Censorship in schools is not an easy issue to deal with. Many factors vary how students learn and also how a school can teach. Censorship is also not limited to a single aspect, as there is both changing the teaching process and removing specific methods or manipulating them to comply with censorship.

Of course, this censorship comes from two pillars: the authorities and the parents. They have decided what is appropriate and what is inappropriate for children. Be it religious and social issues, nationalism, nudism, sex, drugs, or evolution. However, as the world is consistently advancing towards a new climate, censorship comes mainly from parents concerned about their children’s education safety.

Therefore, we are faced with a paradox in which the new world is pitted against the past censorship. Any research paper on censorship shows that several students’ communities are at a loss, fighting against unjustified censorship that goes against what they’ve already learned and encountered throughout their lives. Reading an essay or research paper might broaden one’s perspective on the nature of this issue. Let’s see below how strict censorship has become a problem for students.

The existing effects of censorship

Although all parents want to protect their children’s minds from impurities and offensive content, it is a matter of time before it causes their education to leak. Taking away something as natural to human beings as sex education means that there will be less awareness of sexually transmitted diseases or birth controls.

But this is only a small stepping stone, as strict censorship also limits knowledge towards cultures outside our own. For instance, to understand the inequalities and recent struggles of African-American society in the United States, it is critical to study where the problem originated and how it happened.

Furthermore, as the new generations are becoming increasingly liberated from certain modern aspects such as sexuality, many students write and focus exclusively against the censorship of sexual freedom. This controversy has generated groups in the student community and also in our society today that strive explicitly against this censorship.

What happens on a large scale

Perhaps no one talks about it daily, but in an international economy such as the one we live in, closed minds have their expiration date. Because our economy has no labels other than money. Worldview limitations, be it cultural, social, or religious, will only harm the individual when he needs to interact and collaborate with other society members.

But when we talk about the larger scale, we also talk about what can be expected in our school or college classes. Because of the insistence and battles of parents who support censorship, more essential elements than just a book or an essay will soon have to be removed.

And it shows on paper that history repeats itself with outdated censorship. Therefore, we are in a snowball effect, where small groups of parents who do not agree with some writers or universities will reign. And since it is not possible to please everyone, that snowball effect will only continue to feed.

Selection or strict censorship

Many people do not know the difference between selecting content that a teacher may make or censorship. If we take the example of a list of books for a class, where the teacher removes particular books, it depends on whether he has dismissed them for a lack of time or concentrating on other books. Or whether he has done so out of hostility towards the content of the books.

The same is true in all education areas, where both teachers and authorities have to differentiate between wanting to improvise education or remove what does not please them. The truth is that in this subtle difference, the only ones who are affected are the students. Because as soon as a bias or a personal opinion enter, that is when censorship wins in our school systems’ selection process. 

Some of these parents pride themselves on being against certain information that deals with culture, nudity, drugs, religions, and more. Because to them, this protects not only their children but also the integrity of their community. Teachers feel threatened by these parents’ reactions, and many don’t want or can even handle them.

In conclusion

The world is moving forward, but many important aspects of it are not. Strict censorship is already deeply embedded as a problem for students. But it is not the students who are to blame for the integrity of the future. As it is the responsibility of those students’ environment to make them aware of the world outside the school.

The essential function of education in schools is the preparation for the real world. Kneeling to special interest groups will limit both the knowledge and behavior of these children when confronted with critical issues and problems. Strict censorship is a massive problem for students and our societies, enhancing honest behavior towards an ever-changing world.