Persuasive Essay On Censorship In Schools

722 Words3 Pages

Censorship is used in many parts of our life, for example, when you’re driving in the car and your favorite song comes on but there seems to be brief pauses in between the lyrics that you know contains profanity, that is censorship. “Censorship is the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are “offensive” (ACLU). Pretty much since the beginning of time, censorship has been used to keep a community “pure”, “The origin of the term censor can be traced back to Rome in 443 BC. The ancient Greek communities would practice the ideal of good governance by shaping the character of the people” (Newth). Though censorship tends to cover up whatever is “impure” censorship cannot overrule your First Amendment rights, “ The First Amendment guarantees …show more content…

Back in 2002, there was a case in Albemarle, Virginia where a middle school boy named Alan Newsom wore a t-shirt to school that depicted men shooting guns. Though it was clearly stated in the school’s dress code that any clothing that contains images of weapons or violence cannot be worn, he felt that it was okay to wear it to school because he has worn this t-shirt before and has not had a problem. On September 17, 2002 the Newsoms filed a suit against the Albemarle County School Board, after a two month dispute the judge ruled in favor of the school, unhappy the Newsoms appealed and was later denied. At the end of everything Alan Newsom was told he could wear the shirt as long as it didn’t disturb the school environment. Another case was during the Vietnam War in 1969, a public school in Des Moines, Iowa a handful of students organized a peaceful and silent protest against the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands. The principle noticed and warned them saying that if they didn’t take off the armbands that each student would get suspended. Ignoring the warning, the students continued wearing the armbands and many got suspended during the suspension they parents of these students thought this was unfair and a violation of their children's First Amendment rights and took this situation to court. In 1969, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of the students