Banned book week

1. Government limits free speech Government is not the only group that tries to limit free speech. However, government censorship is the worst threat because government can put people in jail if it doesn't like what they say. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says Congress‹that is, government‹can make no law restricting the freedom of speech or press. This protection of freedom of speech extends even to people who are demanding censorship. As for parents, the courts have held that parents have a right to control the education of their children, which means that they may tell their kids what they can and can't read, watch and hear. 2. The U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment all forbid censorship. The First Amendment, which says government cannot restrict freedom of speech or the freedom of the press, was adopted in 1791 as the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution and is now part of that document. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are often called the Bill of Rights because they give Americans rights that may not be restricted by government. 3. The First Amendment protects a wide range of personal freedom. It states: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom or speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.' This means that government cannot tell people what religion they must believe or what thoughts they must think and must allow citizens to criticize its actions.
4. Yes, they have rights but not the same as adults. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that kids have a right of free speech under the First Amendment. With the approval of their parents, kids have the right to see or hear anything that is not 'harmful to minors,' as that term has been defined by law. Although some people would like to expand the definition of 'harmful to minors' to include violent material, so far the only 'harmful' stuff that is legally off-limits to kids is sexual material intended for adults. Not all sexual material is 'harmful to minors.' If a work contains serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for kids, they have a right to see it as long as their parents do not object. This does not mean that the U.S. Supreme Court is always friendly to the First Amendment rights of kids. It has given school officials a lot of freedom to censor speech if they think it is necessary to maintain order. 5. Although books by Judy Blume, Robert Cormier and Roald Dahl have frequently been the target of censorship over the past 20 years, J.K. Rowling was challenged more than any other author in 1999 and 2000. People in 27 states tried to have her Harry Potter books removed from public school classrooms and libraries. In Zeeland, Michigan, a school superintendent banned classroom readings from the books and required kids to have their parents' permission before they checked the books out of the school libraries. Although the Zeeland restrictions were later repealed, many school districts throughout the country do not allow teachers to read Harry Potter to their classes, and some require parental permission to check the books out of their libraries. 6. According to the American Library Association, there were 646 challenges to books in 1999. Most of these challenges did not result in censorship because school officials and librarians refused to remove the books. However, the real number of challenges is probably far higher because most censorship attempts are never reported.
7. Most book challenges occur in the public schools when parents complain about the books their children have been assigned to read. But libraries, museums and bookstores are often the target of complaints. In 1998, Focus on the Family, an organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, led a nationwide campaign to force booksellers to stop selling books that they consider 'child pornography.' In 1999, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attempted to force the Brooklyn Museum to cancel an exhibit of art that was offensive to many Catholics. 8. Children's books are one of the most frequently challenged types of literature. There have been efforts to censor Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for its racist language; In the Night Kitchen for its drawings of a nude boy; James and the Giant Peach for 'bad' words; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for 'graphic violence, mysticism, gore.’ 9. According to the ALA, books with sexual content are the most frequently challenged. Here are the reasons books were challenged and the number of challenges by type from 1990 through 1999: sexually 'explicit,' 1,446; offensive language, 1,262; unsuited to age group, 1,167; occult/Satanism, 773; violence, 630; homosexuality, 497; religious viewpoint, 397; other, 344; nudity, 297; racism, 245; sex education, 217; anti-family, 193; insensitivity, 96; drugs, 139; political viewpoint, 114; sexism, 75; suicide, 53; anti-ethnic, 47.2.e. There are calls to censor every kind of media. Censors started attacking music many years ago, particularly jazz and rock and roll (which were accused of encouraging unmarried people to have sex). Congress has twice passed legislation to ban sexual material on the Internet. (The first law was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court because it violated the First Amendment. The second law is also being challenged for violating free speech.) Since the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999, there has been a growing demand for censorship of video games and movies that depict violence.
10. All of the above (Internet, Video Games, Music, Movies & Videos) 11. The biggest fight over the Harry Potter books this year was in Zeeland, Michigan. It was also the biggest victory for the opponents of censorship. Following the organization of a group called Muggles for Harry Potter, the school superintendent was forced to drop almost all of the restrictions he had imposed on the Potter books. Muggles for Harry Potter later became a national organization and is now called KidSPEAK 12. The Harry Potter books have not been accused of having too much sex in them (although that may change as the series continues and Harry grows older). Most of the complaints against the Potter books come from people who believe that they promote witchcraft. However, some parents also believe the books are too violent. Others say Harry encourages children to be disobedient because he is so independent.

Banned book week

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