The Struggle Against Censorship

The never-ending struggle in America between teenagers' freedom of speech and the censorship of over-protective adults is a dispute that has not only impacted me personally, but has also affected America as a whole. Any rules, laws, or regulations restricting the freedom of speech (except, of course, obvious restrictions on death threats and the like) are unconstitutional and should not be allowed in the United States of America-especially when those restrictions exclusively pertain to a certain group of people due to their age. The censorship of teens, along with being unconstitutional, inhibits growth and creativity, causing more problems than it solves.

The first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America were written and ratified in order to protect the basic rights that every human being deserves. The first, and most important, of these ten amendments grants the freedom of speech. The freedom of speech allows one to express oneself by means of speaking, writing, art, music, clothing, pictures, and many other forms of expression. As expressed by Derek Bok, "...the protection of the free speech clause of the First Amendment...cannot be forbidden simply because it offends the feelings of many members of the community" (568). Allowing citizens to express themselves freely promotes a truthful and free flow of thought and discussion that is necessary to any and all democratic societies. It is appalling to think that this essential freedom of speech is denied to teenagers simply because of their age.

Michael Chabon discusses the expulsion of a college student "for submitting a story 'rife with gruesome details...' to his creative writing class" (557) in which the instructor set the tone with a disturbing short story. No matter how offensive the expressions may seem-with the exception being death threats, yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre, or anything else of that manner-no college, public or private, should have the ability to take away personal rights granted by the founders of our nation from anyone. This denial of freedom dilutes students' perception of our constitution instead of educating them about the freedoms that make America unique; and, after all, isn't the main purpose of a college or university to educate its students on important things such as the constitution? All censorship accomplishes is to deny the rights of a few and blindfold the minds of everyone else.

The main reason teenagers are treated differently than adults is because many parents don't want to let go of their kids' innocence; they don't want their kids to live in a world of violence, sex, and racism. But censorship doesn't preserve innocence or protect our youth from being victimized: instead, it breeds destructive ignorance and hinders the creativity of our future leaders. Ignorance is a main cause in many problems of today. Many problems caused by racial tension or religious tension (which often lead to violence, i.e. war in the Middle East) could be solved or reduced if the people involved were taught about the other side's point of view. If a person's childhood and teenage years are censored of all violence, sex, or racism, then they will become adults and will be thrown out into the real world-which is full of violence, sex, and racism-without knowing how to deal with it. For example, the recent events at Hamline University dealing with white students painting their faces black for Halloween. This incident divided the community due to ignorance caused by a lack of education on "touchy" subjects such as blackface. If these students had been properly educated about blackface, instead of sheltered from it, this incident never would have happened. Also, prohibiting children and teenagers from expressing themselves by any means, from writing a disturbing story to wearing an offensive shirt, prevents our youth from growing creatively and learning the ways of life on their own. It softens their perception of the world.

On top of the unconstitutionality of censorship and the ignorance that it breeds, censorship is also bound to cause more problems than it will solve. As said by Derek Bok in his essay "Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus":

In addition, once we start to declare certain things "offensive," with all the excitement and attention that will follow, I fear that much ingenuity will be exerted trying to test the limits, much time will be expended trying to draw tenuous distinctions, and the resulting publicity will eventually attract more attention to the offensive material than would ever have occurred otherwise. (568)

Human beings, especially teenagers, who are all too often rebellious, have it in their nature to push rules to their limits. If teenagers feel that their rights are being suppressed, they will undoubtedly retaliate with expressions not yet declared "offensive," and a few may even purposely go beyond those limits simply because the limits were established.

America is founded on principles of equality. Censorship enforced only on children and teenagers denies that equality, breeds destructive ignorance, and hinders creativity. What America needs now is to put an end to the misguided attempts to shelter our youth and allow our future leaders to learn from the ugly reality of our society today.

Works Cited

Bok, Derek. "Protecting Freedom of Speech on Campus." Stubbs 566-68.

Chabon, Michael. "Solitude and the Fortresses of Youth." Stubbs 557-59.

Stubbs, Marcia, Sylvan Barnet and William E. Cain, eds. The Little Brown Reader. 10th

ed. New York: Longman, 2006.