Censorship in the Public School Term Paper

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Many books at the time were examined to determine whether they had pro-communist content and if so there was a movement to remove those books from the shelves (Tenney, 1947).

At stake here were much more far-reaching intellectual freedom issues than just the proposed suppression of provocative textbooks. Fueled by citizens' complaints, the Tenney Committee proceeded to introduce several bills "designed to prevent the teaching of controversial subjects... And to increase the legislative control over the selection of textbooks and educational policies." Among them was SB 1026, which would have revamped the school social studies curriculum by prohibiting the introduction of any kind of "propaganda" in the classroom. For the first time, California's long-standing tradition of an educational system independent of politics was seriously threatened. Recognizing this, the Southern and Mount Shasta Districts, representing well over half the membership of CLA, quickly passed and sent to the legislature a resolution opposing SB 1026. The bill, which was passed by the Senate, eventually was defeated by the Assembly (Mediavilla, 1997)."

The third reason that book censorship is against the constitution is that it interferes with freedom of the press. The freedom of the press has been tried again and again in various situation and it has always won the battle because of the protections that the constitution provides (Brubaker, 1994).

In the case of censorship of books in the school system freedom of the press is challenged because the school system is trying to tell the schools what can and cannot be printed.

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While the schools don't actually state that something cannot be printed, they say it by not allowing it to be added to the school shelves, or to student reading lists.

CONCLUSION

When the issue of book censorship in the public schools comes up the debate can get extremely heated. There are many books that are currently being assigned in schools that are controversial at least to some groups who want them removed. Books such as "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Mayalou Angelo and others are challenged because of the graphic nature of the content within the pages.

Other books are challenged because of the controversial political messages that they send.

The constitution of the United States prevents the censorship of books in the public school system. Freedom of speech, the right to live freely without censorship, and freedom of the press are all issues that are provided and protected by the United States constitution. When a school system or a group attempts to censor books that students can have access to or read, the constitution is not being followed. If the Supreme Court of the United States has to hold every issue and question against the constitution to determine its validity then the public school system, which is funded by tax dollars must have the same standard. Censorship in the public school system is constitutionally wrong and is morally unfair to the students that attend the schools......

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