Censorship Is Bad

The definition of censorship is the examination of books, movies, etc. and ending unallowable parts. Censorship can be a good, or a bad thing. The good part about censorship, is that it helps end things that are not useful. The bad part is, it sometimes is not needed, extremely debatable whether it should be questioned or not, or it can cause a huge ruckus. In the article, “Fighting Against Tradition,” by Emily Scott, it talks about how Emily’s high school newspaper staff used censorship to try and stop students from disrespecting their school mascot in a manipulative way. This group of people are noticing the disrespectful behavior of their school zoo which like to call themselves, “The Redskins.” The newspaper staff simply think there should
be something done and “there is a fine line between school spirit and the defamation of a group of people” (1). Even though they know they are going to be protested against, they used censorship to try and end this rude behavior towards the school, by banning the word, “Redskins,” from the newspaper. To their surprise, many people took notice in this ban, and protested against it. “They believed it infringed on the rights of other students who would want to use the word in the paper… the First Amendment began to fight itself,” says Emily Scott. This one article got so popular, that the New York Times and Huffington Post started to feature this. After all the commotion died out, the newspaper staff began to realize that what they did is very important to them and people around them. “In my French class, we had a debate over it in one of the world’s most beautiful languages. The fact that I could be a part of something that caused enough students to start voicing their opinions was inspiring” (Emily Scott). This group of students not only learned that not everyone is always going to agree with you, but they learned that you can make a difference by speaking out.

Inherit the Wind, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee is a play about a teacher that taught his students about evolution, and townspeople used censorship to go against that teaching by taking the case to court. In the end, the townspeople won, but the teacher is only fined $100 because even though the townspeople are right from their beginning thoughts on the subject, they ended up siding with the teacher, so the punishment is not as bad as it could be. The message about censorship in this book is it can be good, bad, useful, or unuseful, but you need to use it to figure out what is right and what is wrong. Also, this book shows you that it is okay to be wrong. One quote that helps describe this is, “I tell you Brady has the same rights as Cates: the right to be wrong!” (127). Another quote that helps explain this is, “And while they’re making you sweat, remember-you’ve helped the next fellas” (123).

My opinion on censorship is that it is an important part of our society.
Without it, people might not know what is right or wrong. Censorship can also inspire people to speak out. It has helped many people in the past, and the present. For instance, in Inherit the Wind, the townspeople used censorship when they accused a teacher of teaching things that are against the bible to their children. They learned from it that it is against the law, but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This is because the first amendment is partially protecting him. This is helpful not only to the town, but the world, because next time something like that happens, they will know that it is not against the law. The book also shows that when someone uses censorship against you and you win, it gives you a voice, and will inspire others to speak out too. Another example of this is in the article, “Fighting Against Tradition,” by Emily Scott. This article also inspired people to do great things. When the newspaper staff spoke out about the rude behavior about the student section during football games, it started a riot. A french class had a debate about the fight afterwards, and almost all of the staff of the newspaper team that wrote the article went and strived to be journalists. Speaking out using censorship can give you a voice no matter what side you are on. Whether you used censorship, or where the person being accused it teaches you that you have control of doing great
things.