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Kenzie Yurkewicz

Mrs. Cramer

College Comp I

20 Jan. 2017

"Block It Out"

Censorship is the topic when talking about certain issues and stuff that isn't allowed in

school. I however, do not believe in censorship, I actually disagree with the topic. Censorship

takes away, not necessarily the right students have, but a similar situation. In a way, it denies the

constitutional right of freedom of speech. Censorship takes away what people want to believe in

thats right. Censorship is not necessary for books, websites, but however, censorship can be

extremely useful for certain situations so things don't get to out of control. For them to censor the

books and websites that students use for school purposes, it's not right. Censorship in schools can

be helpful, but also prevents students from learning "bad books." Situations can occur where a

student want to learn or know about something thats "inappropriate" for school that someone

doesn't feel comfortable talking to another student about or that they even feel uncomfortable

talking to them about it, this is when it could just be looked up. With censorship, everyone is

unable to do that, which is wrong.

First, Censorship not necessary for books. All books today are not appropriate, but

students should get the option as to what they read instead of getting forced to read a book that

they wouldn't enjoy. Not everyone is interested in "PG", as if that is what some would want to

call it, but other people are into the "inappropriate" books. In the source called "Uncalled

Selection Restricting books with controversial contents on the rise in school libraries", it states
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numerous times that librarians do not know what new books to get because they have to be

censored for the school purposes. (Jacobson, 1) This maybe necessary for elementary school, but

not for middle school and high school. They also had stated that limiting students to only certain

books to read could start certain controversy, which is true because students shouldn't be limited

to only certain books they can or can't read at a high school, when I'm sure the public library is

not limited to any books they can't carry. 'Unnatural Selection', stated that all schools should have

a reconsideration policy for the type of books they should be allowed to carry in the library

where none of the books are censored. (Jacobson, 3) This, however is unnecessary. Like stated

earlier, students should be able to choose the types of books they want to read and there shouldn't

be any censored books in our school. The students in middle school and older are old enough to

choose the types of books, they shouldn't be getting judged or getting in trouble for the types of

books they are interested in today's society. This is why censorship is found not necessary for

books.

Secondly, censorship is not necessary for websites. Websites were never a problem before

therefore, it's unnecessary that they are censored now. Some students may take censorship to far

as to where they could get in trouble for what they do on computers, but if they aren't doing

anything to harm or disrupt anyone in anyway, they shouldn't be censored. In the source 'The

Role of Censorship in School', talks about how much more censorship has taken place

throughout the years for the safety of the students and staff. (Petress, 1) Something that really

stood out while reading was, that a child was pretty much getting blamed for being racsist

because they make a science fair project that had to deal with differnet skin colors. (Petress, 2)

This, by any means wasn't saying being racist is okay, but that child was just asking a question

and they can believe in what they want. (Petress, 2) Censorship is taking that right of what
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someone believes in, away but not being about to say or ask certain questions as simple as the

one the child asked. There is no harm in looking through different websites can do to harm the

students and staff of any school. Having access to all internet websites could help some students

with certain projects and information that they'd like to know. These were some reasons as to

why censorship isn't necessary for websites.

Thirdly, censorship could be necessary for the benefit of the student's education and

safety. As much as I do disagree with censorship, if 100% there wasn't any censorship, than

students would lose learning time. To some extent, certain censorship should be used, but not as

excessive that it is right now. In the source 'Don't bribe my kids to read' the dad said that he

doesnt want his child to be forced to read books he doesn't want to but he also doesn't want him

to be reading books that aren't appropriate for his age. (Spencer) This was a perfect example as to

why elementary schools should have the censorship policy. Also stated in 'Don't bribe my kids to

read', the parents question what kind of schools should be banned because of the inappropriate

words and stuff that students could be accessing. (Spencer) That is why censorship could be

extremely useful in certain situations.

In conclusion, censorship in schools can be helpful, but also prevents students from

learning from "bad books". This means more that students have the right to do and read what

they want to even if it's a bad decision on their part. Censorship whatsoever is not necessary, it's

taking over the free speech that we people do have when censoring the books our library gets/

buys and from all the websites that the students cannot access while at school. Censorship can be

a hard topic to discuss because many people may find it necessary to keep all the things that the

school censors whereas others, feel it's very unnecessary to do so. Overall censorship not

necessary for books or websites. Students that are in middle school or older are all old enough
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and mature enough that they should have the right to go on/ pick the kind of websites and books

they'd like to read.


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Works Cited

Jacobson, Linda. "Unnatural Selection. (Cover Story)." School Library Journal 62.10 (2016): 20-

24. Teacher Reference Center. Web. 5 Jan. 2017.

Petress, Ken. "The Role Of Censorship In School." Journal Of Instructional Psychology 32.3

(2005): 248-253. Teacher Reference Center. Web. 5 Jan. 2017.

Spencer, John T. "Don't Bribe My Kids To Read." Kappan V94.93 (2012): 72-73.

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