Censorship

[MasterLucario]

"Censorship is like telling a man he can't have steak because a baby can't chew it."

Today in my film and video class, my group and I got called up by our teacher to explain something about a video we made. We had brief use of nerf guns in it and apparently, that doesn't fly by administration regulations. Another group suffered a similar fate, due to a word that is deemed inappropriate, though they had beeped out. We were told that if we were to present the video, we needed to edit that part out, or else administration would have a problem. One of the students asked why and my teacher responded with "It would be Columbine all over again, apparently, as those teens made videos before the shooting too." Has our society completely baracaded any showing of "guns" in our schools this much? I know, I know. No one, including me, wants another Columbine again, but how much personal freedom of expression are we willing to give up because of one event? I highly doubt, as my administrators claim, that kids who portray themselves with guns a planning harm upon themselves or others. But with all the recent shootings across the US, all security measures are back in effect. The debate is something that seems like it will never end, as kids on one side say that they are merely expressing themselves. But are we willing to let kids express themselves and let any possible real threat fly under the radar until something unthinkable happens again?

And this discussion shouldn't just be limited to gun violence in school. Anything you can think of, whether it be over control of TV (I've seen Family Guy on as early as 8:00) or something about how uptight the FCC seems to be about what gets through. Have you ever tried to watch Troy or Saving Private Ryan on TV without seeing a lack of a little blood? For whom does the burden of keeping your kids from seeing violence belong to?, the parents or the gov? And how much does it actually hurt them?

 

[Sadib]

You school sounds stupid. You should shoot them up. Cartoons have censorship too, especially the 90s Spider-Man cartoon. I heard that video games aren't allowed to let you kill children.

 

[MasterLucario]

But they'll let you go on a killing spree and kill as many older people as possible? Hmmm... mixed messages....

 

[John Wallrein]

(I've seen Family Guy on as early as 8:00)

Hell, American Dad is on at noon

And I think it all depends. For any normal, mentally stable person, I think censorship has gone a little far. However I also believe you need it. People that are unstable mentally, can get ideas and lose there sense of reality with things and that one person can cause a lot of problems and grief for others.

 

[MasterLucario]

I guess. But that raises yet again the other debate of how much can one person ruin it for the rest of us? I mean, 9/11 caused so much paranoia, fear, and overly heightened security measures because of a few men. But I digress.

 

[The Director]

I'm of the opinion that something shouldn't be censored unless it is actively encouraging people to break the law.

The difference is showing someone the action and encouraging the person to do action.

And yes there are people who will confuse the two, such as young children and people with mental disorders, but with that argument shouldn't we stop the news broadcasting crimes? And even if we did, sensoring film or T.V. doesn't stop the person reading about it on the internet.

 

[Ludger]

They do the censorship because of not understanding about other people character and perspective. Yeah they also do it because they care but they don't understand the result of their censorship

 

[Charizardfan900]

For me censorship has mixed feelings.

Yes, it helps monitor how... mature(?) the content is but I hate it when things go to far.

I rarely see a 12 rated game anymore. because all games with violence in them (except little big planet) seem to be an instant 15 rated game.

Also with swearing/sexual talk. Trust me, in my average day at school I hear it all.

And with the school of the OP, the idea of making you get rid of the nerf guns are stupid. THEY ARE CHILDRENS' TOYS!

 

[Steelers_Fan]

Censorship is ridiculous nowadays. Today a group of seniors asked to bring nerf guns to school for a video, much like OP, but were told no because they might be real guns. A gun made of plastic that says NERF on the side with foam darts apparently looks like a real gun.

Violence, language, and sexual content shouldn't be as censored as it is. Like an earlier poster said, you hear the worst at school and the internet.

Going back to the guns at school thing, a senior brought an air soft gun painted black to school and pointed it at a teacher. The teacher did nothing and the kid got 20 days out of school suspension. It was unloaded and harmless, but a few people are in an uproar about it because it was a 'firearm'.

 

[Kutie Pie]

Going back to the guns at school thing, a senior brought an air soft gun painted black to school and pointed it at a teacher. The teacher did nothing and the kid got 20 days out of school suspension. It was unloaded and harmless, but a few people are in an uproar about it because it was a 'firearm'.

The kid was asking for it by deliberately doing it, to be honest with you. What may be a harmless prank to one person doesn't mean the other person doesn't get it. Some jerkass kid at my brothers' school once called the administration office saying there was a bomb on campus, and the school was on lock-down for almost the entire day while they went looking for the bomb. The kid never showed up, and a friend of his came forth confessing it was a joke.

Anyway, my college doesn't allow weaponry-lookalikes anymore because sometime last year, some students brought actual (machine?) unloaded guns to the campus to use in a project (we're a film school). While they did finish the project, the administration wasn't happy with it, so they put a ban on bringing anything that looks like a gun, be it real or a toy, to campus. This was a class a semester ahead of my class, too. But here in Arizona (don't know if it goes for other states), there was a bill mentioned about allowing guns on campuses or not (I believe it was an anti-gun law or something, which ticks me off to no end). I'm rather neutral on allowing guns in school, but very few gun owners will use it to shoot up the place as they mostly keep it on their person as protection. So as long as they have the license to carry it and only use it in self-defense, I'm fine with it.

Now for censoring swearing, we don't really do that here for our projects since, heck, we're adults, but the really harsh ones do have to be bleeped out or avoided when it comes to filming class projects. And the teachers aren't supposed to swear during lessons, but a lot of them do it anyway. *shrugs* I could care less for the language now (even though it's really annoying to listen to), though the really harsh words should be bleeped out, or just left out all together. Save that for HBO and other late-night cable shows.

 

[miles0624]

I think by censoring, you make the problem worse. The thing is how the person learns of what they are doing greatly influences their morality about it. (I.e casual sex, drugs, cursing etc.) Now someone may say that parents brainwash their children to be morally like them (aka: christanity), but I think it is the parents ( and to a much much lesser extent, the school) to explain things to their children so that they can understand their actions.

As for the schools, I think it it a little ok for the schools to censor until a child reaches middle school (personally, I don't believe in middle school, but that is a debate for another time.)

 

[Malanu]

You school sounds stupid. You should shoot them up. Cartoons have censorship too, especially the 90s Spider-Man cartoon. I heard that video games aren't allowed to let you kill children.

In a game I am playing right now If you sneak attack a "brownie" http://www.writteninstone.com.au/web_images/browny.jpg It looks like you just scooped up a baby by the ankle and knifed it to death! Slightly disturbing and made me quite sneak attacking the lil critters... now Kobalds are a different story!!!

 

[Jb]

I'm 0laying Just Cause 2 and I'm killing minorites left and right. It's harmless fun, i don't think violence needs to censored like it is these days. Sex I can understand.

 

[jireh the provider]

I guess. But that raises yet again the other debate of how much can one person ruin it for the rest of us? I mean, 9/11 caused so much paranoia, fear, and overly heightened security measures because of a few men. But I digress.

Truly agree. I've read fro TvTropes.com that this 'cracked.com' site exaggerates the Route 4 and kyurem's height as 9 /11.

Wow, whatever that person's thinking exaggerated the no. too much may not be paying attention to wu xing.

 

[greatguy]

No, censorship of any kind is illegal (in the States at least) and can be used by the government to prevent points of view contrary to their own.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Hell, American Dad is on at noon

And I think it all depends. For any normal, mentally stable person, I think censorship has gone a little far. However I also believe you need it. People that are unstable mentally, can get ideas and lose there sense of reality with things and that one person can cause a lot of problems and grief for others.

Sorry, but you're believing in a false stereotype. Mental instability is the result of an imbalance of chemicals in the brain; it's not as if they go out and seek ways to be influenced in ways like this. Also, mentally ill people are no more likely to commit violent acts than a regular person.

Anyway, I do not support censorship. It hides the true nature of the world from people and gives them a false sense of what really happens. You can't hide everything from people forever, and seeing the bad things through media is a lot less scarring than experiencing it first-hand without having any previous knowledge of the situation.

 

[Breeder Drew]

My school is the exact same way. They really just want you to believe that the world is all pretty rainbows, unicorns, and gumdrops when actual **** goes down outside those doors. I bet they stop teaching us about wars soon enough, because wars involve violence and no sir, they cannot have that.

 

[Cosmic Fury]

I believe that most censorship (outside of sexually related things) shouldn't have to be put into place, as long as the children/adolescents have a very solid understanding of what is right, and what is wrong.

Even then, if they do, what's to stop them from being so desensitized by the violence of the world around them that they start being violent themselves? I believe that censoring what a small child sees is all good, until they can start to think on their own when they finally get exposed to all of the violence, vulgarity, and all of the bad things that go on outside the walls of their homes and their schools. At least they'll have the sense to realize what is the right thing to do in any situation.

 

[SwiftSoul]

I find it funny we're talking about censorship on here of all places.

But seriously, I dislike censorship as well. And honestly, even the sexual things I think are way too censored in society. Sex happens. Obviously, if people just don't want to see it, there should be options, but blanket censorship just because of some might be offended is ridiculous.

Apparently in some schools just mentioning the word Columbine merits punishment.

 

[TheFightingPikachu]

I'm moving this here from the Homosexuality debate. It was about some pastor who has said some terrible things about homosexuals.

There's a difference between having different beliefs versus saying offensive things and suggesting we do horrible things to people. XP

Everyone has freedom of speech, but having freedom of speech does not protect you for being criticized or punished if you say or suggest something that is unequivocally inappropriate.

When a politician or celebrity says something inappropriate, we expect them to apologize for it, right? Saying horrible, hateful things, especially when it can affect how other people will be treated, is not okay, no matter who you are or what you do. Imagine a Democrat said all Republicans need to be penned up like that - how do you think Republicans would react?


But yes, as matt said, it's not like an apology would actually make this okay. And we're heard enough politicians and celebrities make crappy, fake apologies anyway that it's practically lost its meaning.

~Psychic

I said this somewhere else, but I don't remember where. As long as I'm correct about this (anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), some rappers have advocated violence against law enforcement. Or violence against women. Or violence against people who are not minorities. Or violence against people who don't approve of gay marriage. or against people who hold religious belief (or some particular religious belief). I know of no legal authority who has suggested that they do not have the freedom of speech to say those things.


Now, given this status quo, there seems to be only one reason why people would think that this pastor's wrong, hateful statement would not be protected under freedom of speech. Can anyone tell me what that reason is?