Is censored books in schools justified?
404752
It really depends on what you mean by censored. There definitely has to be some oversight on what our kids are exposed to in school... in fact, I think at times there is too much oversight. But, to say that there should be no censorship or oversight I think would be a mistake. There are too many differing points of view on too many issues. Imagine the chaos that would be caused if the teaching environment was not controlled somehow.
1069782
Yes and no,\n\nTelevisioin and newspapers are not censored for content, meaning the that media can tell whatever story they want to tell. However, we do have certain decency standards implemented by the goverment, so the media cannot use swear words or show pictures of nude people. Other than that they are free to print whatever they feel like.
98227
Book banning is censorship and occurs most likely in schools and libraries.\n\nMany books that are banned are books about magic and spells - although not all of them are.\n\nIf you wonder why today's young people are so fascinated with them (magic and spells) it's because they were not exposed to them early in life with their parent's engaging them in conversations about it.\n\nI was exposed to magic and witchcraft through books and magazines before I was 12. Friends and I tries spells, which failed  - of course. I left that all behind long, long time ago.\n\nNot exposing children to certain subjects ONLY means they will be exposed as adults and may develop a fascination with them that can last for years.\n\nOf course the people who follow certain Christian faiths don't think about that and only blindly follow their current leader. So they contact the local school board and libraries and demand these books be banned.\n\nIf their are a large number of people demanding banning and no-one opposing the ban, then the books get pulled until enough people get pissed about the banning and petition them back on the shelves.\n\nA bookstore owner may pull these titles off of the shelf so that  they can continue to do business in a community. But, more often than not they WILL order books for customers. \n\nSince you can order almost any book online nowadays, book banning returns to it's roots of localized stupidity.
215290
Governments do it all the time but I think it's immoral.\n\nIn some cases it might be justifiable for works that are just plain obscene or promote violence, works that accomplish nothing except make the world a worse place - turn people to criminals, or something that makes you worse off from reading it and has no beneficial value to anyone.
1087380
As a public school librarian (K-8) I feel it is important to make available all books. However, budget constraints force me to choose mostly books that appeal to the most students. Captain Underpants may not be my choice for a student to read, however, if the students are asking for this title I will order it. What tends to drive my selection more is not self censorship but pressure from parents not to shelve a certain title. I try to preview  most titles for objectionable words, etc. and go from there. When I have a complaint from a parent I remind them that it is easier for them to check their child's book when they get home than for me to know what is acceptable for 500 plus students. An interesting thing to consider is the reverse, do we tend to pick books that appeal to us as a reader? I am a big Civil War buff and my library happens to have a dandy selection of books in the 970 Dewey decimal catagory!!!
713224
A teacher shouldn't be talking about morals in the first place.\n\nFirst question: definitive yes.\nSecond question: biased no, but more practically, yes.
793542
most schools have filters that work like so . . . the schools put in kind of "key words" and any websites containing those words in the address (the url; or web address) are blocked, so depending on where these inappropriate photographs are (in which articles are they shown?), they would probably be blocked.
1001276
YES!!! If the Under God part offends anyone, then they have the right NOT to say it.  I can remember being in class with kids who didn't say it for religious or personal reasons.  NO ONE said anything mean to them or made fun of them.  We asked them why & they gave us their reasons.  It was fine with everyone.
784592
yes yes yes it is a-ok. \nA poem really is like a story. At least some are. I think that a poem can be as long as a regular book would be. I know that there are lots of books that are called "novels in verse" that are basiclly poems (at least that is my view on it). So, yes it is perfectly fine. But, if this poem is for a homework assignment I don't know if the teacher's view will be the same as mine. Hope it is. Merry Christmas!
277191
... I don't think so...unless the library incident could count.. indecent public activity? lol
730574
This is an infringement on the rights of your students and their parents, unless they have signed a release.\n\nBelieve me, i teach special education and I know they would be a wonderful tool.  We could learn a lot about our students.  They could be used as a safety tool, however, they cannot be secret.
115565
What is so wrong with Harry Potter that it should be censored?? If it's going to go that route then they might as well sensor the news because they show things more horrible and disgusting than any Harry Pottery movie could ever be capable of.
64310
Yes ... since I answerd a question and had the Herman Mellvile book "MOBY DICK" in the answer ... and it gets censored too. (see!!!!) The censor program is just looking for certain words not the content or context.  Too Bad!\n\nBut this is their ballpark, and we gotta play by their rules!!
432957
I think it just prepares kids for censorship in the rest of the world. It teaches them that unpopular words or opinions shouldnt be spoken, which is a horrible thing to teach a kid. Free speech should be allowed everywhere. No more bleeping (or starring) of the word f*ck no more deforming peoples songs because they dont fit with mainstream ideas, no more teaching kids that their opinions must be mainstream or theyre not valid. I believe we are going to end up with a country full of mindless sheep incapable of forming their own opinions if we keep going like this...\n\n\nPeace
210186
Bad, people should be able to decide for themselves whether or not what they see, read and hear is art or smut.  We shouldn't target the object but instead the audience. Educate people more but don't deprive them of the choice of what they want to learn.
21868
Yes, but not as a science. School is a place of learning, and ID should be taught as one perspective among many. Censorship is not the way to go. Children should be taught how to think critically for themselves and taught WHY ID is not a science and how to make that distinction. Censorship robs them of the opportunity to know what the difference is, or even how to make the distinctions.
754548
NO! banning books is in violation of the American ideal of freedom.  perhaps certain books should be reserved for people at or beyond a certain age, but never banned completely.\nFor example:  the current movie and best seller, Running With Scissors, should be prohibited for children and adolescents below the age of 18.  that doesn't mean it's banned.  it's like the r rating for movies.  children and adolescents are not allowed to see r rated movies.  the same should hold true for certain books.