Censorship Should Be Allowed In Schools

It is common for minors - understood as children under the age of 18 - to wish to be adults who can make their own rules and decisions, and to hold the perceived unrestrained freedom adults possess. This restraint and lack of freedom felt by minors, particularly teenagers, stems from the need for children to be parented and guided - a concept children and teens do not always grasp in the time of their youth. Yet one aspect of this “teen-angst” does ring true; minors do not always have the same rights and freedoms as adults. However, according to a history of court cases, First Amendments rights are ones that all people, inclusive of minors, hold. Therefore, in accordance with precedence set by court cases and the First Amendment, the novel …show more content…
Yet despite this precedent, challenges to ban books in schools still come to fruition in modern society. One hypothesis that strives to explain this phenomena stems from research conducted by Anderson and Masicampo (2017), who conducted three studies pertaining to censorship and minors. The results that culminated from these studies deduced that it is not values of loyalty nor authority that drive people to want to censor children; rather, people who value sanctity are often those who are purporters of censorship surrounding minors (Anderson & Masicampo, 2017, p. 1504). Moreover, Malo-Juvera and Scherff (2017) articulate how censorship in schools ultimately acts a hinderance to educational growth and a barrier for curricula (p. 92). Thus, it is clear censorship remains an issue today that impacts schools and is driven by ethical …show more content…
In respect the ideas surrounding censorship and minors held by Anderson and Masicampo (2017), Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging should not be banned due to the U.S. Constitution. There is meant to be a separation between church and states, as noted in the platform on which America was founded (Hansen, 2015). Since sanctity is a common driving factor behind motions to censor books such as Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging from children, the challenged should not be upheld due to sanctity not being a component of law in America when regard what books children can read. Similarly, through the lens of Malo-Juvera and Scherff (2017), censorship of this novel would simple hinder students’ growth. Moreover, while there may be arguably provocative topics and themes within Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, the topics discussed and words used in the text do not equate obscenity or grounds to censor minors. Rather, these themes enable minors to connect with the character of Georgia, and the language used to express these themes are crucial to the portrayal of Georgia’s character and the thoughts that run through her mind in the most natural and realistic