Obscenity

When you examine the speech in the United States you can begin to see that the country is a very politically correct society. Words that suppress, oppress, belittle, arouse, and discourage others are seen by many in a negative light and are censored out of our speech and ultimately eliminated. In fact, the definition of political correctness found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of…

In this survey I interviewed ten people. I read each of them the first amendment and then asked them four questions based off of how they felt about the amendment. After I asked them each question I told them that what I had read them was the first amendment. Many adults knew before I had asked them the questions, but many of the adults and younger participants did not know. In the survey conducted, I questioned ages eighteen to seventy on how they felt about these given laws. Many of the…

Banning Books: Barbaric or Brilliant? Books are our insight into other cultures, worlds, and ideas, but sometimes those very things can cause parents and officials to question the nature and appropriateness of specific books for children. In books like The Glass Castle and To Kill a Mockingbird, parents give the argument that the language and ideas portrayed are inappropriate. In contrast, the American Library Association and the Library of Congress argue that all books have something that can…

People ban books if its inappropriate, racist, or sexual, but what they dont know is that a book would been a great way to teach a child. I believe these bad books can teach children the consequences of the inappropriate things in the book, and can teach them how to make the right choices. It would be a lot more educating if the child is able to make the right choice in a book, to know if it is bad or good for them. Even though these books that were banned can be very educating the child’s…

Censorship is the control of what people can say, hear, write, read, see, or do. Most of the time censorship occurs from the government. There is censorship everywhere, in schools, on television, and at the store. Students in schools aren’t being allowed to read certain books due to the fact that some parents and teachers think the books are too inappropriate or too mature for students. On the television certain things aren’t allowed, like nudity, curse words, or things involving death. There…

Although book banning happens all over the world, the most common challenges occur in school libraries. Most of these battles are fought at the school board level, but on occasions, some do make it to the supreme court. In one of the most famous court cases, in 1982, the Supreme Court ruled in the Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico. The case however has been regarded as one of the most important decisions concerning the First Amendment rights and school…

Have you ever wondered why some authors reword written materials that have offensive words in them or why there's specific written materials that can be found online but not at your local library? That’s because of banning and censoring. Banning is the act of excluding information from one place that can be accessible from another location, while censoring suppresses words or graphic images from viewers. There are times that some written materials should be banned but written materials should…

Literature is a very important part of the human life. Many books have been banned and or censored because of inappropriate material or the usage of words that some people find offensive. One example of a book that has been censored and banned is the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Written materials should not be censored or banned because it takes away the meaning and possible education of the reader. There has been a total of 11,300 books that have been challenged to be banned…

The burning of books by Jewish authors in Nazi Germany, the rejection of books on evolution and science by religious conservatives, and the removal of Green Eggs and Ham from the country of China are well known examples of book banning. Controversy over censorship has existed for as long as authors have written books. As early as 360 B.C., Plato wrote of censoring the writings of others. Several religious and political groups, as well as parent groups, assert that books they deem offensive…

Many people believe expression in the arts should be restrained. Debatewise claims “Expression in the arts should be restrained because many forms of art seek to push the boundaries of what is acceptable” (“Censorship of the Arts” par. 4). Censorship allows art to create social peace and order. An individual’s rights end when it implies harm to the safety and rights of others. Censorship of the arts is necessary to protect children and also adults from images and other artistic content that lack…