Should books be censored?

Question

Freedom of speech?

So far Ken Hartley is up for the 10 points, a very sensible answer.

I most definitely think they should NOT be censored, but I ask the question anyway.

Answer 1

Nothing should be censored, only rated...
If a book, film, game or whatever is rated 18 then it should be illegal for kids under that age to buy it. Only adult stupidity would ever allow this to happen...
Censorship only leads to 'underground' sales where anyone can buy whatever they want regardless of age...

Answer 2

For years books have been censored, amazingly enough. Think of the banned book lists, think of Flaubert's Madame Bovary. There are public schools that won't let students read plenty of books. Is this right, no, but we censor TV, movies, and radio and is that right?

There is the idea of freedom of speech and really, looking at Madame Bovary today we don't see a reason why it would have been so scandalous in it's day. However, most people probably wouldn't be all about children (even if they are teens) reading about sodemy, rape, incest. These obviously weren't accepted years ago, and they're still social taboos so they aren't accepted in literature today.

I think that books children read should be censored -- but more than that, books that children are asked to read/allowed to read. There is someting to be said about keeping our children (even if they are teens) innocent. Now these books should be avalible to anyone old enough, but I wouldn't want my younger sibblings checking something taboo out of a school library. However, it's also important that a parent/parents know what their children are reading (not to mention that most kids/teens aren't interested in anything that deals with the taboo).

However, I think we also all know that censorship and "taboo" topics make good books (look at Harry Potter, look at the Davinci Code, look at A MIllion Little Pieces)

Answer 3

Maybe not censored, but age limits for books reevaluated possibly. A friend of mine picked up a book the other day that was supposed to be for 9 -12 year olds. She flipped through the pages & immediately was struck by the foul language in it. It is no wonder why children have such behavior problems now with the content that is in literature & on television.
In my opinion books on anorexia should have an age limit imposed to protect young girls from using them as "instruction manuals". For some reason, the authors of these books think they are helping teens but they are actually doing the opposite.

Answer 4

I think that any form of information should not be censored. Life happens, and I feel that humanity should be able to report and respond to life as they see fit. We all have our opinions and we are all going to disagree with something someone says somewhere, but I don't feel that any of us have a right to limit what another person has to say.

If a person disagrees with what a book says, then put it back on the shelf and walk away. There are some who would say that we should censor books to keep certain information away from innocents, such as children, but I have a problem with that - those kids, if they really want to read that book, are going to find a way to do it regardless. Trust me, I was the one who was balanced precariously on a pile of storybooks to reach the "naughty" romance novels I knew my grandmother had stashed up there. If a parent doesn't want their kid reading just anything, then go to the library with them, and have honest conversations with them. If "taboo" information is hidden from them with an angry reaction, then that will only make them want to see what that book is more than ever.

To see with honest eyes is to grow with an honest purpose. If we close our eyes to the negative in this world, we cannot experience the positive as fully as we'd like to.

Answer 5

No, books should not be censored...ever. I take offense at the person who called you a nitwit. You weren't saying you think they should be censored. You were just asking a question.

I am a librarian and I support the American Library Association's position on censorship. Yes, censorship removes freedom of speech. If people are worried about their children's viewing inappropriate material, they should monitor their kids' behavior.


Censorship and Challenges
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“Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas.” — Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/ifissues/Default883.htm

Answer 6

Books comprise of the expression of the men and therefore this must be free. I really liked much your question: it calls to the reflection!
Sorry for my spelling and grammar... I'm not from England, I'm from Argentina and of course, my English isn't very well...
in Argentina many books have been censured during the last military dictatorship and just now, thirty years later, are recovering

Exists great amount of books that are sold because exactly they call the attention to be censured, for that reason in some cases turns out to be a commercial method the controversy search that derives in censorship, does not seem to you? I do not know that it will happen in your country but in mine it is used frequently unfortunately...

Answer 7

No, but on the other hand censorship often spurs writers to write things far better than in free societies. Their writings become more highly treasured, as they are now dangerous, instead of being a mere 'holiday read'. We are killing literature with blandness....Mark Twain wrote so many things that boring Kansas city governors were prepared to ban, Borges wrote brilliant stories in a censorious Argentina, and Cervantes wrote the greatest bestseller during the era of the Spanish Inquisition who burnt books- he even satirized their book-burnings in his novel Don Quixote. In Stalin's Russia, great poems and stories were written inspite of death-threats hanging over the writers. Instead we get Jeffrey Archer...

Answer 8

The government can't censor books because of free speech laws. However, we can tell publishers and writers what we do and don't like simply by buying or not buying certain books.

Answer 9

No, freedom of speech. Books should not be censored. The reason we Americans do not know much of our history is because of censorship.

Answer 10

Banning books is wrong, period. People should be allowed to decide for themselves whether they want to or don't want to read a certain piece of literature, and in the case of children, parents should decided for only their own children, not other people's children. If a parent does not want their child to read something in the school library or the public library, they should tell the librarian not to let their child check it out, not tell the librarian to remove the book entirely so that no one else can read it too.

Answer 11

depends on what the book is about. i think books like how to murder a person or how to make a bomb should be censored. Freedom of speech also has it's limitations. like we all learned about in school about how it is illegal to yell "fire" in a public place. so even freedom of speech is not totally free.