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Member Advice Summary
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The pros and cons of "censorship"
by Almacks | May 10 '00
"Censorship" is a buzzword. It is a word used to evoke a viseral negative reaction. "How DARE they tell me what I can see!" is supposed to be the usual reaction. Quite often, this is with good reason. Repressive governments have long...Return to opinion
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Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power. (Reply to this comment)
by makelovenotwar
I, personally, am I child. I'm writing a persuasive speech (assigned because of reading Julius Caesar in my tenth grade English class) against banning books in schools and other places. I don't support censorship, unless it is of something like pornography, in which case the person exposing themselves to such a thing is probably messed up in the first place. I've grown up in such a sheltered environment that without the media, especially books, I would still think that the biggest challenge for anyone in the world is getting a job with a starting salary of a hundred thousand dollars.
Now, of course little kids shouldn't be watching Saving Private Ryan or whatever. In fact, I don't think I could handle it. But the important part of that is that I made the decision myself. If a kid becomes corrupt because of watching too much t.v., it is the fault of the lack of positive knowledge to balance it out rather than the actual t.v. program. I can go to school and sit down in first period, and the kid sitting next to me has a few ounces of weed in his backpack. If I see this confirmed as a good thing due to lack of censorship, how is that different than him telling me what a great trip he had last night?
It's impossible to censor something like that, so why not be aware of it before it confronts me in a pressured situation? Kids (I would know) don't get prepared for real life by ignorance. While you shouldn't have to be subjected to the harsh realities of the world at too young an age, it's appropriate for kids to learn what's actually going on out there BEFORE it hits them in the face.
Whether or not I should be "exposed" to heavier topics, they are still there, and will not go away if I pretend they don't exist. If I don't even know what they are, how will I be able to deal with them when the previous generation is all gone?
I'm an avid reader, film-watcher, and magazine-flipper. I can't tell you how many of those books on the banned books list I've read. There are some things that I've seen and heard that I would rather have not known, but they still exist. Despite the number of people I know and am friends with who have surrounded themselves with sex, drugs, alcohol, and violence, I have opted out of that; and I credit that to the fact that I know all sides of the story, from the point of view of my pastor, to the point of view of a friend who gets high every Tuesday, has never met her dad, and whose aunt is a pole dancer.
"Censorship" has become a "dirty word" for a good reason. It causes people to question things and decide things for themselves. If we were not aware that censorship could be a bad thing, we might end up like the people in Nazi-era Germany or the Soviet Union, never realizing that not everything is definite, and we can still affect change. My grandmother has told me that it is good to know everything, absolutely everything, that you can possibly know, because knowledge can never hurt, it can only prepare you. It is your reactions that are the trouble, but they'll be a lot more trouble if we don't know how to react.
Thanks for listening,
From your average sixteen-year-old. :)
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Mar 25 '07
7:15 pm PDT
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ATrice3187 (Reply to this comment)
by atrice3187
While I believe in discretion, I do NOT believe in censorship in any form except in the case of genuine national security.
Walmart does not sell Penthouse is not, IMO, censorship. Film ratings are not censorship. The standards of the Hayes Office were censorship because without the approval of that office films could not be distributed. While I agree that films produced during the Hayes Office era were in general better than those produced today, that does not mean that a self appointed arbiter of what can and cannot be produced made them so.
Parents as censors is an entirely different matter. Children do not enjoy all the rights of society or all the rights that adults do. However, to appy the duty of a parent to a situation involving an adult is paternalism at its worst. I do not need nor do I want the government telling me what I can read or view. The next logical extention of that is the government telling me what I can think.
Frank
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May 10 '00
4:44 pm PDT
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Absolutely Right (Reply to this comment)
by msavere
Too many people cry "Free speech" and "censorship" at the drop of a hat. What they forget is another important right established by the Supreme Court: the "right to be left alone." I will support others rights to create whatever painting they want in their house, but if it is going up on a billboard that everyone can see, there have to be rules. Likewise, if I am paying someone to do something, or the government, I have full rights to establish the terms, as does the government.
Mike
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May 10 '00
8:57 am PDT
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very thouhtful!~ (Reply to this comment)
by miridunn
Agreed! There is a difference between censorship and "house rules". I wish Epinions would learn that when dealing with the myriad complaints regading some very offensive and repellent persons writing here.
Miriam
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May 10 '00
8:41 am PDT
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