The Censorship of Literature in American Secondary Level Public Schools and its Effect on Education

Abstract

The implementation of censorship within the secondary level of education and its effects on students has not been fully examined. Thus, this thesis will first define what constitutes as censorship along with a focus on the First Amendment Rights of students, intellectual freedom, a book challenge versus a banning, and selection versus censorship. A brief history of censorship in relation to the secondary level of education will then be disclosed. This section will examine the censorship concerns from 1950-2020, the patterns established between the decades, and any substantial legal action. Next, the question as to why literature tends to be challenged will be addressed, i.e. who tends to challenge materials, their reasoning for doing so, the process of book challenges, and the impact challenges have on school systems. Additionally, the top five classic novels targeted for censorship will be disclosed to uncover common factors between censored literature. The impact of censorship on the education of students will then be explored in depth. Specifically, minor rights, the importance of student choice, the inequalities within education that censorship evokes, the value of diverse literature and alternative points of view, and the future repercussion that censorship leads to will be inspected. Lastly, how teachers can preserve the First Amendment Rights of students within the classroom and beyond will be examined.