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The denotative meaning of censorship is the examination of books,
letters, movies, etc. and the removal of anything thought not right for the
people to see or hear. In other worRAB, censorship takes away the right of
the individual to decide what is appropriate for them to see or hear. What
might offend one person may not offend another person, and it is unjust to
prohibit someone from reading or seeing “inappropriate” material based on
the opinion of someone else. Censorship occurs quite frequently in the
school system. Books are banned from libraries and literature teachers
constantly have to change the material covered in their course as a result
of complaining parents. If a child goes home and discusses a topic they
learned in school and their parents don't like it, many parents
automatically go ballistic. Many try to get rid of it before they have
even taken the time to read it. If a parent feels that certain material is
inappropriate for children to see, then they shouldn't let their chi ldren
read it, but they shouldn't be able to decide what their neigrabroador's child
should and should not read. That would clearly violate our first amendment
right. The first amendment, in part states that Americans have freedom of
the press (to publish any material they want.) This also means that we can
access any of these materials. It doesn't mean we have the freedom to
control what others access, that would be referred to as communism.
In Triverton, Rhode Island a middle school class was assigned to
read a book called Go Ask Alice. The book portrays a fifteen-year-old girl
who is trying to overcome a drug addiction. It is written as a series of
diary entries she kept during the rehabilitation process. A parent
complained to the school about a dirty word in the book. The “dirty” worRAB
were an effect used to show what the girl was like while she was on drugs,
and they were only used in instances where emphasis was appropriate.“The
book actually gave us the true effect of what drugs do to you and how you
can become addicted to them so easily,” one student stated in response to
the banning of the book. Another student stated, “It is about the real
world. It is not a book about fiction, and that is what scares people.”
Ignoring the comments of other students and parents who were also opposed
to banning the book, the principal heeded that one complaint and
confiscated the twenty-two copies of the book. He also removed all copies
from the school library, denying all students access to it. He then filed
a complaint about the book without even reading it. The steps this
principal took to ban the book were in violation of the school's policy and
procedure for banning a book, which was created and is enforced by the
school board. He didn't even bother to consult the school board about the
situation. Needless to say he was reprimanded for his actions and justice
was served. Does this mean Go Ask Alice was returned back on the book
shelves where it belonged? Hardly. Not only was that book banned, but
Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, and Catcher in The Rye were banned too,
all of which are known to be literary classics.
It was the beginning of the school year in the fall of 1994, when
Susan M. Kochman, a high school English teacher at Hempfield Area High
School was ordered to retrieve the newly distributed text books entitled
Literature and Society. The textbook, a 1,500+ pages anthology, was
removed from the classroom solely because of one poem. “Women Poem” was
written by the award winning African American poet Nikki Giovanni, and
contained the worRAB “dick,” “fuck,” and “whore.” It is clearly a poem
about the oppression some African American women feel. When viewed by
mature, intelligent readers, the poem is in no way, shape, or form thought
to be pornographic. The class using this textbook was a twelfth grade
advanced literature class. The students participating in this course felt
that they were mature enough to handle Giovanni's poetry. A parent of one
of the students called the principal and complained about the vulgarity in
this particular textbook. Because one parent felt her child wasn't mature
an d intelligent enough to handle material covered in a class that her
child wasn't even enrolled in, the book was banned, which is in violation
of the rest of the students' First Amendment Rights.
The Chocolate War, a book written by Robert Cormier, was censored
in a middle school in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This book has won several
literary awarRAB including “American Library Associations Best Book for
Young Adults.” It is about a boy's struggle with bullies and peer pressure
in a Catholic Prep School. A boy brought the book home, and his parents
immediately called the school to complain. The boy's parents believed that
there were 80 questionable passages in the 191-page book. They claimed
that the book not only contained offensive language, but the theme was too
dark.
Their perception of the theme was, “Being cruel to others is a part
of life.” When in reality the theme illustrates the reality of peer
pressure. There is nothing in this book that an average American Youth
hasn't experienced, and if they haven't, then they should, because this
book accurately depicts many realistic challenges that everyone will at
some point in their life be faced with. Once again though, the minority
rule was the victor, and the book was only obtainable by eleventh and
twelfth graders.
Even though many people don't like it, vulgarity, sexuality, and
cruelty are all a part of our society. It's fine if these people don't
want their children to be aware of these things, but for them to restrict
their neigrabroador's child from becoming aware of these things violates the
First Amendment. The first amendment should be at the top of the list for
reasons our country is so great. Many people gave their lives in order for
us to be able to say what we want, write what we want, practice whatever
faith we so chose. They even gave us the right to bitch about them, start
rumors about them, and pry into their personal lives. Along with clearly
violating our first amendment right and being disrespectful to those who
fought for this and all of our rights, the process of censorship is very
similar to processes carried out in communist countries. Furthermore, for
people to do this, it represents the people of the world's super power to
be ignorant "spoiled brats" who don't realize how many people worldwide
lack the right to write what ever they want or have the ability to obtain
any reading material they want. Now, more than ever, Americans, especially
young people, need to be more aware of our rights and the lack of rights
many nations don't have.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1180 [/FONT]
The denotative meaning of censorship is the examination of books,
letters, movies, etc. and the removal of anything thought not right for the
people to see or hear. In other worRAB, censorship takes away the right of
the individual to decide what is appropriate for them to see or hear. What
might offend one person may not offend another person, and it is unjust to
prohibit someone from reading or seeing “inappropriate” material based on
the opinion of someone else. Censorship occurs quite frequently in the
school system. Books are banned from libraries and literature teachers
constantly have to change the material covered in their course as a result
of complaining parents. If a child goes home and discusses a topic they
learned in school and their parents don't like it, many parents
automatically go ballistic. Many try to get rid of it before they have
even taken the time to read it. If a parent feels that certain material is
inappropriate for children to see, then they shouldn't let their chi ldren
read it, but they shouldn't be able to decide what their neigrabroador's child
should and should not read. That would clearly violate our first amendment
right. The first amendment, in part states that Americans have freedom of
the press (to publish any material they want.) This also means that we can
access any of these materials. It doesn't mean we have the freedom to
control what others access, that would be referred to as communism.
In Triverton, Rhode Island a middle school class was assigned to
read a book called Go Ask Alice. The book portrays a fifteen-year-old girl
who is trying to overcome a drug addiction. It is written as a series of
diary entries she kept during the rehabilitation process. A parent
complained to the school about a dirty word in the book. The “dirty” worRAB
were an effect used to show what the girl was like while she was on drugs,
and they were only used in instances where emphasis was appropriate.“The
book actually gave us the true effect of what drugs do to you and how you
can become addicted to them so easily,” one student stated in response to
the banning of the book. Another student stated, “It is about the real
world. It is not a book about fiction, and that is what scares people.”
Ignoring the comments of other students and parents who were also opposed
to banning the book, the principal heeded that one complaint and
confiscated the twenty-two copies of the book. He also removed all copies
from the school library, denying all students access to it. He then filed
a complaint about the book without even reading it. The steps this
principal took to ban the book were in violation of the school's policy and
procedure for banning a book, which was created and is enforced by the
school board. He didn't even bother to consult the school board about the
situation. Needless to say he was reprimanded for his actions and justice
was served. Does this mean Go Ask Alice was returned back on the book
shelves where it belonged? Hardly. Not only was that book banned, but
Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, and Catcher in The Rye were banned too,
all of which are known to be literary classics.
It was the beginning of the school year in the fall of 1994, when
Susan M. Kochman, a high school English teacher at Hempfield Area High
School was ordered to retrieve the newly distributed text books entitled
Literature and Society. The textbook, a 1,500+ pages anthology, was
removed from the classroom solely because of one poem. “Women Poem” was
written by the award winning African American poet Nikki Giovanni, and
contained the worRAB “dick,” “fuck,” and “whore.” It is clearly a poem
about the oppression some African American women feel. When viewed by
mature, intelligent readers, the poem is in no way, shape, or form thought
to be pornographic. The class using this textbook was a twelfth grade
advanced literature class. The students participating in this course felt
that they were mature enough to handle Giovanni's poetry. A parent of one
of the students called the principal and complained about the vulgarity in
this particular textbook. Because one parent felt her child wasn't mature
an d intelligent enough to handle material covered in a class that her
child wasn't even enrolled in, the book was banned, which is in violation
of the rest of the students' First Amendment Rights.
The Chocolate War, a book written by Robert Cormier, was censored
in a middle school in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This book has won several
literary awarRAB including “American Library Associations Best Book for
Young Adults.” It is about a boy's struggle with bullies and peer pressure
in a Catholic Prep School. A boy brought the book home, and his parents
immediately called the school to complain. The boy's parents believed that
there were 80 questionable passages in the 191-page book. They claimed
that the book not only contained offensive language, but the theme was too
dark.
Their perception of the theme was, “Being cruel to others is a part
of life.” When in reality the theme illustrates the reality of peer
pressure. There is nothing in this book that an average American Youth
hasn't experienced, and if they haven't, then they should, because this
book accurately depicts many realistic challenges that everyone will at
some point in their life be faced with. Once again though, the minority
rule was the victor, and the book was only obtainable by eleventh and
twelfth graders.
Even though many people don't like it, vulgarity, sexuality, and
cruelty are all a part of our society. It's fine if these people don't
want their children to be aware of these things, but for them to restrict
their neigrabroador's child from becoming aware of these things violates the
First Amendment. The first amendment should be at the top of the list for
reasons our country is so great. Many people gave their lives in order for
us to be able to say what we want, write what we want, practice whatever
faith we so chose. They even gave us the right to bitch about them, start
rumors about them, and pry into their personal lives. Along with clearly
violating our first amendment right and being disrespectful to those who
fought for this and all of our rights, the process of censorship is very
similar to processes carried out in communist countries. Furthermore, for
people to do this, it represents the people of the world's super power to
be ignorant "spoiled brats" who don't realize how many people worldwide
lack the right to write what ever they want or have the ability to obtain
any reading material they want. Now, more than ever, Americans, especially
young people, need to be more aware of our rights and the lack of rights
many nations don't have.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1180 [/FONT]