Censorship in Public Schools: An Opposing Argument Abby A 03/17/09 Writing- P9
"Everyone loves the story of "Little Red Riding Hood," most Americans would say recalling a favorite fairy tale read when they were younger. Well, maybe not everyone. Censorship sometimes goes too far. An illustrated edition of "Little Red Riding Hood" was banned in two California middle schools in 1989. The book shows the heroine taking food and wine to her grandmother. The school districts cited concerns about the use of alcohol in the story (Ockerbloom). Why would you ban a children's book? Actually, there is no appropriate reason to ban any book in America, because there will always be instances where people go too far. Overall, censorship in American public schools infringes upon students' rights to a quality education. For one thing, censorship goes against the rights given by the First Amendment. It is also unjust for one person or group to decide moral standards for everyone. Plus, censorship hinders students from fully learning and creating their own opinions. First off, censorship goes against the rights given by the First Amendment. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 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 (Aliprandini). There is a law against oppressing speech: the supreme law of the land: The U.S. Constitution. In the First Amendment, it is clearly stated that there is no abridging freedom of speech. Banning books is taking away that freedom from the authors and the students who want to read those books. Censorship goes against the law and is taking away freedoms students are supposed to be protected by in America s public schools. Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state is overseen by a strict, central authority that allows little or no deviation from the laws and rules which it imposes
(Aliprandini). By denying citizens a right given to them in constitution, the government creates the same controlling atmosphere as in totalitarian countries even though it claims to be a democracy. Censorship could be just the beginning of oppression. If it continues, it could lead to more extreme methods of suppressing the Constitution. Censorship is teaching students that it is okay for a government to control ideas and opinions. Student Steven Pico of Island Trees, New York remembered quite clearly his reaction when the school board attempted to ban eleven books at his high school. He said how it was hypocritical for the United States to take away the freedom of speech when other countries never, and still do not, have that right written in their own constitutions. "I had been told how books were burned in communist countries and Nazi Germany. I could not believe the hypocrisy of the U.S." he had said (Foerstel 14). The U.S. brags of its freedom, which is such a rarity in other countries. It also scorns communist countries that banned books to prevent their people from the right to their own opinions. When the U.S. goes right around and bans books in their own public schools, they are hypocritically, as Pico puts it, taking away that sought-after freedom we thought we were so lucky to have. Overall, censorship goes against U.S.-granted rights. It takes away rights given by the First Amendment, creates the basis for totalitarian government, and is a hypocritical procedure. One should also not censor school books because it is immoral for someone to decide moral standards for everyone else. "One parent can change the fate of books for hundreds of students just because of [her] beliefs, but not everyone's beliefs are the same complained Tamika Anthony when a parent of her Jacksonville middle school tried to ban Steven King books because the language was found obscene (McGowan). The parent believed that the
material was obscene in the books but, obviously, not everyone felt this way. Everyone has different opinions, and that means that everyone has their own way of deciding what is profane or not. So they will never truly know what is right to censor, and if they do not know what to censor, we cannot righteously ban a book. Also, one lone parent should not be able to ban a book for hundreds of students, as Tamika proclaimed. That opinions could be preventing all those students from something they want to learn. It is immoral for one to force an opinion on somebody else, so censorship is an immoral act. Many school censorship cases involve the Religious Right-often fundamentalist Christians- objecting to materials that contain explicit information about sex and sexual orientation, present evolution as fact, encourage non-christian rituals or practices (such as meditation), discuss witchcraft, or promote a view of the world that is not based on the Bible (Day). American schools contain students of every religion. It is unjust for a book to be banned based on someone else s religious criteria. For example, not all students find witchcraft explicit, they consider fantasy novels exciting to read. By taking away those books, negative opinions are created about the genre, and it leads to schools becoming based off Christian values, which is unconstitutional as public schools are not supposed to support a religion. It is also shoving a belief that is not unanimous into the minds of students who do not share the same religion and is causing their education to be altered. All in all, it is extremely immoral for one group or person to ban a book in a public school based off only their own opinions because not everyone wants to share the fate of censorship or harbor the same beliefs.
Above all, censorship hinders students from learning and creating their own opinions. The Savannah Morning News reported in November 1999 that the teacher's school board had pulled the books, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear from class reading lists, citing "adult language" and references to sex and violence (Ockerbloom). Shakespeare, probably known as the world s best writer, is banned from seniors in high school. When the school board bans great classic books, they are greatly limiting the learning potential of students. Without books like Shakespeare, students will never understand the depth of literature. By not having the chance to fully understand deep literary elements of classic works, the students are prevented from a good education. A parent, Frost, examined the other textbooks used by her children in the first, second, and seventh grades and concluded that none of these Holt readers fostered American Christian values like patriotism and the American family. She was disturbed that the books spoke of minorities, foreigners, environmentalism, and women in nontraditional roles. (Foerstel). This woman has different opinions on the world than others. However, by banning books that support topics like women in nontraditional roles, students will never be able to form their own opinions. They need to learn of such issues at hand from every angle so that they can fully understand and learn from the matter. If they all were forced to accept one side of a topic, like minorities, there would never be an evolution to thought. One person s opinion would be considered the only norm. Everyone would end up in a world where it was normal for woman only to cook and clean because of censorship by people like Frost. No student would learn or draw their own conclusions, and all opinions would be controlled. Censorship is therefore hurting students when they are denied the right to form their own conclusions, experience reality from all sides, and fully understand deep literature.
Censorship clearly infringes upon students right to a quality education. They would be denied their First Amendment rights and become used to the governments controlling what they read, leading to absolute control. Everyone in America has their own rights and can form their own beliefs through any material they want. Also, it is unjust for one person or group to decide the standards for how to censor because everyone has different opinions and beliefs. Plus, censorship prevents students from deeply understanding the points of literature and forming their own conclusions. It also controls how students look at reality and how censorship can form an unrealistic view on life and issues. America was conceived in freedom. America is known for freedom. Censorship in public schools must be stopped to keep from oppression of freedom. Remember, where books burn, people burn. Let all the voices be heard.