Censorship

Find, read and analyse a peer-reviewed journal article.

An exploratory study of Children’s views of Censorship

Natasha Isajlovic-Terry and Lynne McKechnie

This article looks at research of children and their opinions and knowledge of censored books and other material. A focus group is discussed in which children between the ages of 9 and 12 shared thoughts on censorship, parent supervision of reading material, and inappropriate subject matter in mass media. According to the article, most children stated censorship was a negative, yet parents and teachers should limit exposure in extreme circumstances. Other topics discussed in the article include children accessing restricted material, library use, and intellectual freedom.I found this article extremely thought provoking, speaking as a parent of two boys and a Children’s & Youth Services Librarian, I have observed that children’s reading abilities vary so much. Although we do try to protect our children from what we think may be harmful due to religion and politics beliefs, sexually explicit, dark or supernatural themes by censoring literature are we at risk of   limiting our children’s learning and development. Isajlovic-Terry and McKechnie (2012) advocates that “children’s voices need to be considered in the further development of policies and practises related to intellectual freedom and their access to materials for pleasure reading and information” (Isajlovic-Terry, McKechnie (2012).

Several organizations have sprung up in response to concerns about censorship of children's books. When the Harry Potter books came under attack, a number of organizations joined together to establish Muggles for Harry Potter, which is now known as kidSPEAK and focuses on being a voice for kids in fighting censorship in general. kidSPEAK stresses, "Kids have First Amendment rights—and kidSPEAK helps kids fight for them!" Andy Griffiths noted "Tim Winton once said that the difficult thing about writing for children is that you’re writing in triangles: at one point of the triangle is you. At another point is your audience. And at another point are the gatekeepers (adults, reviewers, teachers, parents, librarians etc.)" (Beagley, 2008, p.2).  What was most enjoyable about this article was the innocent responses from the children for example  " they shouldn't put the books in the library if they don't want us to read them" or " I think they should maybe stop you if it was really, like a bad book" When asked whether parents should limit what their children read and see, Sarah aged 12 said "Um, I don't think it's a good idea cause, I think reading, like, is good for people and you should read whatever you want. Unless it's inappropriate, like really inappropiate" As I mentioned before children's maturity level varies so dramatically. Cerny, Markey & Williams (2006) writes the children's collection introduces children to art and literature, the collection also includes cultures, times and lifestyles. Children need to learn many things some of which make adults uncomfortable (Cerny, Markey & 
Williams, 2006, p.35). The philosophical basis of censoring children's materials is that, because children do not have the knowledge or power to choose books and other materials for themselves, adults must do it for them. Many adults believe that children are likely to accept false information and values that are presented to them in books and other media.


 

Beagley, D. (2008). Frame of reference - Introduction: Censorship in Children's Literature. The Looking Glass. Retrieved from http://www.the-looking-glass.net/index.php/tlg/article/view/82/68

Isajlovic- Terry, N. & McKechnie, L, (2012). An Exploratory Study of Children's views of Censorship. Childrens and Libraries. 10 (1), p. 38-43

Kidspeak retrieved from http://www.kidspeakonline.org/kidspeakis.html