: Paper, pencils, book excerpts Discussion:
Set Up: Students are divided up into groups.
Discussion:
“If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.” – John F. Kennedy
“Something will be offensive to someone in every book, so you’ve got to fight it.” ― Judy Blume
“Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.” ― Judy Blume
“Yet when books are run out of school classrooms and even out of school libraries as a result of this idea, I’m never much disturbed not as a citizen, not as a writer, not even as a schoolteacher . . . which I used to be. What I tell kids is, Don’t get mad, get even. Don’t spend time waving signs or carrying petitions around the neighborhood. Instead, run, don’t walk, to the nearest non-school library or to the local bookstore and get whatever it was that they banned. Read whatever they’re trying to keep out of your eyes and your brain, because that’s exactly what you need to know.” ― Stephen King
“Censors don’t want children exposed to ideas different from their own. If every individual with an agenda had his/her way, the shelves in the school library would be close to empty.” ― Judy Blume
“Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.” – Christian Johann Heinrich Heine
Exercise: Censored CasesSubject(s): English, Theatre, History Goals: Students will be able to:
Supplies: Computer, internet access, case background information Set Up:
Group 1: West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943). West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).
Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969).
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989).
United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968).
Bethel School District #43 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986).
Exercise: Expression BoothSubject(s): English, Theatre Goals: Students will be able to:
Supplies: Table, chairs, and whatever students elect to bring. Set Up:
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