While I was reading through a few articles around censorship I came across a website that talks about various aspects of censorship and how to deal with it. At the top of the first page it as a quote that I found kind of interesting. I'm really not sure what I think about it. It seems harsh, but also insightful. So I thought I'd post it up to see what other people thought about it. Is this really the intention of the 'censors' or are their motives more along the lines of 'protecting' the youth? Do we really need to protect our youth? What are we really protecting them from?
"Censors want to control the minds of the young.
Students who read learn to think. Thinkers learn to see.
Those we see often question. And young people who question
often threaten the 'blind' and the 'nonthinkers'. [sic]"
- Pat Scales, South Carolina high school librarian.
4 comments:
I think this quote speaks powerfully in regards to censorship. Young people have to question more and read as much as they possibly can because there is so much to take in. Children and teenagers have such an impact within society and often I think they feel disregarded or unheard, but as the quote suggests," And young people who question often threaten the 'blind' and the 'nonthinkers." This states how much influence youth have and how opening their world to multiple different things can really make an impact on their learning. By wanting to control the minds of the young, we are really doing an injustice to ourselves when we limit what youth are reading and viewing.
I also think that censorship has a lot to do with control and more to do with protecting for the parents sake rather than the students. By denying students the right to read particular texts we are denying them the opportunity to develop intellectually, to understand differences, problems, and possibilities. I think censorship comes down to knowing your class, knowing what your teaching and why and the value it has as an integral lesson.
I also agree that censorship has a lot to do with control. Throughout history power and control over the masses has been a huge goal of many. We have seen dictators and colonialism, and more. In each of these the goal is to censor anything that the "head of power" deems threatening to their control (to things that they are presenting to the masses); for example, the Marquis de Sade. He was a genious writer, but his content was deemed threatening to what Napoleon believed and presented to the masses. The same was seen with Martin Luther and King Henry VIII, and so on. The word passes onto those who aren't well educated and their thoughts begin to change. They are no longer under the control of the "censor."
It's sort of the same thing today, but maybe with a differnt motive--protection rather than control. Who are these censors? Parents, grand parents..."older" and "wiser" folk than your youth. Those who hold higher power. They grew up with beliefs and values that were different than the those of today, and it seems as though they want to shield the young from anything that is different. Keep them more innocent and in the time period of their generation, but the world has changed, and the youth will experience it one way or another; it's everywhere. We can't just censor life! It seems to me then that censorship is merely a tool to protect the censors, not the youth. Times have changed and many of those who censor are clearly not ready to change with it!
"And young people who question often threaten the 'blind' and the 'nonthinkers" - I personally don't think there is anything wrong with this becasue, Youth have an impact on many aspects in their lives, as teachers I feel we have a responsibility to keep current with the times and bring in new material that provokes thought for students. They are our future. The non thinkers i don't think are threatend as much as forced to learn something that their parents may deem inapporopriate or non relevant to their lives, we need to respect this but also remember that what ever they read, what ever they hear will be heard or seen somewhere else in their lives. when this happens, I belive their peers spark an interest in them, and in turn they want to know to- becasue they don;t want to be "blinded" in a society ( i.e the classroom) that they are functioniong in and a part of; and there is nothing wrong with giving students something to think about- no matter whose provoking the thought. If we know our community of leanerns and use texts that are full of 'touchy' issues in a safe manner, for the students we are working with then; as Holly said " if we deny the students the right to read... we are denying them the opportunity to develop intellectually, to undertsand differences, problems, and possibilities" and there is no value in that.
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