An Opened Mind to Censorship

When you asked in class whether we had had our minds changed about anything over the course of the semester, I tried to think in what ways this class has changed my mind about anything. I think the biggest change for me is that I have become much more, perhaps not sympathetic towards, but understanding of censors and their points of view. Prior to this class, most of my knowledge of book censorship related to the censorship of Harry Potter books, and as a huge Harry Potter fan, attempts to censor or ban those books always enraged and offended me. My mind has not been changed so much that I can claim to consider that subject more open-mindedly—I still think anyone who thinks the Harry Potter books are dangerous to children is crazy and completely out of line. But I no longer apply that generalization to anyone who tries to censor a book. Though the necessity and appropriateness of censoring books is always a subject of controversy, and in general I still fall in the camp of not censoring things for the most part, I now admit that there are many legitimate and reasonable arguments for censorship. Most of the arguments that I find most convincing (though they still don’t completely win me over) are those that argue for the censorship of certain books in schools. This class made me realize how difficult it must be as a teacher to walk the fine line between expanding your students’ horizons and making them overly uncomfortable in a classroom that is supposed to be a safe space. Whether books that fall on the wrong side of that line ought to be censored or not, I don’t know, but I definitely think a great deal of thought has to go in to what is the right thing for that audience.