What is it?

Censorship

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

The policy or practice of examining publications,

television programmes, or other forms of communication with a view to suppressing or

altering those that are considered unacceptable or

offensive.

Definition

Censorship comprises many methods of

preventing the publication or dissemination of

speech, printed matter, art, theater, music,

electronic media, or other forms of expression.

Religion

Politics

Sex

 Most common subjects that are censored

Such expression is :subversiveblasphemous hereticalobscenepornographic or otherwise offensive or harmful.

Usual Justification

Before Publication (prior restraint)licensing and prior review

After Publicationbanning, burning, boycotting of the

published product fining, imprisonment, or the death penalty

for the author or publisher.

When does censorship happen?

Public Libraries Museums

Schools 

Sites of Censorship

The school library media program plays a unique role in promoting intellectual freedom.

Students and educators served by the SLM program have access to resources and services free of constraints resulting from personal, partisan, or doctrinal disapproval.

SLMS resist efforts by individuals or groups to define what is appropriate for all students or teachers to read, view, hear, or access via electronic means.

Library Bill of Rights

Ray Bradbury and Censorship

There is more than one way

to burn a book.You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading

them.

The development of each new medium of communication has brought with it efforts to censor that medium.

Internet censorship is the latest in that line, with authorities around the world trying more or less effectively to limit access to certain Web sites and information.

What's the Latest on Censorship

Almost no one believes in absolute freedom of expression.

Libel, slander, and defamation are prohibited by nearly every legal code.

These prohibitions are not usually considered to be censorship, but rather a part of tort law.

So…can we just say and do anything that

we want to?

Who says "it can't happen here"? Scan current newspapers and magazines over a period of time for evidence that censorship of books and information goes on in 2010.

Cut out or make copies of the articles you've found and put them on the Graffiti Wall.

Write one word about what you think censorship is.  Write out one quote in your own handwriting from Ray

Bradbury’s Coda to put on your Graffiti Wall. Think about what you could do to prevent censorship and write

a paragraph on your actions.Look on the IRC SharePoint Site under “Documents for

Students” and “Links for Students” for additional resources on censorship.

 Keep a log of all your activities: citation of your article in MLS form, your quote from the Coda, your paragraph on censorship.

What's next

"Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program," American Library Association, May 29, 2007. http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/statementsif/interpretations/accessresources.cfm (Accessed December 07, 2009) Document ID: 388497

Laursen, John Christian. "Censorship." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Vol. 1. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. 290-295. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Alabama School of Fine Arts (AVL). 7 Dec. 2009 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=avl_fine>.

Works Cited

"Censorship." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. New York: Macmillan Reference USA,2003. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Alabama School of Fine Arts (AVL). 7 Dec. 2009<http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3011400033&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=avl_fine&version=1.0>.

“censorship n."  A Dictionary of Psychology. Edited by Andrew M. Colman. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Alabama School of Fine Arts.  7 December 2009  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t87.e1332>