Persuasive Censorship Research Paper

     Since this country was founded, we have had a set of unalienable rights that our constitution guarantees us to as Americans. One of the most important rights that is mentioned in our constitution is the right to free speech. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the

Although we, as citizens of this country, are guaranteed freedom of speech and press by the first amendment, we are encouraged to “watch what we say”. In order to avoid unnecessary violence and to keep people from being offended, it is recommended the certain things be censored. While many may look at this censorship as a well-needed percussion it can reversely be seen as going against one's first amendment rights, in itself causing controversy.

Censorship is a concept with several different meanings. To each individual censorship has its own meaning. Is it a violation of our rights or is it a protection for our well being? Censorship in the generic sense refers to the suppression of information, ideas, or opinions. It occurs in all forms of communication from technological media to print media. Each society, culture, or individual's belief is violated by the codes of censorship that our society instills.

All of us are being censored in one way or another. Having something censored refers to the act of preventing someone from actually knowing what it is that is being censored. Multiple resources, such as Fahrenheit 451 (F-451), The Truman Show by Peter Weir, and Our Society, include details on how censorship can limit free thought, stifle creativity, and cause society to become ignorant. Let us start by observing that censorship is being demonstrated to us at the moment through the limitation of free thought. Truman shows this because he thinks that his thoughts are being controlled by a film crew.

One 's surroundings ultimately impact their thought process and decisions. In order to spread ideas, people often look to the media. However, individuals ideas can only spread as long as freedom of expression is present and the element of fear is not. When individuals do not have this freedom or they have a fear of sharing their opinions, they filter or censor their work. The idea of censorship is a prominent element of today’s society and is apparent throughout history. Examples of censorship include the banning of books, movie ratings, music lyrics and governmental attempts to control the press and the media. Governments often use censorship with the goal of controlling the

Censorship is the act of filtering what an audience of something hears and sees. This is an effective method for mothers to protect their children from being exposed to things they do not fully understand, however it can be harmful once it is put into the hands of the government, because it crosses some moral and ethical lines. It violates the people’s right to freedom of expression. It would also make it much simpler to hide information from the people or to give them false information in the form of propaganda. Therefore, censorship is both positive and negative and its power should be left in the hands of parents rather than the government.

“Censorship is the process of suppressing something that is considered objectionable or offensive” (Emert 1). In order for a work to become censored, some authority figure imposes restrictions that establish what would be and would not be allowed to be put in front of the public for people to read. The standards those in authority base their restrictions off of are the standards set by the publishers, producers, and agencies of that work. Censorship is something that affects many people especially in the school system; it normally causes tensions to rise. This is because someone feels that their First Amendment rights have been violated. This most frequently happens in the school system because parents, students, teachers, and or staff find a work offensive in some way and try to get it removed. They bring it to the school board, and if severe enough, the case is brought before a judge in court. In most cases the person or group that tries to get the work censored, loses the case. In some cases, the person trying to censor does win. According to most school boards, they would say that students have their full First Amendment rights, but that is not always the case. When it comes to the Freedom of Expression, most schools find some way to censor, books, and articles especially.

“Book Banning” may seem like an issue of the past, but, in fact, it is still a very pertinent issue in the U.S. today. These classic books have been banned at one time or another: Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Huckleberry Finn, The Grapes of Wrath, The Harry Potter series. You’re probably wondering how these, extremely famous, books can be so censored in America today. There are many reasons that are given in regards to book censorship. For instance, language or profanity, violence, sexual explicitness, or “uncomfortable” topics, such as rape and race relations. Christian groups have requested that a countless number of books, with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Queer (LGBTQ+) themes, be taken out of schools and libraries The banning and censorship of books can happen in many places and ways; taking them off school reading lists, or even out of libraries and bookstores.

In a perfect world, student publications wouldn’t be censored, but as many people know, the world is far from perfect. Censorship is an unfortunate reality for many student publications across the nation and although it is perfectly legal for them to be censored, many advisors and publications staff members are unhappy.

Censorship is defined by Caso as the suppression of speech or any other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive politically incorrect as determined by the government or any other control body (3). Censorship may be justified from the conservative view whereby the free speech can be maltreated where it undermines the customary principles and communal solidity as withheld by a particular community.

Censorship may be protection from inappropriate materials, but it also limits free speech. For the limitation of free speech, it is reasonable why people are emphatically against censorship. It is understood that there is a need to filter some of the materials released in today’s society, but too much is being done by people who have no right meddling with everyone’s rights. Civilization has always been plagued by a never ending battle being fought over what is deemed right and wrong. In today’s culture, censorship oppresses everything in the media. From movies and music to television and even news stories, most of the content viewed today has been filtered one way or another. Restrictions have been in place since early societies have been

Many students, parents and teachers may think this is a bad thing but they don’t understand that censoring some things may have some benefits rather than being all bad.

If it is uncomfortable to read and discuss, so be it. Most things that matter deeply are.” -USA Today. Today Censorship also affects more than the children though. It really affects everyone equally. It allows the government to have too much control over what we learn and know. What if we lived in a dystopian society. For example, if you’ve ever seen the movie or read the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, the city kept everyone from learning about the world’s past and why they have to obey their rules and only their rules and do whatever job they assign them. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label controversial views. Most people believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. Another touchy topic about they types of censorship we have is open religion. We have the Freedom of Religion. But many schools don’t allow religious practices, teachings, or even how they dress. What’s wrong with anyone expressing their religion and how they think of God peacefully and freely? America is

A nation’s secrets and citizen are kept safe through censorship. Furthermore, censorship is implemented to keep children’s growing minds safe and keep them from the darkness that can be encountered on the Internet. All things considered, censorship may seem dictatorial, but it is only imposed for the world’s greater good. Perhaps if mankind weren’t so prone to error, then maybe there wouldn’t even be the

Imagine if you couldn’t watch that movie, read that book, or play that video game because someone said you couldn’t or shouldn’t.Shouldn’t that be you or your parents decision and not anyone else's? This is what you call Censorship. If we have Censorship in place we’re forcing teenagers and students to run away from reality where we have to face our problems and the messed up cruel world that’s out there. Students and Teenagers are going to be exposed to everything that censorship is trying to protect them from no matter what; therefore, censorship is useless in the public sphere.