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The freedom to Censorship Censorship! ? ! The freedom to read is essential to the democratic way of life. But today, that freedom is under attack. Private groups and public authorities everywhere are working to remove both books and periodicals from sale, to exclude certain books from public schools, to censor and silence magazines and newspapers, and to limit controversial books and periodicals to the general public.
The suppression of reading materials is suppression of creative thought. Books and periodicals are not the only ones being suppressed by pressures to the political and social systems. They are also being brought against the educational system, films, radio, television, and against the graphic and theatre arts. However or whenever these attacks occur, they usually fall at least one of the following categories: Religion War &# 038; Peace (Violence) Sociology &# 038; Race Language Drugs Sex Inappropriate Adolescent Behaviour What is Obscenity? Clearly something hard to talk about constructively.
Obscenity is difficult to discuss honestly. After all, what makes a thing obscene? It is Something too vague perhaps to be defined. Its an elusive term we use, but cant explain. Different people often see things differently. Some see obscenity in nude pictures, statues, paintings, etc.
While others find less obscenity in these things. All the same, obscene isnt the same as wrong or bad. Clearly obscenity is not identical with evil. It only covers a single segment of it. But what is that segment?
A look at the words obscenity and pornography suggests that it is a segment that didnt worry people very much till relatively recently. Though censorship was known in english law quite early on, it wasnt for obscenity but for heresy and sedition. Undue exploitation of sex is what criminal law in Canada prohibits. This is how criminal law defines obscenity. But it is rather vague. It doesnt differentiate between ordinary obscenity and hard-core pornography.
The first denoting the ordinary run of girlie magazines and the second denoting pictures, literature and so on that deal with rape, sadism, masochism, bestiality, necrophilia and other perversions. People tend to object far more to hard-core pornography. Another distinction unfortunately overlooked by our criminal law is the distinction between isolated instances of obscenity and the products of vast commercial enterprise. There has been an increasing trend towards childrens literature that reflects a more realistic approach to the life both fiction and non-fiction, with subjects that include sex, homosexuality, divorce, child abuse, drugs, violence, etc. And they are these realistic books that have people outraged.
In school libraries, the most frequent complaints come from parents about the schools selections. And in public libraries, parents were once again the single greatest source of challenges to materials. The world is filled with obscene things. And it would seem that those parents are just trying to protect their children from the outside world. But does it really help? These day, an average elementary school student knows many things.
They are influenced by a wide range of sources, from television and other forms of media, their environment at home and school, their personality and their background. Why they read does not necessarily mean that they will follow. Literature is a valued source of knowledge for these children, and should not be held back. So rather than applying full censorship, it should be made an age-related censorship.
Many of the complaints that were issued were of the immaturity of the readers. And younger children should be prevented from borrowing material intended for an older age group. Controversial materials should still be held either in reserve stock, available on request, or under a section for parents and teachers who can decide for themselves whether the material is suitable or not. Our would is not perfect.
We are a world filled with violence, sex, racism, etc. Certain literature like hard-core pornography should be censored to the general public. These types of explicit sex truly have no meaning. They degrade the human race by increasing physical, mental and sexual abuse against women, animals, and sometimes against men. These inhuman treatments should not be shown to prevent other potential people from experimenting these acts of disgust. Ordinary obscenity should be censored closely, but with an objective view.
They may also cause an increase in the violence against women, so they must be reduced and kept out of reach of the immature readers. To make a tree grow correctly, you must start caring from the very beginning. You must not block its nutrients, water nor sunlight, but allow it to move around a bit. We have a governing social system that mainly frowns upon the violence against women. There should indeed be access to most types of literature, but in varying degrees of freedom, determined not by censorship, but by controlled access. Parents are trying to protect their children from the harsh realities of life, but are they really helping, or hindering?
BibliographThe Censorship Iceberg: The results of a survey of challenges in school and public libraries. By Dr. David Jenkins. School Libraries in Canada.
Fall, 1985. v. 6 n. 1 p 19 - 22 Sanitized textbooks reflect a pious paradise that never was. By June Callwood. The Globe and Mail. March 18, 1987. pA 2 -A 3 Suffer the little children.
By Janet Collins. Books in Canada. October 1991. v. 20 n. 7 p 25 - 27 Court bans humanist books from Alabama public schools. By Robin Toner.
The Globe and Mail. March 5, 1987. pA 10 Censorship in the childrens library. By Rupert Colley. The Junior Bookshelf.
June 1990. v. 54 n. 3 p 121 - 123 Censorship News. Spring 1985. n 20 Limits of criminal law obscenity: a test case. By The Law Reform Commission: working paper no. 1 Censorship: stopping the book banners. By the book and periodical development council.
August 1988. p 1 - 17 The Censorship Iceberg: The results of a survey of challenges in school and public libraries. By Dr. David Jenkins.
School Libraries in Canada. Fall, 1985. v. 6 n. 1 p 19 - 22 Sanitized textbooks reflect a pious paradise that never was. By June Callwood. The Globe and Mail.
March 18, 1987. pA 2 -A 3 Suffer the little children. By Janet Collins. Books in Canada. October 1991. v. 20 n. 7 p 25 - 27 Court bans humanist books from Alabama public schools.
By Robin Toner. The Globe and Mail. March 5, 1987. pA 10 Censorship in the childrens library. By Rupert Colley. The Junior Bookshelf.
June 1990. v. 54 n. 3 p 121 - 123 Censorship News. Spring 1985. n 20 Limits of criminal law obscenity: a test case. By The Law Reform Commission: working paper no. 1 Censorship: stopping the book banners.
By the book and periodical development council. August 1988. p 1 - 17
Free research essays on topics related to: violence against women, criminal law, hard core pornography, law reform, protect their children
Research essay sample on Hard Core Pornography Violence Against Women
