Essay about School Censorship is Detrimental to Education

School Censorship is Detrimental to Education Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Maya Angelou. What do these writers have in common? Sure, they are all great American authors, but there is something else. They are all banned. Censored. Forbidden. Who has not read a book by at least one of these authors? All are great pieces of literature and should be crucial parts of the high school curriculum. School censorship of books is detrimental to the educational development of high school students. In order to understand the problems with school censorship, one must know why it is done. One reason is bad language. A prime example of this type of censorship occurred in a California school when words like à «damn†¦show more content†¦When a teacher teaches controversial issues they usually try to stick to the facts or in a subject like slavery show the evils of it. Teachers are not in schools to fill the minds of children with their own opinions or those of authors. They are there to teach students facts, and the books are instruments in which they do so. The final element ignored by censors is the context of the offensive elements. An example of this is foul language. When a censor looks at a book and sees foul language, they shy away. They do not even consider that this language was the norm during the period in which the story takes place and is thus essential (Simmons). In todays society the most popular reasons for censorship are racial ones, even though 100% of students surveyed do not believe books should be censored because they contain racial situations (Survey). The prime argument against books containing racially tense situations is that racial slurs are detrimental to the self esteem of students in minority groups (Wright). This argument is ridiculous for two reasons. The first is that the slurs add to the realism of the book. If a book was set in a period of time when racism against blacks was common, then slurs are used by the author to make the reader feel like he/she is actually experiencing the book, rather than reading it (Wright). The Adventurers of Huckleberry Finn is an example of this. Doan les talk about it, Huck. Po niggersShow MoreRelatedEssay on Theme of Censorship in Bradburys Fahrenheit 4511669 Words   |  7 Pages Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press (U.S. Constitution). Throughout the ages, censorship has shown up in various forms ranging from printed works to television and the Internet. It can have the positive effect of protecting children from things they are too immature to view, but it can also have negative effects. Censorship may even suppress new and different ideas, keeping them from being made public. 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