![]() In September 1990, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression declared the First Amendment to be “in perilous condition across the nation” based on the results of a comprehensive survey on free expression. (AP Photo-File, used with permission from the Associated Press) In this photo, author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., speaks to reporters on a federal court ruling calling for a trial to determine if a Long Island school board can ban a number of books, including his "Slaughterhouse Five," at New York Civil Liberty offices in 1980. Such actions, assert free speech proponents, endanger tolerance, free expression, and democracy. ![]() Opponents of bans argue that by restricting information and discouraging freedom of thought, censors undermine one of the primary functions of education: teaching students how to think for themselves. To counter charges of censorship, opponents of publications sometimes use the tactic of restricting access rather than calling for the physical removal of books. In the late 1970s, attacks were launched on ideologies expressed in books. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover and James Joyce’s Ulysses. Most challenges and bans prior to the 1970s focused primarily on obscenity and explicit sexuality. They commonly fear that these publications will present ideas, raise questions, and incite critical inquiry among children that parents, political groups, or religious organizations are not ready to address or that they find inappropriate. Advocates for banning a book or certain books fear that children will be swayed by its contents, which they regard as potentially dangerous. Book banning is the most widespread form of censorship in the United Statesīook banning is the most widespread form of censorship in the United States, with children’s literature being the primary target. Those advocating a ban complain typically that the book in question contains graphic violence, expresses disrespect for parents and family, is sexually explicit, exalts evil, lacks literary merit, is unsuitable for a particular age group, or includes offensive language. (AP Photo/Carlos Rene Perez, used with permission from the Associated Press)īook banning, a form of censorship, occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes. The rally protested censorship by school and public libraries of certain books under pressure from right wing religious groups. In this photo, Gail Sheehy, author of "Passages," at podium, right, reads during the "First Banned Books Read Out" in New York, April 1, 1982. ![]() Book banning, the most widespread form of censorship, occurs when private individuals, government officials, or organizations remove books from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves because they object to their content, ideas, or themes.
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