Censorship

Today’s Booking Through Thursday is an interesting one:

I think most of us are probably against censorship on principle, but … do you think it should vary depending on the impressionable age of the readers? Or is it always wrong? How about the difference between ‘official’ censorship by a government or a school system, as opposed to a parent saying No to a specific book for their child?

While I do think that certain books aren’t suitable for readers until they reach a particular level of maturity, it’s difficult to judge what that level should be.

I suppose with ‘official’ school-system censorship, the schools are buying in the books themselves, and so have a right, to an extent of course, to decide which materials should and shouldn’t be purchased.

As far as parents go, I think it should be the same as with films or video games – if a parent thinks the child is ready for it, then let them read/watch/play something, with supervision, and be ready to answer any questions that arise.

The difference between parents and blanket censorship is that the parents know the child personally and know what each child is ready for, whereas governmental or school-wide censorship tends to be more politically motivated. I don’t agree with the government or schools banning books outright because of the messages they contain – people don’t (or shouldn’t) believe literally everything they read, and even if you disagree with the ideology in a text, it doesn’t mean that reading it is wrong.

What do you think? Leave a comment below or on the original question at Booking Through Thursday!