Watch out... By Maha Mohammad
What is the true meaning of censorship?! Censorship is the act or practice of suppressing the speech or public communication which is considered objectionable, harmful and sensitive, by a government, media outlet or other controlling bodies. (Wikipedia definition) Censorship is an indirect way of oppression and taking people's freedom away as it restricts every single action or speech. People feel that censorship is an infringement of civil rights on various levels especially if it is made by the government. We should feel free in expressing what we want to express and if we had censorship it would take that away. However, many people firmly believe that nowadays society needs censorship and that censorship became a very vital aspect in our lives especially in TV and internet. While few people assume that TV should not be censored, many others feel the complete opposite and agree that some TV movies, series, shows ... etc. must be censored.
A number of people suppose that TV censorship is immoral as most of the 'censored' things on television are normal and everyday things that you might one day have to deal with such as racism, sexual situations, death, violence, cursing, etc. This is also viewed by some as a way for the government to control the flow of information which people receive from TV and media. People also find that although there should be guidelines for public television, there shouldn't be a censorship. The kids will hear the words later on in life, and sheltering them at a young age will make them less ready for the real world, thus causing them social awkwardness, and bullying. Furthermore, all movies released for public viewing in theaters are censored in some way or another. For instance, there are always warnings before certain shows for a reason. As a result, if there is content you do not wish to view because of your children, so then don't watch that show in your home. While warnings are not a perfect system and children ignore them regularly, they are still a system which removes responsibility from the network and places it into the parent's hands. Besides, there are vastly higher amounts of influence in everyday life than there is in television so why should it be censored! To illustrate, if your child is watching television enough to allow it to influence him\her heavier than their real life, perhaps it's time to tone down the amount of material they view not the content of the material. Censoring programs, movies, talk shows.... etc. on TV might be worse than leaving them on the air, because even though you keep censoring them, this is not going to make these issues any easier to deal with. Another example, seeing racism on television won't make children racist, because most children know that racism is not okay and most children are smart enough to know that if they see it done on television, that doesn't mean they should do it. The majority of television programs are not reality and some shows where violence, sexual content, racism, etc. are often works of fiction and not real. With that being said, the government does not have the right to decide what is acceptable for people to see and hear, even kids, for people need to be able to make their own choices, whether good or bad, and accept responsibility for them. The individuals, in their own free will, have the power to choose for themselves what shows they want to watch or not watch, and not our government. So, if we start censoring television, then next we will be censoring reading materials and the internet too.
The majority of people confirm that TV should be censored because it greatly affects children. Not to mention, Censorship protects all, but young children most importantly, from unnecessary slander on both the Internet and television that would otherwise have a negative impact on our lives. Exposing underage children to inappropriate and vulgar content can have negative effects on a child. While adults have a much easier time choosing what to watch, and are able to work around inappropriate work, children have their own ways of thinking, understanding are not always able to understand adult content. Moreover, the TV shows a lot of sexual content, violence, or even bad manners… etc. and parents can't control what their children watch all the time. In addition, children are innocent and easily influenced, and will emulate the bad behaviors TV would have shown. Since children learn from their peers and what they see on television- according to the acquisition theories- , media censorship aims to protect them against sexism, racism and segregation. That way, children are raised well and with admirable social values. According to ABC News on March 2, 2006, Lionel Tate is just one example of a child became bad because of the media. Tate was influenced by his idol the Rock. The Rock killed a six year old girl by smashing her skull, breaking her ribs and causing many cuts and bruises.
The government could save lives just by censoring inappropriate or violent TV scenes or programs. Obscure content, can be removed from the eyes of the young through the gift of censorship. Moreover, the usual censored items include pornography and obscenities, up to a certain age. There are many reasons for censoring TV such as controlling obscenities, pornography, protecting young children, to promote or restrict political, extremist religious views or even to protect the national security of a country. If censorship, however, was permanently removed, then so would be our ability to prevent vices like racism and hate in general from being voiced that is why censorship is vital to the survival of society. Any movie that is clearly damaging Egypt’s relations with some specific countries should be censored. On the top of that, religious conflicts often times can be avoided by the censorship of certain material that people view insulting or offensive. It also prevents companies from spreading inaccurate or exaggerated claims about their products or other companies. When censorship is not involved, things can lead to madness within our community and people. If we did not start censorship now, then when are we going to? It will not kill us to make limits, but it might if we did not. Additionally, Life, as we have morally lived it, would have been different if censorship didn’t exist at all and our customs and traditions would have been lost long time ago. Besides that, we, as a Muslim nation, should be the first to support this type of censorship, for if we did not do it our own identity will totally be hybrid and distorted.
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