Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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
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
Yurkewicz2
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
Yurkewicz3
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
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
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
Yurkewicz4
and mature enough that they should have the right to go on/ pick the kind of websites and books
Works Cited
Jacobson, Linda. "Unnatural Selection. (Cover Story)." School Library Journal 62.10 (2016): 20-
Petress, Ken. "The Role Of Censorship In School." Journal Of Instructional Psychology 32.3
Spencer, John T. "Don't Bribe My Kids To Read." Kappan V94.93 (2012): 72-73.