Censorship Books Essay, Research Paper

The freedom to read is essential to the democratic way of life (Censorship News

1996). Today our freedom is under attack. Private groups such as mothers and

public authorities everywhere are working to remove both books and periodicals

from sale, to exclude certain books from public schools, to censor and silence

magazines and newspapers, and to limit controversial books from the general

public. The suppression of reading materials is suppression of creative

thoughts. Books are not the only one that is being suppressed by pressure to the

political and social systems. They are also being brought against the

educational system, radios, internet, television and against the Theater arts.

However or whenever these attacks occur, they usually fall at least in one of

these categories. Language Sex Drugs Society and Race Inappropriate Adolescent

Behavior What is Obscenity? Clearly something hard to discuss. Obscenity is

difficult to discuss honestly. Point being, what makes a thing obscene? is it

something too vague to be defined. It’s an elusive term we use, but cant

explain. Different people often see things differently. Some see obscenity in

nude pictures, statues, paintings, etc. While others find less obscenity in

those things. All the same, obscene isn’t the same as wrong or bad . Clearly

obscenity is not identical with evil. It only covers a single segment of it. But

what is that segment? A look at the words obscenity and pornography suggest that

it is that it’s a segment that didn’t worry people very much until recently.

Though censorship was known in the English law quite early, it wasn’t for

obscenity but for heresy and sedition. David Jenkins, "Undue exploitation

of sex is what criminal law in Canada prohibits" ( p21) . That is how

criminal law defines obscenity. It doesn’t differentiate between ordinary

obscenity and hard-core pornography. Written by the Law reform, "the first

denoting the ordinary girlie and guy magazines, Literature and so on that deals

with rape, bestiality, and so on People tend far more to hard-core

pornography" (Collins p25). Another distinction unfortunately overlooked by

our criminal law is the distinction between isolated instances of obscenity and

the products of vast commercial enterprise. There has been an increasing trend

towards children’s literature that reflects a more realistic approach of the

life both fiction and non-fiction, with subjects that include sex,

homosexuality, divorce, child abuse, drugs, violence, etc. And they are these

realistic books that have people outraged. In school libraries, the most

frequent complains come from parents "who don’t have nothing better to

do" about the school’s selections. And in the public libraries, parents

were the ones again the single greatest source of challenges to materials. The

world is filled with obscene things. And it would seem that those parents are

just trying to protect their children from outside world. But does it really

help? "These days, the average elementary school student knows many

things" (Collins p27). They are influence by a wide range of sources, from

television , Internet and other forms of media, their environment at home and

school, their personality and their backgrounds. Why they read does not

necessarily mean that they will follow. Literature is a valued source of

knowledge for these children, and should not be held back. So rather than

applying full censorship, it should be made an age-related censorship, even

though I don’t believe in censorship but think that there should be a limit for

pre adolescent children. Many of the complaints that were issued were of the

immaturity of the readers. And younger children should be prevented from

browsing material intended for an older age group. "Controversial materials

should held in reserve stock, available on request, or under section for teacher

who can decide for themselves whether the material is suitable or not"

(Collins p31). Our world is not perfect. We are a world filed with violence,

sex, racism, etc. Certain literature like hard-core pornography should be

censored to the general public. These types of explicit sex and literature truly

have no meaning. They degrade the human race by increasing physical, mental and

sexual abuse against women, animals, and sometimes against men. The inhuman

treatment should not be shown to prevent other potential people from

experimenting these acts. Ordinary obscenity should be censored closely, but

with an objective view. They may also cause an increase in the violence against

women, so they must be reduced and kept out of reach of the immature readers.

"To make a tree grow correctly, you must start caring from the beginning.

You must not block its nutrients, water, nor sunlight, but allow it to move

around a bit" ( Jenkins p29). We have a governing social system that mainly

frowns upon the violence against women and Children. There should indeed be

access to most types of literature, but in varying degrees to freedom,

determined not by censorship, but by controlled access. Parents are trying to

protect their children from the harsh realities of life, but are they really

helping, or hindering.

Dr. Jenkens David : The Censorship Iceberg The result of challenges :n school

and public libraries 1996. p19-34 Comptoms Interactive Encyclopedia copyright

@1996 Collens Janet: Suffer the little children October 1995. p20-33 Censorship

News. Spring 1992. n20 Censorship: stopping the book banners. By the book and

Periodical Development council. August 1993. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

copyright 1993