Censorship
Selena Nuutinen
Mrs. Hill
1st hour
November 12, 2000

     ?Censorship... a system under which official censors must give permission before
communications of a specified type can lawfully be made? (Wilgoren, 1). Recently
censorship has become a major problem in our society. Censorship should not be banned
on books. People should not be told they cannot read a book. ?Unfortunately history has
shown that words can be used for ill as well as for good, to destroy lives as well as to
enhance them? (Steffens, 9) Words and reading them gives us a better understanding of
other peoples views. Censorship should not be placed on books.
      Every person can find a particular section in a book that they do not agree is
appropriate. ?Many local censorship incidents still consist of one parent complaining
about one book? (Fege, 10). ?In Colorado kids were eager to hear the fascinating tales of
Harry Potter. That all stopped when people thought the book was evil and thought that it
did not belong in the schools.? (1) How can people take a book that a child enjoys based
on their views? In schools some kids may or may not have read the book Huckleberry
Finn. ?Huckleberry Finn is not only one of the best books ever written in this country but
it?s also the most influential? (West, 43). Reading books gives people a sense of what
history is all about. ?If black kids are never taught Huckleberry Finn they are put at a real
disadvantage if they ever go on to study literature at the college level? (43). ?You can get
all hyped up about the fact that the word ?nigger? appears in the book over two hundred
times, but that was what black Americans were called in the 1840?s, which when the book
takes place? (43). Some people might take the word nigger in an unfashionable way. It
was never meant to do any harm. ?Even though Huck calls Jim ?nigger,? he treats him
like a friend? (43). Slaves were known as niggers at that point of history. ?Black kids
need to know the history behind the word so that when they hear it on the playground
they know where it comes from? (43). ?They (parents) might not want their own children
to declare their own independence in the way that Huck does at the end of the book, and
perhaps this is one of the reasons why they don?t want the book taught in the schools?
(44). One alternative from the banning of any book is to provide a different book. ?... the
school system offered separate reading classes at each grade level for youngsters whose
parents objected to Impressions? (Lueker, 18+). ?Protecting the freedom to learn is much
easier if a school system had adopted formal selection policies to set academic standards
and spell out goals...? (Fege, 10-12). Everyone has different views on different books, if
every person listens and works together then the freedom of learning will no longer be
harmed.
     Choice is one thing everyone is entitled to. ?The freedom to read or teach any
publication is being threatened by well-organized community groups, state legislatures and
the courts? (10-12). Members that decide wether a book should be censored or not are
people of the school board, government officials or actual censors. The people of these
boards meet and decide if the book meets certain standards that do not discriminate. ?The
censors are moving against public schools when they teach anything that conflicts with
their views? (10-12). ?Using their own criteria of acceptability, today?s censors are often
more interested in teaching children what to think, than how to think? (Sipe, 2). Every
person may not agree with what the censors views. That may lead to arguments. ?The
freedom to read or teach any publication is being threatened by well-organized community
groups, state legislatures and the courts? (Fege, 10-12). There is always an alternative.
?... A teacher at the Windsor Forest High School required seniors to obtain permission
slips before they could read Hamlet, MacBeth, or King Lear. The teacher?s school board
had pulled the books from class reading lists, citing ?adult language? and references to sex
and violence? (Ockerbloom, 1-7). If people stand up to these censors it could possibly
make a difference if they hear others points of views.
     ?The first amendment to the constitution forbids congress to abridge the freedom
of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition
the government for a redress of grievances? (Wilgoren, 1). The first amendment is to
protect freedom of speech. We are allowed to say what we like. Instead of saying what
they feel, people can write it. That is a person?s constitutional right. ?Congress shall
make no law abridging... freedom of speech, or of the press? (Steffens, 30). The
government should not take any part of putting ban on books.      
     Putting a ban on books is putting academic freedom under attack (Fege, 10). We
should not take books away. Books that teach history and allows our imagination to soar
beyond our wildest dreams. There is always an alternative to a book someone does not
like. They can choose not to read that particular book. Everyone can find one thing
wrong with a book, but one person should not ruin the chance of reading that book in the
future for everyone. Banning of books should not take place.

Works Cited

Fege, Arnold F. ?Censorship in the Schools: Parents can
     Protect the Freedom to Learn.? PTA Today March 1991:
     10-12.
Lueker, Donna Harrington. ?Book Battles.? American School
     Board Journal Feb. 1991: 18+
Ockerbloom, John Mark. The on-line Books Page Presents
     Banned Books On-Line. 13. Oct. 2000.
     http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.htm
     l.
Sipe, Rebecca Bowers. ?Don?t Confront Censors, Prepare for
     Them.? Education Digest Feb. 1996: 42-46.
Steffens, Bradley. Censorship. San Diego: Lucent Books,
     1996.
West, Mark I. ?Some Thoughts on Censorship and the Teaching
     of Huckleberry Finn.? Multi-Cultural Review December.
     1996: 42-44.
Wilgoren, Jodi. ?Don?t Give Us Little Wizards, The
     Anti-Potter Parents Cry.? New York Times 1 Nov.
1999:1.

     Thesis: Censorshipe should not be placed on
books.
I. Unfairness
     A. Listening
          1. Parents Views
          2. Kids Views
          3. Teachers Views
     B. Freedom of Learning
          1. Expressing Views
          2. Trust
II. Choice     
     A. Kids and Parents
     B. People     
          1. School Boards
          2. Government Officials
          3. Censors
III. Constitutional Rights
     A. What it states
     B. How we can change Censorship by an alternative