Abstract
Censorship has been a debatable issue for decades with critics viewing it as an infringement on the rights that have been enshrined in many constitutions of many countries; this is the main reason why the notion of censorship in any sector is met with extreme resistance; however, it is a part of history that those holding positions of power often use this idea to suppress what they feel are ideas that might lead to opposition or other fundamental ideas that might threaten their hold over the people; when it comes to literature it is important to consider the effect that this action might have on future generations.
Censorship in Education: Perception of Stakeholders
The issue of censorship within the education system has been one that has been heavily debated over the years. This debate has been aggravated by the fact that each of the stakeholders claims to be on the right. On the one hand, parents claim that the use of certain literature in class is severely undermining their efforts to protect their children and ensure that they live upright and moral lives. On the other hand, teachers and those within the school system contend that it is important to expose the students to every type of literature as this is the way to not only engage the students minds but also ensure that learning is broad and all encompassing. In turn, critics from other sectors of society strongly believe that any form of censorship should not be allowed in a country that claims to be practicing democracy particularly within the education sector as this is equal to infringing on the right to free speech and expression that is put forward in the country’s constitution. This paper therefore seeks to find out the extent to which censorship is apparent in the education sector by carrying out a research which aims to recommend specific ways by which to address the interests of the different stakeholders.
Background of the study
Over the ages, it is evident that new ideas that are termed as radical, and different from what majority of the population are used to, have been met with a sense of suspicion and great opposition from various sectors of society. This is essentially because a large majority of these ideas have often grown to breed fundamental and radical behavior and therefore many of those in power employ the use of the term censorship not only stifle to these ideas but also to inflict enough fear to the advocates so they that they immediately stop the spread of their ideas. The use of censorship of literature is not a new occurrence as it has been in existence for well over 2000 years. Historical accounts trace the beginning of censorship as far back as to the time of Plato and Henry VIII of England who advocated for the rejection of any reading material that was deemed to be unsuitable and acceptable to the ruling class of that time. In fact, Henry VIII passed a law that required the submission of written material before publication. Only those granted the stamp of approval from the Church of England were allowed to be printed. A long list of denied applications was published by the Church published and one who continue printing his document along with those who read these materials were severely punished (Schliesman, 2008).
Even though the world has grown in large proportions from the era of Plato and Henry VII, thanks in part to the major advancements in the fields of technology, communication, education, and travel; the issue of censorship is still alive at this time. It is perceived that this practice still has the background of the society’s fear of what they do not understand and are therefore comfortable with. Indeed even in a country that is famed for its democratic ideals and freedoms, the United States has reported growing incidences of censorship in the education sector. These take place either in the classrooms when reading materials are limited to the ones approved by the academic authorities or in libraries which hold authorized materials alone. According to statistics provided by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, there is 37 percent of American libraries which were sent notices for displaying ensored materials in their shelves (Simons & Dresang, 2001).
It is important to note that the highest number of complaints over the presence of what they deem as unsuitable reading material are parents. The teachers’ and students’ sectors follow in the number of complaints. This is a manifestation that parents, while having the best intentions of attempting to protect their children from what they perceive to be negative influences, have also contributed to the banning of materials that may be even considered good reading for certain sectors of the population. This situation is in itself a lack of regard for the rights and freedoms of others since it means that a minority groups have the capacity to dictate to the rest of the population what they should or should not read (Simons & Dresang, 2001).
Purpose of the proposed study
This paper intends to find out the extent to which censorship is apparent in the education sector. The members of the team that shall undertake the research hopes to recommend specific ways by which to address the interests of the different stakeholders affected by the issue of censorship in education.
Research questions
- How widespread is the notion of censorship in the education sector?
- Who are considered to be the perpetrators of censorship in education?
- What mechanisms are used to prevent materials from being used in classrooms and libraries?
- What penalties are imposed by authorities to those who utilize censored materials.
- What effect does censorship have on the overall curriculum that is set up by the education board bearing in mind the material that is set aside for aid in studying?
- What effect does the censorship have on the application of the First Amendment?
Hypothesis
This research shall utilize a null hypothesis. Specifically the study hypothesizes that “Stakeholders do not perceive that censorship in education exists at a large extent.”
Limitations of the study
There are several limitations that the researchers expects to encounter during the course of the research. These pertains to (a) consent for participation of minors; (b) access to censored materials; and (c) statistical analyses. On the issue of the respondents of the surveys and interviewees, the study seeks to get the perceptions of relevant stakeholders, including students are below the legal age. As it is a standard research requirement to obtain appropriate consent for studies involving minors, it would take a longer time to hold the surveys and interviews pending approval of consent. The second limitation is access to censored materials. Since the group conducting the research are students themselves, the question of whether the group themselves would be given access to these materials, for academic purposes, remains unanswered. The third limitation, use of statistical software for analysis, is also linked with time available. The members will need to learn how to use statistical software at the soonest to be able to properly analyzed the data gathered.
Definitions
In order to ensure the clarity of the research to the audience, the following terms have been defined in this research.
- Censorship- this word is used to refer to the act carried out mostly by the government or relevant authorities to suppress the rights and freedoms of individuals, group or the larger society due to conduct they deem as suspicious or questionable.
- Banning- this refers to the act carried out by various stakeholders of removing certain reading material from either the classroom or the library due to the fact that its content is perceived to be of a controversial nature.
- Librarian- more accurately referred to as “information specialist” (www.school.eb.com). Apart from managing the library, the tasks of the librarian includes records-management, accessing, appraisal, and preservation of the institution’s resources.
- Literature- this term is used to refer to any material that has been written and published and which is considered to have a lasting effect on the society as a whole
- Stakeholders- this refers to individuals who have an interest in something in this case, their main concern would be in the education sector.
- First Amendment- this refers to a clause enshrined in the United States constitution which provides for the rights and freedoms of every individual with regard to free speech and expression.
Literature review
In order to put this discussion in context, it is important to first explain clearly the First amendment which clearly provides for the rights of every American citizen to free speech and expression which also includes the express freedom to publish and distribute written material; however, often parents as well as other adults forget that this right also extends to students- even though many, if not all of them are not eligible to be regarded as adults in the eyes of the law, Kelsey (2007) argues that if the student’s opinions are put under considerable thought, it would be possible to come up with a comfortable compromise with regards to the reading material that is available in the libraries and classrooms (Strothman & Van Fleet, 2009).
Censorship can take on many forms and even though in recent times the courts have put forward a legal process, it was not always as organized as it is now as witnessed in the case of , Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico by Pico; the school district simply removed literature from the school libraries that they deemed as unacceptable according to the moral standards they had set for the community; this presents the clearest example of school administrators carrying out the task of censorship often based on their own understanding of the situation rather than a clear and rational understanding of the issues that describe the literature (Board of Education v. Pico, 1982).
Jenkins (2008) argues that there is also a need to closely examine the reasons that lead a majority of the parents to advocate for the banning of certain literature and it has little to do with wanting to protect their children from what they perceive as negative influences found in the literature and more to do with their need to maintain a sense of control over their children’s lives. This has the effect of essentially cutting off the freedom of authors by restricting what they can write and by extension the message they wish to pass on to the rest of the world. It is also important to note that a large majority of those who advocate for censorship do so without due consideration for the consequences of their actions with regard to the access of future generations to reading material (Jenkins, 2008).
As Schliesman (2008) noted, it should be the duty and responsibility of all education stakeholders to ensure that the school libraries as well as the classroom are filled with reading material that meets each need of the student without any fear of discrimination or harassment since the library should be the one place where students should be able to explore their creativity and allow them to question the fundamental beliefs and values that they have been taught by their parents and at the end of it all come to rational decisions under the guidance of logical adults who are not bent on removing material that they deem as unsuitable but instead are available to answer any questions that might arise and help guide them to the right thinking path (Schliesman, 2008).
Bailey (2009) however asserts that even though parents and guardians have the legal, moral responsibility and duty to take care of the welfare of their children, it is also important to also duly consider the rights and freedoms of others and for these parents to understand that the power they wield over their children does not in any way give them the right to chose what every one else can read or have access to; bearing in mind that the act of censoring is equal to infringing on the First Amendment especially if the act is successful since this Amendment not only guarantees the right to free speech but also access to information which includes literature and this right should especially be upheld with regards to students (Bailey, 2009).
As noted by Hopkins (2001), the major reason that drives parents and other individuals to embark on the path that eventually leads to censorship is that of sexuality and even though children of the 21st century are constantly being exposed to sexually explicit content especially with the advancements that have been witnessed in the area of technology, many parents feel that literature is the only avenue that they can have complete control over their children; however, Hopkins asserts that since the issue of sexuality is among the greatest concern among young people and therefore it is important to not only expose them to the facts concerning sexuality but also doing so in a classroom setting will ensure that the discussion is rational, guided by teachers who have a grasp on the issue and who will provide guidance and direction away from the misconceptions that they might receive from other avenues (Bailey, 2009).
Methods
There are three subsections that will be discussed here. First is the data-collection methods; second is the role of the IRB in research; and third, the methods of analysis.
Data-collection methods. To gather information, the researchers will undertake a mixed methods approach. In particular, the group will use two types of qualitative methods: (a) semi-structured interviews; and (b) focus-group discussions. The target key informants of the interviews are librarians, school administrators, censorship committee (or the local counterpart), advocates of the materials, student leaders, and parents. The participants of the focus-group discussions are students. This is considered to be the most appropriate manner to get their ideas about the issue. There would be groups with 8-10 members who will be asked a set of 5 questions about the issue. Participants will be grouped according to age.
The quantitative method that will be used is the survey method. Before carrying out the survey, the researchers shall identify the objectives of the questionnaire, the questions to be asked, and the target respondents. The group will also decide where to get the sample population. To limit bias, the group will utilize a random sampling. This may be asking someone from every third house in a particular street or getting a list of parents from the school and asking questions from every 5th person on the list.
In the questionnaire used, the researchers will formulate responses that utilize the 5-point Likert scale with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest score. The 30 questions in the questionnaire will focus on the perception of each respondent about the extent of censorship in the school. There shall be two sets of questionnaires, one for adults and another for students. The survey for students will highlight their feelings about censorship and if the issue prevents them from learning more. They shall also be asked whether they have had problems with their parents concerning the literature they read in class and whether their parents’ opinions have led to the removal of these texts.
For the questionnaires for adults, the questions revolved around the issue of penalties and mechanisms. For example there would be questions of whether librarians were asked to take down materials or whether the individual was offended by materials displayed in the libraries. In the interviews parents would also be asked about their reasons for advocating for censorship and whether their attempts have been successful (Curwood et al, 2009).
Role of the IRB. In the US, educational institutions would have an IRB or the Institutional Board for Human Participants. IRB is in-charge of reviewing research that “directly or indirectly involves human participants” (irb.cornell.com). Once a research proposal is disapproved by the IRB it cannot be carried out in its present form. Human participants also known as “human subjects” are those whom researchers get data from either “through intervention or interaction” (www.irb.cornell.com). Surveys and interviews fall under the interaction category. Thus, for this research to be carried out, the group needs approval from the local IRB board. The group shall also abide by the Basic Health & Human Services Policy for Protection of Human Research Subjects (http://www.hhs.gov/) regarding the filing and granting of consent for children that will participate in the focus-groups.
Methods of analysis. It is important to consider the fact that the questionnaires were meant to majorly answer the why questions in order to further aid the success of the research and help researchers to clearly interpret and analyze the quantitative data that was collected. The data was to be interpreted through the five-point Likert scale; in addition, the researchers will employ the use of descriptive analysis in order to carry out an effective analysis of the data collected (Ravitch, 2004). The results of the data collection will be analyzed according to the particular methods used. For the interviews and focus-group discussions, the researchers will look into the patterns of the informants’ responses. They shall likewise validate the data by triangulation, meaning one question can be asked to three or more different individuals to be able to get the most accurate response. For the results of the survey, the group shall use a statistical software such as STATA, Excel or SPSS to be able to generate regression results or measures of central tendencies. The results of all these methods will be presented in graphs and tables in the final research paper.
Expected findings
It was hoped that by the completion of the research, there would be a better understanding of the reasons that drive parents as well as other individuals to advocate for the censorship of reading material that they deemed unsuitable to be accessed to by their children; it was also hoped that the parents would provide a clearer process of the content that they find unsuitable and the effects they feel this has on the overall well being of the child in school; this research also hopes to find out whether the school management boards have had to remove certain reading material not because they feel that it is unsuitable but because of the pressure that they have received from the parents and other community stakeholders (Ravitch, 2004).
The results of the study may likewise touch on the effect of the banning of materials on the quality of education. The researchers hope to gain a firmer grasp on how extensive censorship in education has taken place. The interviews will provide more details especially on the impact of such censorship not only on the students but also on the educators or school staff that may have experienced being reprimanded or even punished for acquiring, displaying, or using materials considered as inappropriate.
In addition, the researchers hoped to find out the opinion of the students as concerns the impact of the lack of access to certain reading material and whether being allowed to read this literature would have a significant effect on their though patterns and whether they feel that the censorship is in fact a lack of regard for their First Amendment rights as well as the perception that this has on their levels of maturity and ability to handle the information they read (Kelsey, 2007).
These results of this research are also expected to provide education stakeholders as well as the government on the way forward with regards to censorship and ensuring the effective implementation of the First Amendment as set out in the Constitution; it is hoped that this research will stir positive debate that will enable the production of a compromise that is acceptable by all and this debate will also be seen as promoting the democratic freedom and space that will ensure that the opinions of a minority few do not overshadow the majority even if they choose to remain silent as censorship is an issue that affects not only the present generation but also the promotion of a reading culture that is tolerant to all opinions (Kelsey, 2007).
Summary and Conclusions
An effort to better understand the reasons why individuals take the path that leads to censorship makes it easier for administrators, parents as well as the government to come up with policy changes that are based on a logical and rational mindset. Beginning with a background of the issue of censorship with regards Censorship in Education to literature, the study then moves on to providing a summary of the reason why it is important to carry out the research, presenting questions that it is hoped will make it easier in providing guidance for the researchers and also presents limitations that the researchers found in the process of carrying out the study; proceeding to a literature review of the issue, the researchers hope to provide a logical and clear direction that they hope the research to achieve which they hope the methods of carrying out the research will provide the relevant data, it is further hope that the expected findings that will result at the end of the research will provide stakeholders with the right direction in tackling this issue that has an effect not only on the present reading culture but in the provision of a free and fair democratic and tolerant state.
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