Way Of Music Censorship Towards Children example essay topic

Censorship is a word with many meanings. In a broadcast sense the word censor, according to the Pocket Oxford Dictionary (seventh edition 1984), means "an official with power to suppress whole or parts of books, plays, films, letters, news, etc... on the grounds of obscenity, or threat to security."Suppress" and "obscenity" are the key words in that definition. Censorship occurs when we watch television or a movie, listen to the radio or buy music, or even read a book or magazine. Censorship also occurs in places such as public beaches because one can only remove so much clothing without being considered indecent.

There are regulations for what the public can and can't see or hear. So who decides what the public can and can't see? Who ultimately decides what is "obscene" and what should therefore be "suppressed"? Aren't we as a society capable of making that decision for ourselves, and, if we are parents, for our children? Apparently not, and perhaps for good reason too, because what is not obscene to one person may be objectionable to another. Furthermore, much of the censorship in our society is mainly geared towards children.

Age is used as the criteria for rating systems regulating what is proper for children to see at certain stages of their lives. Censorship is one way to regulate what children in a society should and shouldn't experience at a young age. It serves to reinforce the morals a society hopes to instill in its children. But censorship is not solely aimed at children. Censorship is also a way of regulating ourselves, which might also be determined by the community in which we choose to live. From movies to television, from radio to CD's, from good old-fashioned reading books to the Internet, censorship will always play a role in today's society.

Movie censorship is regulated by a rating system determined by age groups. Three main issues are scaled to decide how movies are rated: violence, sexual content, and adult language. These issues can be considered obscene in society today. The movie rating system according to the Motion Picture Association of America is broken down into five main categories.

The lowest of the movie ratings is Rated-G, which stands for General Audiences and indicates all ages can be admitted. The next of the ratings is Rated-PG, which stands for Parental Guidance Suggested. Rated-PG movies might have material that may not be suitable for younger children but for the most part is acceptable for elementary-school students to see. Rated PG-13 movies means that parents are strongly cautioned that there may be material inappropriate for children under the age of 13. The Rated-R movie is Restricted to people under 17 years of age without the company of a parent or adult guardian. Lastly, which was once called Rated-X is now known as NC-17, which means no one 17 years of age and under is admitted at all.

1 These ratings are obvious and familiar to almost anyone who has ever been to a movie theater. What is interesting is that television has now taken on a rating system very similar to that of the movie industry. The old way to censor television shows was to show the programs for adults late at night. That safety mechanism isn't necessarily the case anymore. Furthermore, with so many channels today, how does one know the content of what he or she is watching?

As movies have had ratings for many years, television shows now have ratings explaining to the viewer what they are watching. Television ratings are closely related to movie ratings. Television ratings are broken up into two different categories, the General and Children categories. In the General Category TV-G stands for General Audience and suggests that those programs are suitable for all audiences. Then there is TV-PG, which stands for Parental Guidance Suggested.

TV-PG programs may contain material that some parents might find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age. The TV-14 rating cautions parents strongly against letting children under 14 watch those programs unattended. TV-14 is also the highest rating suitable for public television. However many cable channels show programs with the rating TV-MA which stands for Mature Audiences only and is specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17 years of age.

The Children Category ratings are TV-Y and TV-Y 7. TV-Y is for children of all ages but is mainly for children under the age of seven. TV-Y 7 is directed towards children of age 7 and above who have acquired some developmental skills needed to distinguish between what is make believe and reality. 2 These ratings are shown on the top right hand side of the television screen in a little box during the television program.

By knowing these ratings, a viewer can better know the content of the show he or she is watching. An enduring popular question towards the issue of child censorship is does violence on television movies affect children? Studies show that not regulating what children see at young ages could affect them as they grow older. The American Psychological Association lists three effects on children from watching violence on television and movies. (1) Children may become less sensitive to pain and suffering of others. (2) Children may be more fearful of the world around them.

(3) Lastly, children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or in harmful ways towards others. 3 While most Rated-R movies are inappropriate for younger viewers, parents may not have objections to their children seeing Rated-R films. However, this ambiguity puts federal regulators in a difficult position of determining which movies are appropriate for young audiences to see. Watching too much violence on television or on the movies can desensitize children and can exploit their feelings of envy, competitiveness, and anger that can ultimately affect how a child grows and develops. That is why it is important for children to be educated before and after watching violence on a screen and to be protected from viewing violence. 4 Regardless of the ratings and knowing there is violence on television how would a parent know what their child is watching during their absence?

One answer is the answer is the V-chip. Think of the V-chip as a security guard watching over the programs that are going into a television set. When violence or sexually explicit programming comes on, the V-chip intervenes and blocks the transmission according to the program's rating. The V-chip instantly blocks programs according to how the television is preset simply by choosing the comfort level of content from TV-Y to TV-MA. From the start of the millenium the V chip is now standard on all television sets sold in the United States.

5 Perhaps a better censorship method than the V-chip is for parents to watch the shows their children want to see with them. There are many great advantages to doing this. A parent can actually see what his or her child is watching and interested in. Furthermore, it will be easier to make a more informed decision to determine whether the shows the children like are appropriate for them. Also, if a child doesn't understand a mature situation in a program, then the parent can help them better understand what is going on and then clarify if the situation is right or wrong. The more involved a parent is with his or her children, the better the parent can censor the children from things they shouldn't be seeing at their age.

Another important place where children need supervision and protection is the Internet. As of right now the Internet is not censored because it is internationally connected. This lack of censorship already has created problems. For example, the Internet is now a major way for certain hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, to relay their hate messages to a larger audience. Furthermore, since its inception the Internet has been home to the pornography industry, which is a very big business. Would most people consider these types of web sites immoral and objectionable?

Perhaps most would, but obviously others have a different opinion, because the porn industry wouldn't be the size it is today without a market. However, regulations should be made so that it isn't so easy for children to find or wander on those kinds of web sites. Schools that have the Internet in their libraries have a blocking system a lot like the V-chip. It blocks out any kind of search of sexually explicit or violent web sites so children can't see them. Many Internet censorship laws are trying to be passed in the Supreme Court, a difficult task since the Internet is internationally connected. Should United States regulate what the world can see if Internet censorship laws were to be passed?

Obviously not, the United States cannot and should not have any form of authority on other countries' censorship laws. It will also be very difficult to pass any kind of censorship laws on the Internet mainly because of the First Amendment and how it deals with the freedom of speech. The First Amendment plays a large role in why things can and cannot be censored. The First Amendment states that: "Congress shall not make no law representing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the government for redress of grievances".

6 Notice that the law applies to the "Government" and not to the community or religious groups or even to record companies which brings up the topic of music censorship. Music today is based more on obscenity rather than being a form of art like it should be. Technically there is no such thing as music censorship, but that doesn't mean that music censorship doesn't exist. Any action by a non-government entity is not controlled by the First Amendment, so anyone can suppress music or any other form of expression.

Location plays a big part on the legal definition of obscenity, defined by local community standards. This means that a political protest song may be okay in San Francisco, but that same song could be legally punishable by fine or imprisonment in San Antonio, Texas. 7 Music censorship then actually becomes a community's attempt to regulate its standards of decency. Communities can then determine what is best for its members based on what the community as a whole thinks. Everyone should have the right to choose what kind of music they enjoy listening to. If a community as a whole decides they don't like for example heavy metal, and passes a law to ban it, then it becomes unfair to the people who enjoy that kind of music.

When a community takes away the right of the people to listen to a certain types of music or a certain song, they are in essence taking their own right away as well. A way of music censorship towards children is by the Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics sticker on the cover of CD's. That sticker states that the CD contains material of adult language that might be unsuitable for children under 16 years of age. If a CD does have that Parental Advisory sticker on it, then the music on that CD can be and is commonly stereotyped as being obscene.

This is not always the case, though. Many different CD's carry that sticker unnecessarily for one or two objectionable words in a song. Perhaps instead of putting this stereotypically obscene sticker on the front of half the CD's that come out, there should instead be a rating system explaining what age groups that music is appropriate for. Music is a form of expression but it is also copyrighted product for sales and money to be made. If a certain type of music offends a person then the simplest way to reject it is not to buy or listen to it. However, there are many arguments of how specific music, and particularly gangster rap is immoral and gives children ideas that result in decisions they make and actions they commit.

An example of this comes from the once very controversial gangster rap artist Tupac Shakur. At one time it was believed by some that Tupac's music contained harmful subliminal messages. That issue was taken to a court of law where is was found untrue and therefore decided that people are responsible for their own actions regardless of the music they listen to. Since Tupac's death in 1996 and all the great controversy that surrounded him, his music is now regarded by many as musical poetry. Like television shows parents should be involved with what kind of music their children like, leaving aside that it might be caco phonic to them.

By actually listening to what the lyrics are saying the parent can better understand where the artist is coming from and the motives for why their music is that way. Then once again parents can better determine if the music their children like is appropriate for their age without being in the dark or being too judgmental about it, which has been the case in past years. The music evolution in this past century has been like no other. When rock n'roll first came out it received rejection, especially by older generations, because it was a new sound that was popular with a younger crowd.

The same thing occurred with other music such as punk, heavy metal, and rap or hip-hop. Newer music today such as happy hardcore, techno, trance, and jungle or drum and bass also receives that kind of rejection. Commonly, parents fall out of the music trend and when their child brings home a new musical sound that they are not familiar with the parents tend to disapprove. It seems almost like a tradition now for parents to disapprove of the younger generation's music. Music carries many trends from generation to generation, but one of the oldest forms of censorship is what can and can't be read on paper. Banned books are usually illegal because of certain information that could be a threat to someone or security.

A perfect example of a banned book in the United States would be The Anarchist Cook Book. This book tells the reader about every type of illegal and mind altering drug, how to grow or make them, how to take and use them, what the drug does to a person, how to make all types of pipe bombs or explosives, and the list goes on. Some would say that this book is a freedom of speech and it should not be illegal. However, that could be like saying it is okay to yell fire in a very crowded place. As far as reading material goes The Anarchist Cook Book is interesting to know about all those illegal capabilities. Nevertheless, if someone learns this material and uses it to hurt themselves or someone else then the book can be blamed as the source of information along with the person's actions.

Someone's opinion on the other hand should not be censored for people to read or hear as long as it is done in a peaceful manner. The First Amendment is specially geared toward this idea that everyone has the right to say what they feel and to have an opinion. People may disagree with one another, but by knowing what other people think people can expand their own knowledge and become conscious of other ideas and opinions. From knowing what other people think, one can better determine the basis of their own opinion. Censorship in today's society can get out of hand real quick on both ends of the issue. It seems like there is always someone who is personally offended by something and tries to take whatever offended them away from everyone else.

Then again, if there was no censorship, perhaps collective morals would cease to exist in society. What is not obscene to one person could very well be to another and that is one main reason why censorship does exist. However, that something is obscene to one person shouldn't forbid another from seeing or hearing that form of expression if they want. Censorship helps gives the right to parents to raise their children in an environment in which parents feel comfortable and it helps parents decide what materials their children can be exposed to and what should be withheld.

On the other hand, censorship can also blind the public from the truth. There are positive and negative aspects to censorship, which is why it is a big issue to tackle. For a community to be respectable and meet the general morals of everyone, censorship must exist. Both the government and the entertainment industry place most of the responsibility for monitoring what children can see on the shoulders of the parents. Of course parents need to be observant and provide their children with guidance. However, in the society we live in today it is hard for parents to stem the over-flowing amount of entertainment violence, sex, and obscenities on their own.

Nevertheless it is still up to us as individuals and parents to determine our own morals and values and surround ourselves with people who feel the same. Censorship will always exist in society, how it affects the way we live is up to us.