Case Study: Counts vs. Cedarville School District Situation The Counts v. Cedarville School District court case was about the Harry Potter book series. After receiving a complaint from a parent, the Cedarville School Board voted 3-2 to remove all of the books from the Harry Potter series from the open shelves of public school libraries. Students who wished to read or check out these books could do so only with written parental permission. Several students and their parents filed suit, seeking the return of the books to the open shelves. In the course of discovery, the School Board members who voted to remove the books acknowledged that they had not read many of the books and that they removed them because they exposed students to the "religion of witchcraft."
William Barnard WR 121 Essay 1.2 10/18/10 Censorship in Schools: Ignoring The First Amendment Since 1980 Judy Blume, famous author of multiple “banned” books, once wrote, regarding how one feels when a piece of their work gets censored, “Chilling. It’s easy to become discouraged, to second- guess everything you write.”* Blume wrote this in the introduction of a book she edited about censorship. Blume, having experienced the feeling of having her work censored many times is an expert on this subject. Censorship in schools is bad for not only does it discourage writers, it limits what students can read, write, and most importantly, learn about. Books should not be banned in schools, because they teach valuable life lessons that students should learn before adulthood.
In 1995, she completed the first manuscript, which was rejected by twelve publishing house until a year later she was accepted by Editor Barry Cunningham from the small publisher Bloomsbury (“J.K. Rowling”). J.K. Rowling’s works on Harry Potter have been heavily attacked for her topics on witchcraft, sorcery, and Satanism, which the opponents say the book promotes interest in the occult for children. The protest against Harry Potter, the book, follows a tradition that has been growing since the early 1980s in the U.S. (“Is Harry Potter Evil? By Judy Blume”).
Some schools banned pagers and cell phones starting a decade ago because of their connection to drug and gang activity, as well as due to the disruption to classes. The focus on their disruption of the educational process has come into conflict with cell phones becoming a convenience items over recent years. However, parents have increasingly lobbied boards to change policies primarily based on the argument that phones will make students and schools safer in light of national tragedies. Kacie Tampen, 18, sat in math class as she began getting call after call from her Uncle Jim. Curious, she answered as she feared something terrible happened, resulting in her getting her cell phone taken away.
The book has been included in the ban list, for being racially intolerant. The ban book lists books that are banned because of controversial issues. The whole spark happened when a white 27 year old third grade teacher read the book to her mostly Hispanic and African American students. The students apparently loved it, but the parents weren’t pleased with the content on the book. Since that event the book has been banned in most of the elementary schools.
Why is Catcher in the Rye a banned text? In 1960, a teacher was fired, and later reinstated, for assigning the novel in class. Between 1961 and 1982, The Catcher in the Rye was the most censored book in high schools and libraries in the United States. In 1981, it was both the most censored book and the second most taught book in public schools in the United States. According to the American Library Association, The Catcher in the Rye was the 13th most frequently challenged book from 1990–2000.It was one of the 10 most challenged books in 2005, and came off the list in 2006.The challenges generally begin with vulgar language, citing the novel's use of words like "the 'f' word" and "goddam", with more general reasons including sexual references, blasphemy, undermining of family values[ and moral codes, Holden's being a poor role model, encouragement of rebellion,[ and promotion of drinking, smoking, lying, and promiscuity.
This book was published in 1962 by Anthony Burgess. Within twenty years it has been banned in countless high schools, some of which include Aurora, Colorado (1976); Westport, Rhode Island (1977); and high school libraries in Anniston, Alabama (1982) for many reasons (Lancto, Craig The World & I, 09-01-2003). A Clockwork Orange has been the center of controversy due to Anthony Burgess’s questionable language as well as the very graphic scenes. Many parents feel as though their children aren’t ready for this type of violence while still attending high school, and in all reality I feel as though they won’t. From reading this book and with my own opinion, I think the banning on this book is completely appropriate due to the graphic nature
To Ban or Not To Ban; Ban Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eyes sparks arguments regarding banning the book from several high school curriculums in the country. Although this is a powerful novel for adults, this book should not be in Bonny Eagle High School's curriculum. This book should be banned from the curriculum because of the references the book makes on topics such as: racism, sexuality, profanity, child molestation and child rape. The topics express deep emotions and realism that young high school readers should not be forced to read. In a small town in Ohio, beauty is only captured in white woman or in the deep blue of ones eye.
Is it the only method of discipline that works? Now what a lot of parents don’t know is that, not only does smacking have short term mental and physical effects, it also has long term psychological effects which is why I believe smacking should be banned. Research shows that smacking undermines children’s confidence, weakens their emotional relationships and encourages the use of violence to solve any conflict with people around them. Psychologists say that alcoholism, depression, masochistic fantasies and suicidal thoughts arise from being smacking during childhood. Let’s just stop for a minute and think about this, how on earth can we expect children to play with other children without hitting each other, if we as
Psychoactive Drugs and Children General Purpose: To persuade Specific Purpose: To persuade the audience to see that psychoactive drugs are dangerous, especially when prescribed or given to young children. Central Idea: Parents through the country are being pressured by schools to give psychiatric drugs to their children; this many times leads not to positive results, but quite the opposite. Introduction: Attention Getter: Its 12 o’ clock at night. You have a huge test tomorrow that you just started to study for. But you have nothing to worry about because you just popped some Ritalin and your flying through your study guide, cramming everything you read.