Heather Hewitt
Censorship and Freedom
Debates have been around since the beginning of time and they will continue to
be around until the end of time. One of the biggest debates we have seen over the
centuries is the debate on censorship. The word ‘censorship’ comes from the word
‘censor’ and according to Dictionary.com the word censor means, “An official who
examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs,
letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on
moral, political, military, or other grounds.” There are many reasons censorship for to be
around and those reasons are television, music, art, books, and movies. Censorship allows
free speech, however at times that speech can be limited. Some people support
censorship, some do not support censorship. It depends on what each person believes is
appropriate to see and hear. Censorship does not allow people unlimited access to words,
or unlimited free speech. If things are being censored, does that make the first
amendment void? If people are able take away the freedoms that the public has, the right
to say and write what we want, then isn’t America just like every other country that has
censorship? It seems to be the same as every other government that tells people what is
acceptable and what is not. When the first amendment was introduced, they wanted
America to be different from other countries. The government did not want rules and
guidelines for what people could say, however, the government that we have today has a
hard time giving all that freedom to the press.
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On the topic of individuality and the impact censorship has on it, art is also caught
in the crossfire. Art is something to be seen as beautiful and artists express themselves
through their art. “So whether or not art that’s exhibited in a public building is considered
‘public art,’ the agency in charge of the building should not have the power to reject the
words because they are deemed ‘blasphemous,’ ‘subversive,’ ‘sexually explicit,’ or
otherwise ‘offensive’” (Heins, 2). If censorship exists in the art world, what would be left
of it? “The same issues rear their heads when instead of funding an exhibit, film festival,
or repertory theater, a government body simply decides to make public property
unavailable for art. In Fairfax County, Virginia, for example, local arts council has
extensive guidelines limiting what can be shown in a public building. Banned are ‘nudes,
weaponry, drug paraphernalia, and works which reflect violence, religious scenes,
political expression, or unpatriotic subjects,’ one might well ask: What’s left—ducks and
trees?” (Heins, 2) If people cannot exhibit their art because someone disagrees with it,
then how will people express what they feel or how they perceive things? Artists may not
be able to tell the world how they feel through words. If the only way they know how to
express themselves is through art and their art is banned from being exhibited they may
give up and think they aren’t good enough to be displayed. What the art boards are telling
future artists is that your work will be displayed if it meets the ‘standards’ of whoever is
in charge at the time.
Books are also victims of censorship. Libraries and school boards are trying to
remove many of the classics from their bookshelves; there are a few:
James and the Giant Peach
Harry Potter
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The Catcher in the Rye
A Light in the Attic
Of Mice and Men
To Kill a Mocking Bird
These are only a few books being challenged by some schools and libraries. “No one
whoever they may be should dictate what information is available to everyone.” (Krug, 3)
Books are a source of learning and a source of knowledge. Books are often censored if
they have bad language, but that does not stop a book from being a great book, or having
a positive influence on someone. “We have a responsibility to society and the community
to provide a broad spectrum of information, we need to fulfill everyone’s information
needs” (Krug, 3). Everyone has different tastes in what they read; some like horror and
some like romance. If these books are censored for being sexually explicit, or too brutal,
then those who read these books are the ones who are suffering. Schools are censoring
more and more books. The schools are trying to get books with any sort of violence,
vulgarity, or racism, out of their libraries because they do not want the kids reading that
kind of material. A lot of our history is based on racism and violence. It is understandable
that some books have no reason to be in elementary or middle schools, but by the time
kids get to high school they have the ability to make their on decisions when it comes to
what they want to read. There is no reason to give young children a head start when it
comes to violence and vulgarity. Charles McCain says, “Since no one can agree on what
books should be banned, no books should be banned or censored.” That is a completely
logical point, if people are not able to agree which books should be banned, no book
should be banned. “And nowhere is the debate about censorship more likely to inflame
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tempers than in the public schools where parents and teachers are sometimes at odds over
what is proper for impressionable young minds” (Vogt, 1). If young minds are so
impressionable, then what is being said by removing and censoring books and art?
Tolerance is supposed to be what sets this country apart from others. “I think that we
have less tolerance for ideas then we might have, say, five to ten years ago” (Krug, 1). In
contemporary literature there are very few books without a swear word, so are those who
are trying to remove the books going to remove every single book? It is not what is
written, it is the message people get from reading the book.
While on the topic of censorship in schools, school newspapers are also involved
in the controversy on censorship. School newspapers do not need to be censored, because
those who write for the newspaper are serious about what they write. They write about
news that is going on at the school and the community.
Students must be encouraged to participate in the free exchange of ideas
and this will sometimes mean hearing things that are unpopular critical of
school policy. But this should be the start of a debate. In his famous essay,
‘On Liberty,’ John Stuart Mill argued that one of the important reasons to
protect free speech is that, without public scrutiny of ideas, the views
expressed are more likely to be held as prejudices, which lack the rational
grounds supporting them. In other words, if somebody tells me I can’t say
something simply because it’s against the rules, I will never understand
what greater good is served by restricting me. Students should be
encouraged to question the rules and policies at all levels, because sooner
or later they will be expected to make decisions at the polls, where they
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will help determine the future of our country. Policies that dogmatically
restrict speech will rob students of this opportunity. Freedom of
expression is valued in our society because it is the only means to ensure
that ideas-both good and bad-are not stifled. This is a lesson you can never
be too young to learn. (Bosley, 1,2)
Students must be able to learn from their own experiences when it comes to writing and
discovery. School newspapers are a lot about debate, and if the principal or school board
says they cannot write about something, then the board or principal is taking away the
right to issues that people face every day. “School boards and administrators should not
be afraid of an uncensored student press. The freedom I advocate is not a freedom
unfettered and without responsibility, it is a freedom to make mistakes and if mistakes are
made to pay for them after the fact” (Abrams, 3). The students who are writing will
inevitably make mistakes, but they will learn from those mistakes and they will not keep
making the same ones over and over again. When the leaders of today tell the leaders of
tomorrow what they can and cannot say today, the leaders of tomorrow are learning to be
silent and not to voice their own opinions. When the time comes for the leaders of
tomorrow to make the important decisions regarding the future, and they are unsure about
how to go about taking a stand up for themselves and for what they believe, then they
certainly will not be able to stand up for the people. High school is supposed to be about
individuality, how can one have individuality when they are supposed to act like
everyone else? In Florida, the Dade County School District was the very first major
school district in the country to promise student journalists the right to print without
censorship or prior administrative review. If the schools in that district have not gone
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down in flames for giving their students free reign, maybe other school districts might
give it a try.
As the school boards are trying to censor schools, the government is censoring the
people.
During the Persian Gulf War U.S. military briefers repeatedly showed
images of laser-guided bombs unerringly hitting their targets. The
Pentagon said during the first week the Air Force missions had an 80
percent success rate, but did not tell journalists until after the war that only
8.8 percent of the 84,200 tons of bombs dropped had precision-guidance
mechanisms. Former Pentagon analyst Pierre Sprey later told a House
committee that for every bomb that hit a target, ‘there were maybe70 or 75
misses that nobody was showing,’ for a success rate of less than 1.5
percent. This revealed ‘just how shameless censoring of the results for the
guided weapons was during this war,’ Sprey testified. (Sharkey, 2)
The government is hard-pressed when it comes to the public and what they can tell us at
that time. It seems that the government, for the majority of the time, does not set out with
the intent to lie and
omit things from the public,
however, in some
instances things can go awry
and during those
times, the government keeps
the whole story, and it
is kept secret. Censorship in
journalism, especially
political journalism, keeps
journalists in line
when they write. A lot of
what the government
hides has to deal with wars,
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and death rates, these are things that people need to know since it does not just deal with
the government. “The Pentagon did not want to disclose that planning for the invasion of
Grenada was so hurried that some troops were given tourist maps. During the Grenada
invasion the Pentagon did not reveal that U.S. planes mistakenly bombed a mental
hospital until journalists discovered the incident by interviewing medical personnel on
the island. In Panama, the Pentagon was reluctant to correct it’s statement that U.S.
troops found 50 kilos of cocaine in a building used by Gen. Manuel Noriega, even after
lab results showed the substance was farina, cornmeal, and lard” (Sharkey, 2). It is often
argued that people do not need to be told more than necessary when it comes to overseas
affairs. A lot of the time the government deals in classified materials, usually, that deals
with war and international affairs. They can have their classified materials, but when
people start dying or
things start going south, is that not
the time when the
public gets included? The
government
continuously tries to avoid letting
articles become
printed because they could
interfere with plans or end up embarrassing them. Things seem to have a way of coming
out eventually. Censorship, when it comes to military plans and strategy is
understandable, if those are out in the open they could get into the wrong hands and
people could die.
By censoring art, books, and newspapers it prevents people from enjoying the
freedoms of speech that was promised to us so long ago. There is no point of writing if
people cannot write what they want or what makes them happy. The majority of people
do not want to be limited to candy-coated information; they do not appreciate being
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coddled. People, now, are not afraid to speak their minds, it seems that they have the
confidence in themselves to say what they want and to take a stand for what they believe.
“Just the fact that people are no longer afraid to open their mouths I consider to be a
wonderful step forward” (Krug, 3). Censorship has a way of telling people how to be.
“You know something Ohio, it’s not easy to break out of your comfort zone, people will
tear you down, tell you that you shouldn’t have bothered in the first place, but let me tell
you something, there’s not much of a difference between a stadium of cheering fans and
an angry crowd screaming abuse at you. They’re both just making a lot of noise. How to
take it, is up to you. Convince yourself they’re cheering for you, you do that and some
day they will” (Sylvester). Is this not why censoring impacts artists and writers? It is hard
to do something that someone is passionate about when there is always something to stop
people from being themselves and expressing themselves.
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Works Cited
Abrams, Marc. "Don't Mess with the Student Press." (1994): 1-7. Web. 5 Apr 2010.
Bosley, Aneurin. "Censorship in Schools Sends the Wrong Message about Democracy."
(2001): 1-2. Web. 5 Apr 2010.
Dictionary.com.Web.21 Apr 2010
Sharkey, Jacqueline E. "War, Censorship and the First Amendment." (2001): 1-3. Web. 6
Apr 2010.
Sylvester, Sue. Glee. Episode 4. 8 Apr 2010
Vogt, Jenny. "Censored." (1990): 1-5. Web. 4 Apr 2010
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