A debate on censorship of literature......?

Question

My American Lit. calss is doing a debate of censorship of literature...I'm supossed to be for censorship....So here is my question:
When might censorship of a book be okay?

Answer 1

If the book is deliberatley written to degrade any one person or group of persons it should be censored. That is both morally and socially wrong and should never be done. I have been a victim of literature degradation and no one should have to go through that.

Answer 2

As a staunch defender of freedom of speech and expression I would say never, BUT I also had to do this for a class once and the teacher, knowing my position, put me in charge of the Pro-Censorship argument. UGH...

I basically just tried to deconstruct their arguments and find ways that they might make sense. Irregardless of whether they actually did or not (most generally not).

For instance, one reason people support censorship is that they think their children should be protected from information they find wrong or bad. The counter to this, of course, is that is you feel that way then you should put some extra effort in and actually protect your children yourself as opposed to expecting everyone else to, not only do it, but hold the same beliefs and values as you. The problem is that most of the arguments that are pro-censorship are also counter to intelligent thought.

In the end I just had to ignore all the counter arguments I knew I was going to encounter and try to pick the strongest arguments.

The best place to start is by googling censorship and finding some pro-censorship sites (there are actually quite a few) and see what they are saying and just try to find the best that you can and a way to defend them, at least a little. Also you should look at the banned book lists (go to the ALA site for a comprehensive list and more information).
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

Good Luck... :)

Answer 3

This is a very good exercise for you and your classmates and it is vitally important that you understand what you are trying to learn (that is, your First Amendment rights).

I'm not going to try and address your question directly, but let me give you a few tips on how best to tackle this issue.

Break down the term of censorship into categories, such as moral, social, behavioral, religious, etc....
Now, list those things that you might find offensive in each of those categories.
For example, if you are a devote Catholic, would you find Madonna's use of the Cross offensive and warranting censorship?

Now, try to justify your reasons with logic.

Below, two links to help you.
One is a brief on the First Amendment...try to get some viewpoints on this and see where it gets you.
The other link is possibly the lesson your teacher is using to teach you with.

Good luck!

Answer 4

for a local library, I guess people can do whatever they want, though I'm sort of ideologically opposed to censorship even then. But on a national or statewide level, I would say that censorship is never okay. and it's never okay to prevent a store from selling a book, or prevent someone from buying it.

Answer 5

Never. Things shouldn't be censored, perhaps there should be ratings. I'm sorry that you have to be for censorship. Ask your teacher if you can switch to the other side.

Answer 6

When it might be too old for a young audience, like if it has sexual content, or when it might encourage people to do things that are morally wrong, like racism.

Answer 7

When it contains material that is dangerous, ie bomb making, drugs. Or when it contains ideas that are incorrect, false information. Children should be sheltered from radical ideas (glamorization of suicide/alcohol) and pornography.

Answer 8

When it would in any way influence innocent minds or people who don't know any better.

Answer 9

when its in a public school