Kirsten Purdie
Is Censorship in schools a threat to Education?
I recently read the article ‘Internet filtering as a form of soft censorship’ by Mitch Wagner which addressed the fact that Internet filtering software, which is designed and implemented to protect students, could be doing more harm to their education than good. This got me thinking about the different forms of Censorship in schools and the effects that the removal or manipulation of materials could have on the learning process of students, and thus stemmed my desire to research and find out more about this topic. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss censorship in High School and find out whether or not it is limiting literature and lessons that are meaningful to students. …show more content…
While the other side believes censorship protects the students. When looking at the two sides of this argument and comparing it with the negative and positive effects that censorship has on students and education, one far outweighs the other. Although, censorship is often used to silence or restrict students, some believe there are positive effects by doing this. Firstly, the main argument for censorship is that it protects students from things such as “racial discrimination, pornography, crime, and terrorism”(NYLN Youth Leader Blod, March 2016). By using web filtering and Internet restrictions, schools believe they can have some control over what students are exposed to. It is also seen as a way to offer reassurance to parents that their children aren't accessing content or materials that could mentally or physically harm them and assurance that only positive or ‘good’ values are being taught. (Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick, March
Is Censorship in schools a threat to Education?
I recently read the article ‘Internet filtering as a form of soft censorship’ by Mitch Wagner which addressed the fact that Internet filtering software, which is designed and implemented to protect students, could be doing more harm to their education than good. This got me thinking about the different forms of Censorship in schools and the effects that the removal or manipulation of materials could have on the learning process of students, and thus stemmed my desire to research and find out more about this topic. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss censorship in High School and find out whether or not it is limiting literature and lessons that are meaningful to students. …show more content…
While the other side believes censorship protects the students. When looking at the two sides of this argument and comparing it with the negative and positive effects that censorship has on students and education, one far outweighs the other. Although, censorship is often used to silence or restrict students, some believe there are positive effects by doing this. Firstly, the main argument for censorship is that it protects students from things such as “racial discrimination, pornography, crime, and terrorism”(NYLN Youth Leader Blod, March 2016). By using web filtering and Internet restrictions, schools believe they can have some control over what students are exposed to. It is also seen as a way to offer reassurance to parents that their children aren't accessing content or materials that could mentally or physically harm them and assurance that only positive or ‘good’ values are being taught. (Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick, March