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 & Peace (Violence)



Sociology & 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. It's an elusive term we use, but can't 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" isn't 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 didn't worry people very much till relatively



recently.







Though censorship was known in english law quite early on, it wasn't



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 doesn't 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 children's 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 school's 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?











Bibliography



















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 p19-22







Sanitized textbooks reflect a pious paradise that never was. By



June Callwood. The Globe and Mail. March 18, 1987. pA2-A3







Suffer the little children. By Janet Collins. Books in Canada.



October 1991. v.20 n.7 p25-27







Court bans 'humanist' books from Alabama public schools. By Robin



Toner. The Globe and Mail. March 5, 1987. pA10







Censorship in the children's library. By Rupert Colley. The Junior



Bookshelf. June 1990. v.54 n.3 p121-123







Censorship News. Spring 1985. n20







Limits of criminal law - obscenity: a test case. By The Law Reform



Commission: working paper no. 10. p7-9







Censorship: stopping the book banners. By the book and periodical



development council. August 1988. p1-17