By Laura Knoy on Wednesday, March 31, 2010.
Are there some forms of expression that are simply too crude or too offensive to be allowed to be disseminated? What kinds of things, if any, should be censored? Who should do the censoring?
GUEST
- Max Latona, Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Anselm College
Background Reading from NHPR
To censor: Merriam-Webster defines it as “to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable”. The English form of the word was taken from Ancient Roman and the position of “censura”, a government position who not only was in charge of the city’s census and certain areas of the government’s finances but also to ‘supervise public morality’.
As you can see, censorship has been around almost as long as there have been people who have wanted to express themselves freely. Both in Ancient Roman and Greek societies, censorship was looked on as ‘honorable’ since it helped shaped the moral character of its people. The Greek philosopher Plato emphatically defended that any art that could corrupt morality should be censored. “Let the censors receive any tale of fiction which is good, and reject the bad,” said Plato, “and we will desire mothers and nurses to tell their children the authorized ones only.” Ironically, his teacher (and our project’s namesake), Socrates, ended up being one of the earliest victims of censorship, as he was sentenced to drink poison in 399 BC for impiety and corrupting the youth.
Almost 2500 years later, the censorship debate remains strong. It’s a discussion that occurs almost every day in our media, schools, libraries and in popular culture, and with this debate arrives a host of Socratic questions on both sides of the argument.
The first amendment comes up often in debates around censorship. It allows us the Constitutional right to free speech and free press, but it does have its limits. We can’t scream “Fire!” in a crowded theater, there are laws against slander and libel, and we hope the press will report ‘the truth’. But the press and the media have greatly expanded due to technology. It allows us to access more information than ever before. So how much of this information should the press report? Does telling ‘the truth’ go too far when it could compromise the safety of people or our nation? Should embedded war journalists report on secret military locations, strategy and weaponry? Should we permit homeland security plans to be revealed if terrorists can use them to find possible loopholes? DNA sequences of some of the most deadly pathogens known to man (small pox, polio, and 1918 Influenza) can now be purchased over the internet. Is that permissible? But if we start censoring there, where does it end? Do you create a slippery slope once you begin to censor?
Then there is harm. We have a right to express ourselves freely but it’s generally agreed that we shouldn’t try to harm each other. In that respect, we DO censor both on our Socrates Exchange radio and web discussions. We don’t permit certain vulgarities on our air: if we did, we would incur major fines from the FCC. We also don’t allow disparaging remarks, name calling or threats on our web discussion because we want to create an environment for people to post, respond, debate and yet feel safe. Many media outlets have discussion pages, blogs and comment sections that go unmonitored. There you do find vulgarities, slanderous statements, misinformation, and threats. As cyber media grows and continues to become more relaxed, does that in part make censorship meaningless and irrelevant?
Then there is the classroom. For years debates have raged over the possible banning of certain books. Examples of this include the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for using the word ‘nigger’, Alice in Wonderland due to implications of drug use, Harry Potter because some feel that wizardry depicted has ‘satanic overtones’ and Heather has Two Mommies due to its discussion of homosexuality. Likewise debate has come up about the teaching of creationism, evolution, safe-sex and abortion. Those who support censoring in the schools say that as parents they have a right to censor the ideas that their children are exposed to. Those against this parental control ask why we should ban a book for all because it offends the beliefs of a few? Should one or two bad words exclude a masterpiece of literature? Do religious principles stand up in schools? If you don’t ban a book that offends a particular church, then is it OK to teach the Bible or the Koran in the classroom? Is expunging “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance censorship? If we don’t ban certain books in school due to language, sex or violence then should we allow pornography or graphically-violent novels in schools?
One final outlet in the censorship debate is art and pop culture. Gone are the days where TV couples sleep in different beds. TV cartoons like South Park constantly push the limits, and then push more. Video games have become increasingly violent and some music is chock full of vulgarities and vitriol. Because of this rein-loosening, some feel that lines have been crossed. Some say the lyrics and subliminal messages behind Ozzy Ozbourne’s 1980 hit “Suicide Solution” led to several deaths by teens who had listened to the song. There was Ice-T’s 1992 rap “cop killer” that some say incited police violence. After the Columbine school massacre, there were those who looked to blame movies and video games. It was said that one of the killers had named his sawed off shotgun after a character of the video game “Doom” and that their dressing in trench coats copycatted the violent movie “Basketball Diaries”. Closer to home, the senseless murder of Kimberly Cates in Mont Vernon, NH last October has been linked to the musical group “Insane Clown Posse” and the ultra-violent lyrics to which the teenagers listened. But the same has been said in the past of Elvis, of the TV show “Bevis and Butthead” and the art of Robert Mapplethorpe (which when compared to the extremes of today seem far milder). Most listen to Cop Killer and don’t think about killing police; most can play Doom or listen to Insane Clown Posse and not resort to violence. Shouldn’t we then allow these forms of art even though there are a few “bad apples”? Or has the tolerance of increasingly more graphic and extreme violent, sexuality, and lewdness begun to erode our sensibilities and numb us to their depravity? If so, what is the next envelope to be pushed if we don’t censor at some point? How about when it offends a whole religion? A Danish cartoonist recently depicted a picture of Mohammed in several comics. Is it OK to censor someone who offends a whole religion to the point of blasphemy?
Maybe there ought to be no limits to freedom of expression. If there should be, then what are those limits, and whom do we trust to articulate and enforce them? The topic of censorship is extremely controversial. Get Socratic! Let us know what you think. Respond to other postings while you are here!
What do you think: Is censorship ever acceptable? Write a response to this question using Google Docs. Think before you write.
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Do not post a comment here on the blog.
Before you complete this response, think about everything you heard discussed at TodaysMeet. Here are some of the questions that we might discuss in Todays Meet:
•When is censorship acceptable?
•Is it ever acceptable to ban a book from a school library?
•Is it ever acceptable to block/filter Web sites from school use? If so, who determines what to block? How do you decide what to block?
Socrates: Is censorship ever acceptable?
This question is very broad, and there are a lot of layers to this topic. The first thing I’m going to talk about is censoring and banning books at schools and libraries. I totally disagree with banning any books what so ever. Everyone will have their own opinion on different books, and it should be your choice whether to read it or not. Classics like Alice in Wonderland have been being banned from schools. This is just ridiculous! Just because a few people think that it is related to drugs or something doesn’t mean it should be banned forever from a library, it is an amazing piece of literature. If people start banning one book for a reason like that then everyone will start looking through all books in search for something wrong with it, and soon there wouldn’t be any books at all! Another layer to this question is censorship on the Internet. I believe that in schools some sites should be blocked from the students. I think this because there is always going to be at least one kid who ruins it for the rest of us and goes on dirty sites. And then whose fault is it? The schools. It’s not that most kids can’t handle the responsibilities, it’s just better to be safe than sorry. Another thing is censorship on TV. I think what we have right now is good. Warning labels like TV-MA help tell parents, and help parents tell kids what they should and shouldn’t watch. Now I’m not saying that it’s mandatory to be that certain age to watch a certain show, because there are some people who can handle it better than others, what I’m saying is it’s a helpful guild line for everyone. And I think that’s how it should stay. Just like in some music there are warnings like “explicit content” or in video games; “not suitable for minors.” Then it all comes down which songs you should and shouldn’t be able to listen to. This choice, in my opinion, should be made by your parents if you are under 18. I’m not saying they should personally pick what type of songs you enjoy, I’m saying if they don’t like what you are listening to for what ever reason, then you just shouldn’t. Another thing is movies. I like the way we handle movies too. Ratings like R and PG13 help us decide whether or not we can handle the materiel in the movie. This also, I think, should be your parents choice(if you are under 18) whether or not you are old enough to watch rated R or PG13 movies. Your parents are the ones who raised you, so it should be their choice not the governments.
I do not think censorship is ever acceptable. I would say that anything that would be offensive or repulsive etc. should have a warning however. The warning would mention that the following content was ____ because ____. So, if it was a violent movie, it would say, “WARNING! The following content may not be suitable for certain people. There is violence involved” or something of the sort. As for books, there should be a seperate section for anything explicit, etc. And school website usage could be monitored, but not blocked off. So, while during work time, the sites may be available, but the computers would be monitored heavily so as to not allow anything non-work related. Then during a time which total usage is allowed, there would be nothing saying that there is no usage of said sites allowed, but those sites would also have the warnings about their content so that no material or content would be viewed that was not approved by the viewer
themselves. What human beings manifest into writing because they had an idea they wanted to share with the world shouldn’t ever be blocked off from the public either. That piece is something that said person felt the world deserved to know, or wanted the world to know. Maybe it was an invention, or a piece of information about the latest astronomical findings. But they decided it was right for others to know. Censorship is unacceptable in all conditions.
I kind of have a mixed opinion on censorship. I think it is needed in some places like the music industry, movies, and other things. But banning books because they are satanic, in my opinion, is just plain stupid. Not everyone is in the Christian religion and religion shouldn’t even be brought into censorship unless something is degrading said religion. Things like music though are a must. They play every song imaginable on the radio and anyone can hear it, so the songs that are inappropriate should be censored for those younger listeners who don’t know not to repeat it to someone who might take offence. Same thing with movies, not everything shown or said in movies is appropriate and should not be shown to younger audiences who might not be able to handle something like that. Censorship is important because it limits the amount of misinformation or inappropriate knowledge but it also takes away plenty of things by banning things because of religious or political beliefs. There are always has to be censorship. That one thing you decide not to say, a song a mother doesn’t want her child to hear, looking away from a picture you don’t want to see, all examples we won’t get away from. Censorship should definitely not be demolished, but it should be slackened up a little bit and nothing irrelevant should ever come into play. The reason I think censorship is so important is because the people who censor don’t trust the public with certain things. I believe they have every right to think that; there are so many people out there that would take information too seriously, not seriously enough, or will attempt to do what is shown which might end them being thrown in jail or worse.
I think that censorship is acceptable when you are in school and sometimes at home. At school we need to keep older kids and little kids off of sites that are not acceptable. Like in my group we talked about how there is always one kid that brakes the rule and goes on one site that is inappropriate for school. Also in the background reading NHPR said “As you can see, censorship has been around almost as long as there have been people who have wanted to express themselves freely.” I think the quote from NHPR says that we will never be able to censor everything no matter where people go. I also think that censorship should not be involved in books because it just destroys the whole story. Also it just makes the reader get less interested in the book because all they wont to do is read about the bad and inappropriate things that the writer says. That’s what the writer is trying to do, get people to read their books.
Mike Garabedian
4-1-10
Lincoln
Censorship!
I think that censorship should never be acceptable because people should be trusted just enough to let them have their own rights. To let them look at stuff, but on their own time. I think that banning a book from a library is like taking a movie from a movie store they just don’t do that stuff. I think that it is acceptable to ban some little thing from the internet during school because kids should be doing work not other things. Also I think that the teacher who is teaching the class should be able to ban what the need to, so kids will stay on track. The teacher is who decides what to block not others who don’t know what they might need during class.
Is censorship ever acceptable?
Yes, censorship is acceptable. But I only think that censorship should be on some things. For example, rated M (mature) video games are censored but you have to be 17 to buy them. That’s so stupid. Also, you have to be 17 to watch a movie in a theater that’s rated R. I think if a kid under 17 brings a note from a parent or guardian that says they can watch a movie or buy a rated M game that they should be able to watch or buy that game or movie. Or if there was no age limit that would be great too. But I mostly agree with censorship. I agree that you have to be 18 to buy cigarettes and be 21 to buy beer. I agree only because I would not want a kid to go to a store and buy beer, that’s just wrong. You have to be 18 to buy cigarettes because when you are that age you can pretty much make your own decisions. I agree with censorship but I think there needs to be a few changes like my examples above.
Is Censorship acceptable?
Yes, I do think that censorship is acceptable, but only in some circumstances. I think that censorship is acceptable for things like television, and radio, but those are the only two things that I think censorship should be used in. On the other hand things like music, videos, and internet I believe should be free of all censorship, no matter what! I think that music, videos, and internet should not have censoring in them because it is the decision of the individual person to either watch or listen to what they want to. So say someone bought a CD or a video from the store and it says “Mature Content – May not be suitable for all people” you take responsibility for what your doing. You may be perfectly fine with listening/watching the content that is on the disk, but it’s your own job to know the your limits and if it means not buying a certain CD or video then don’t. And I don’t think it’s fair to censor content that’s not yours, unless you have permission from the owner. The few things I would censor are television and radio. The only reason I would censor these things is because, they are so public and everyone and anyone has access to them. You wouldn’t want your seven year old kid on T.V watching a war scene would you? So that’s why I think There should be censorship in those areas. They are just to public and easily accesible.
Matt M.
Lincoln
I think that censorship shouldn’t be acceptable in some cases. The whole world shouldn’t just censor itself out from the real world. I’m mean by the real world is because we need to learn from it. In the real world good and bad stuff happens. Like if we censor each other we wouldn’t learn from each other. In health class if we just censored that out how would we be able to know what is in us. The world wouldn’t be right or the same if we censorship everything. There is one big question that I keeping asking myself… How would humane society learn, if the world was censored? The stuff that is usually not censored we would go after it and try it and learn from it. NO ONES PERFECT!
Jimmy C.
4-1-10
Lincoln
Is censorship ever acceptable?
Yes. I do think censorship is acceptable in some circumstances. I schools should censorship their internet because even though all the kids know not to go on any inappropriate sites there are always those few kids that love to break the rules and ruin it for everyone. I strongly think that schools should ever censor anything else including their library because kids should have a chance to read whatever they want. If they think it’s okay to ban a great novel like Harry Potter then they could ban the Twilight series or anything on that idea. If they did there would be no fantasy books left. I really don’t believe that video games have no effect on the columbines that have happened over the years with the teenagers. They already must have had a lot of rage built up inside of them from there lives in order for them to actually do that to people. I think the only reason for schools to censor anything should be the internet because anything beyond that wont help at all, it will only be keeping kids out from the outside world. I do not think that the government should be dong any censoring either. People can decide for themslelves what’s appropriate and inappropriate.
Courtney N.
4/1/10
Lincoln
IS CENSORSHIP EVER ACCEPTABLE?
I think that censorship is never acceptable. If books get banned then people will come up with more reasons to ban other books and even websites. I also think that by the time kids are 12-13 years old they should be able to be trusted in school and at their house not to go on inappropriate sites. I think that books should not get banned because there is a reason that they got written,that is so they can be read. If you don’t like a book don’t read it, other people like it. I also think that books shouldn’t be banned because if you ban books there will always be a reason to ban all books and websites. I think people should be mature about what they are reading. A book always has a purpose to why it was written and people don’t always think of other reasons that it was written. I think websites should not be banned because people should not be putting inappropriate thing for younger audiences, people should keep their lives to themselves, not the world. I think that if you cesor younger audiences ten it is okay put once you are 12-13 you should know not to go on inappropriate sites.
Is Censorship ever acceptable?
I think that censorship is acceptable. When I think of censorship, I would say that the age that it should enforced upon should be from young children to ages 18-21. I say this because when you’re at these ages you are forced to follow the rules, and are under watch of parents, or people protecting you. Parents and the government also don’t want children to see or hear something that is inappropriate or could have been avoided. Once you’re 21, I would say that it should be the age for no censorship because then I would call you a free adult because you can make all the decisions that you want. I mean just think about how it would be if we didn’t have censorship. Wouldn’t it be a lot different to how our society is today? I think that everything would be a lot more chaotic. People could pretty much do whatever they want, and get away with it. We could just go by the rules and choices that we think are right for ourselves. I mean yes, we are able to make our own choices, but it’s not always just censorship for yourselves. It’s for everybody and what they think would be appropriate for the audience, like movies. Though when it comes to banning books or all movies because of the violence or something else, I think that it doesn’t make sense because that would eliminate many books or movies that we have today. Also, I think watching movies or reading books that are censored can be educational. So I believe that censorship is acceptable, but only before a certain age when people become mature. I do think though, that the censoring should be thought about before it is done to make sure that it is the right decision and makes sense to have it censored.
Censorship isn’t something that is completely black and white, there really are no right or wrong answers, just different points of view. I think things that could potentially hurt or traumatize some one should be censored until you are ready to understand or see what that thing is.On some things I think that you should be able to censor yourself, like with movies and music. You know what you are comfortable with so when you are about to see/hear something that makes you uncomfortable you should just turn it off and walk away, not every thing has to be censored for you because most people when they get to a certain age are responsible enough to handle that. But, if something is only going to be uncomfortable for some and not others why should the other people have to go with out it? As far as who should do the censoring for teenagers I think that most teenagers a responsible enough to handle censoring themselves. Sure, there are a few people who would abuse that privilege, but still we should be given the benefit of the doubt and should be given a chance or we should at least be able to discuss what should be censored with our parents, because really only we know what can and can’t handle. Over all I am still not really positive on what should and shouldn’t be censored or who should do the censoring, just that in a lot of case it should be your choice what is censored.
Andrew H.
3-30-10
Lincoln
I think that censorship should only be used in situations that involve the age group that the material is explicit to. For example, when there are children that are not at least ten years old watching PG-13 movies they should be legally be forced to not be in there while the movie is playing. Maybe the movie workers will also have to check identities to see if the movie is age appropriate for anyone that is of the questionable age. They should not enforce this as much as alcohol sales because there is a big difference between the two. That also is one of the ways that there is a difference between censoring things. So it all depends on the content or on the age group the thing being censored is appropriate. While some people never are able to comprehend the fact that everything that they find unacceptable is what is actually happening. The romantic and sexual images that are seen on television are things that actually happening in real life. When people get offended by the images they should have the common sense to not watch it. The adults that don’t accept certain music, video games or television shows/ movies, they should have that responsibility and try their best to make sure their kids don’t participate in those things. The reasons that some people are not satisfied with the censorship are ridiculous, because they should get the sense to not watch what they don’t want to see. I think that our government and whoever else does the censoring is doing it perfectly right here and right now. Banning a book from a library should not happen just because of the message it could give off. I read the story about a senior in high school that hears more bad word and sees more bad things walking from class to class, than he sees bad images and bad words in any book he has ever heard of. I never knew the books that were banned from some libraries were ever relaying bad messages, so if you never told me I could have lived my whole life without ever knowing. Now when the school has filters on its internet that is 100% acceptable because at our age when we are told that we aren’t allowed to see these website then we tend to look them up. As far as I know no sexual website should ever be viewed from a school computer. The administrator should always be able to block and get rid of certain websites that promote the bad things that are censored. The censorship that is always acceptable is already out there is perfect.
NHPR’s Socrates Exchange Question: Is Censorship Ever Acceptable?
3-30-10
I really can’t make up on my mind on this question. I agree that we should definitely have censorship, but I can’t decide on the complicated things. I think that the people that are censoring the T.V. are doing a good job. Because you never know if a 4 or a 40 year old person is watching a rated R. movie. I think that the school is doing a good job censoring certain websites like facebook and myspace. So there’s a certain place and time to censor things. The problem though is when you’re watching a live performance on T.V., because the censors don’t know if they should be looking out for things to censor. Something that I figured out yesterday was how much the media is censoring us. When the news channels decide to show stuff like who won Dancing with the Stars instead of The Invisible Children documentary (or the more important stuff), they’re censoring us from know what awful things are going on. They control a lot of what we know. If we didn’t censor things, more stuff would happen like the killing on Mt. Vernon. The kids played a lot of violent games, which they thought were really fun. So they probably thought why wouldn’t it be fun in real life. My final decision though is that we should not get rid of censoring things, but we shouldn’t be censoring everything.
I think that we shouldn’t have to have things censored, but because of the way today’s society is, we have to censor some things because we are too immature, irresponsible, and untrustworthy to handle it. Movies and books for example, should be censored, but only from little kids. And little kids are so oblivious to everything anyway, it doesn’t really make a difference to them. When kids are around 6th grade, they learn about all the “bad things” in health in school, so “protecting” them from information that may seem crude or inappropriate is a little hypocritical. When you are reading a book, such as Harry Potter, a kid isn’t going to be thinking “OH MY GOD, there are SATANIC REFERENCES in this book!” If you mention it to a kid, they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about–all they’ll know is that it’s a good book.
But then there are bigger issues, like broadcasting on TV, radio, newspapers or magazines. Broadcasting some things across America could be dangerous–lives could be put in danger, or enemies could find out information to use against someone else. This world is wrapped too much around wars and terrorism and violence for us to block it from little kids entirely, but they’ll eventually find out. But we should let them enjoy the not knowing-ness as long as they can. But no longer.
3/30/10
Censorship
I think that censorship is totally acceptable. For instance there are things on the Internet that are not needed to be seen or heard by the general public. And so we censor things that go under that category. But it also happens in things like songs, movies and all sorts of things. I think it is great that this happens because a lot of people don’t need to hear these things. Some because of maturity levels or some that are to young and then people that just can’t handle it. Even though I am all for censorship I think that we need to trust that people know not to go on those sites. But the other problem is if we wipe out censorship like some suggest chaos is assured. The reason I take a stand against no censorship is because it in my way of thinking helps the society run. My thinking is simply if society didn’t have censorship than people could do what they want when they want on the Internet or what ever the case may be. Then with censorship comes the problem of who does the censoring. Honestly I don’t know who should the censoring but what I do know is that without it things will only go downhill. All though others may think of censorship as not giving freedom of speech a right to the public. I think it is just the opposite. I think censorship is there to protect the public.
IS CENSORSHIP EVER ACCEPTABLE?
Of course censorship is acceptable to a certain extent, but to be able to know where that extent is, is the whole thing. To know that we need to censor out certain web-sites from schools or from yourself even. People might even censor things because your to young, parents may have done this to their children for the child’s safety, and our government have may of done this to certain people. But it’s O.K. that people censor us because it is mainly for our own safety or for the safety of others. However music, writings and historic films shouldn’t be censored because those things have history. They show us what things were like now and what they were like then. But yes in my opinion censorship (in most cases) is acceptable.
In some instances censorship is acceptable. Say your a six years old and you walk into a movie theater, you shouldn’t be aloud to go see movies that are beyond your grasp. That’s why they put ratings on movies, so you wouldn’t just give a kid a ticket. What if you’re at school why would you give a kid access to facebook if all they’re going to do is sit there and play that instead of listening to you teach the class. You would really need to withhold information from the public when it has to do with the military. Things like classified missions or the locations of troops in a war zone. These things need to be hidden for the safety of our troops and the general public. So yes in a lot of cases there needs to be censoring.
Matt H.
April 1, 2010
Washington
I believe that censorship is acceptable and must happen in many cases. One instance where censorship is needed in schools is on the internet. When a student goes online the teacher and parents do not want the student to go onto a site accidentally and see graphic, sexual and or violent images when the school only wants the child to go onto the class blog. Another is in celebrating holidays. Like when a new kid comes into a new school and he is a different religion than all the other kids and they go and celebrate Christmas and the kid does not celebrate it because of his religion, the parents could become mad or the child could be mad. Many times though, censorship is not needed. At home, the parents really do not need to block some sites if they have older children because the parent or guardian should have enough trust in the child to know that they are smart enough to know not to go on those sites if they are educated about which also means that it is the parents responsibility to educate the kids about those sites and to know why not to go on them. Another one is in books, really if you think about it, if you read a book and it us very graphic and puts bad or unrealistic ideas in your head then just stop reading it. Wouldn’t you? But even though a lot of time censorship is not needed it is usually up to the parents or teachers to decide what to censor or not and it’s going to be that way until your 18 and not going to change any time soon. Also be very mature and say that even if it is bad or anything, just be mature and do your own self censoring because maybe that could show that we can handle not being censored and maybe it would change.
Sincerely,
Matt H. 🙂
I think censoring is a huge part of civilisation. the ancient Romans and Greeks probably censored many things. They must have had reasons like if went up to your mom or dad and said a huge secret they would probably flip out well the same thing would have happened in an empire such as Rome or Greece. People with a pattern in there life can’t handle change or the sense of grief my mom studies cycology and she explains things to me that shows me how people work. Say if I were Cesar and I knew about a huge army coming to wipe my city out I would only tell the soldiers to prepare and my advisers to hide out the fight. Most people can’t handle the truth or don’t trust people enough to tell or show what’s really going on. I also would like to know why it is wrong for children to do any censoring from adults. Even though it is not aloud children do it anyway because we would get in trouble. If you were watching something R rated some one might say something like you are too young to be here that would make me feel unequally treated why can’t we censor adults from certain things? Why is my question? This might sound like a rebellion but it’s a fair question. Now that I think about I think It would be better for the race if we were all treated like adults. From the time we could talk and write till the time we die we should be like adults I can guarantee we will have problems for people with special needs we would treat them differently, but other than that I think that should happen. When we censor people we make them think they can’t be trusted. This my opinion and i’m sticking to it.
Cam Tiller
3-29-10
Washington
I think censorship is acceptable, because it could be the best for us. For example, if parents censor kids from listening to a type of music or something like that. Censorship could actually mean our lives. For example, let’s say that both parents go hiking with their son or daughter. They come upon a slippery walk on the path. There parents would probably tell the child not to walk on it. What would be the consequences? If the child ignores the warning the child can get hurt and that would might be the end of there fun day. But, if the child listens to there mother or father, he can avoid being seriously hurt. That is one way of censorship.
Should censorship Be Aloud
I believe that in certain cases we should have some level of censorship that varies from situation. But I think that some of the things that we are censored from today is terribly dreadful and has no valid reasoning, especially when the cause is because a small margin is complaining and depriving the rest of us,(the larger margin) from that material. For instance, if one makes it impossible for us to read a book because it has characters who are homosexual or a small sex scene in it is unreasonable, we have much more vividly vulgr things that go on around our school every day. But what annoys me the most is when one religion who has a larger influence then another can control what we learn and teach us things like what is the difference from right or wrong. But the one with a smaller influence like the greek religion is rendered into the state of mind as mythology you can say what you want about it, and when one considers another religion with a larger influence mythology they can be thought of undermining other beliefs. What I am trying to say is I find some censoring necessary for our safety but others are just ways to nudge us here and there until we believe what it says.
I think that there should not be censorship at all. But I also think it is all just about your parents and the head people of the school’s. I don’t think that it should be up to the government to censor stuff for us. Because some people don’t care about censorship as much as others if your patents don’t want there kids listening to music that has swearing in it then censor that for some it does not hurt some them. It also depends on how strict your parents are. Music like ICP or Insane Clown possy I think that if you don’t like it you should change the station on the radio, or don’t even listen to what they say. Yes there are a group of men singing stuff that dose not even make sense, But I like them and I think so dose not a lot of other teenagers. People don’t kill them self’s because of music OK!!!! I don’t know who said that because they are wrong. There is some thing wrong with them if they kill them self’s over music! Somthing is off in there head if they do it, people just don’t kill them self’s because of a song, or people just don’t cut them self’s if they see it on TV, or kill some one because of a movie that they saw it just does not happen
I think that there’s times censorship is accectable like at school with internet and some books if they have bad words. I think some games and movies should be censored because they contain violence. I think when you become an adult you should be able to decide for yourself. I agree sometimes people will do stupid things to get attention and if there is no censorship then they can do bad stuff.
I think that censorship is not only acceptable but required for one thing. Information that could harm us. I mean the terrorists should not be able to access government secrets. But when it comes to stuff like people getting offended, I think it is just stupid. I say if they don’t like it, then get used to it. If we censor every thing that may be unethical of offensive, we are depriving ourselves of freedom.
Trea B
Washington
After listening to the broadcast on NHPR and reading some of the comments i still think that we don’t need censorship. Video games, music, movies, language usage, websites, or books don’t have to be read, listened to, or even looked at. We choose to listen to those things. If we don’t like it or we aren’t comfortable listening to or looking at it then it should click in peoples heads to turn it off. Just because one person doesn’t like it or isn’t ready for it doesn’t mean everyone else shouldn’t do it. If there was to be censoring I think the person should censor themselves. Even as a child. Even if a five year old watches a movie it probably won’t click in their head what is going on. When they are listening to music they may remember the lyrics but they won’t understand what the lyrics are saying. One thing I’m wondering is how would things change if we weren’t censoring as much as we are right now? Would the way people act change? What if we censored even more? How would things be different? Tv shows or movies? Music lyrics? I don’t know what would happen but I’m all set not knowing.
Censorship should be acceptable because our parents and the people around us are trying to protect us from bad things. If we were not censored people could have bad thoughts. people might think they can do whatever they want and somebody could get really hurt emotionally and physically. If we don’t have censorship little kids can go on the computer and look up pornography or other really bad things. They even swear. Little kids should not know these types of things they can get hurt.
Yes, I think censorship is acceptable a lot of the time. Most of the time it is usually for safety. Of course sometimes it is not used that way, but I think it’s still right to have because without it you wouldn’t have any rules. When you are younger it’s your parents job to keep track of you. They are supposed to monitor what you do, that’s their job. Obviously when you get older you’re going to have to be able to do that your self, but for now that is what they are supposed to do. Now I’m not saying it should be just parents because some parents are not responsible enough, I think the government should have some say. Also, you may say that when the government listens in on your conversations that it’s interfering with your privacy, I feel that if it keeps you safe it should not matter. So yes, there are a lot of occasions in which censorship is acceptable. Without censorship we wouldn’t have as few terrorist attacks as we do. So really if it’s being used for safety I think it’s acceptable.
I think censorship is acceptable in some cases and you’re parents shouldn’t be the only one that is censoring you. If you are a teenager then you should be old enough and mature enough to censor what you want and don’t want to see or listen to. If there was no censorship in schools kids would probably abuse their freedom to do what they want. For example kids would probably listen to music that the teachers don’t want them to listen to. Another example is they would probably not be on task because they could do what they want. If kids weren’t on task they wouldn’t learn anything. If kids don’t learn then they wouldn’t get a good education in high school so then they wouldn’t be able to get a good job when they get older.
Censorship can be acceptable under any circumstance but some are not needed…for instance I find banning books unreasonable. I mean I understand why some books would be banned but I don’t think it is right, because some kids might be ready to read more meaningful books that are off limits to them because of censorship. That is pretty much saying that they have to bring their reading level down to people that don’t have such a high level of reading. I think censorship is right when we start talking about school websites. Any website that can negatively effect a student’s learning, cause them to waste time or not learn what the school is trying to teach them should be taken away. I think it is reasonable when parents and teachers censor a child’s language and how they speak, (not allowed to swear) even though that is breaking the “Freedom of Speech” law. That is when it gets tough, because so many different arts involve speaking. In everyday life we are taught not to swear. When singers sing they don’t always use clean language. I think everybody should have the right to talk about what is bothering them regardless of their level of authority. I should be able to have a conversation with my parents and them being able to listen to me and not say “I’m your mother, I don’t have to.” The position we are in now is when kids or adults want something to say they most of the time don’t have the right to say it because a person has authority over them, and people don’t always listen. We should have that freedom of speech. With religion, I feel that we need to become more open. During holiday seasons we mostly hear about the Christian Holidays because it is a more wide spread religion and the United States has the most religions in just one country. But in a way I tie myself in a knot because I think that we should accept but not argue about other religions because it would stir things up. Censoring things that are self-explanatory; like killing people etc. should obviously be censored and against the law, because it is just plain wrong, and they should censor drugs and alcohol under the certain extent. I think that the most important person to censor behavior is yourself. Why is it that parents and our adults censor things? We are all humans at different levels of maturity. Someone said yesterday that the government should censor things, but anything that goes on usually goes through the permission of parent or yourself. Like video games for instance, they say 18 and older but if the parents say it is okay it doesn’t matter. You should censor your own activity, if you feel you are capable. We are all humans at different levels of maturity.
Morgan M
4/1/10
Washington
Censorship is acceptable at times. There are things in our world that people would just be better off not knowing. I think things like violence, crimes, and sexual content should be censored to a certain extent. When it comes to books, they should be censored too. The age of a child might not be old enough and mature enough to handle a book that has sexual content or violence in it. Parents should be a big part in censoring what kids read but also school libraries and public libraries should try to encourage age appropriate books. What is the point in giving a child a book they aren’t ready to read? Wait and save that book for when they are older and can appreciate it. Banning a book all-together is ridiculous. In my opinion there isn’t a book in the world that nobody likes and if you take the opportunity away completely for somebody to read it then you could be taking away a book that would really mean something to them if they read it. The Internet should not be censored because I believe that’s a responsibility issue and kids should know what they should and shouldn’t be doing on the Internet. I know there are accidents where things might just pop up or kids misspell the URL and get a totally different website then they intended but when it comes down to it, inappropriate websites on the Internet are preventable. Another thing I think should be censored a lot more is the television. They put R-rated movies on a t.v. screen that anyone can see. They put commercials on kid channels like Nickelodeon that are for adults. A parent isn’t always home to make sure that their child isn’t watching something that’s too adult for them. Because of that the television should be censored.Another case where I think censoring is acceptable is in the News. I think that the media mostly tells us what we want to hear and not what we need to but some of things that they may talk about should be censored. It’s important for society to know what’s going on but there are some things that the media doesn’t need to say. If there is a murder they shouldn’t go through and tell us every detail because yes the murder is important but what the victim looked like when they died and other things like that are just unneeded and unwanted information. As kids get older they need to learn to censor themselves. If they hear people talking about something inappropriate then they should learn to ignore it and know in their heads that it’s wrong. If they hear a swear in a movie then they just need to learn to ignore it and not repeat it. I think by the time you’re a teenager and you can’t self-censor then you’re insulting your intelligence and responsibility level. If you don’t like a song because it’s offensive or has too many swears then don’t listen to it. If you see a movie and there is a sexual scene then don’t watch the movie. Self-censoring is a part of becoming independent and growing up. If you can’t self-censor then you can’t make good decisions for yourself. Censorship is acceptable but only in some cases. The world isn’t a perfect place and not everything that needs to be is going to be censored for you and you are the only person who can decide what is and what isn’t acceptable. The main person who should censor is you.
If the United States even mentioned the word censorship to the public, outrage would break out. But many people don’t realize we use it every day. Monitoring a child’s Internet use is censoring , and so is if a school blocks off several sites on it’s network. And if stores use cameras to inspect the doings of customers to see if any are stealing products, that’s a form of censorship also. It seems like most people do not really know completely what censorship truly is. I think the public might have thought it meant total Internet censoring which is a definite anger issue for people. I believe that the current form of censoring is at an okay level. It gives Americans plenty of freedom and is a lot better than many other countries, like China for instance. If the American public thought we were being censored a lot at this moment, they should look up China’s situation. Our country has got it easy… for now…
Censorship is a touchy subject, and needs to be approached in a careful way. I think people are thinking about things that should be censored wrong right now. They talk about censoring video games, pornography, and T.V. But what about illegal drug and legal and illegal weapon’s trade? What about prescription drug and alcohol purchase and consumption abuse? These too are important hindrances of our country. I’m not positive if these were mentioned or not but the focus seems to be on the less problematic dilemmas. Even so , yes, I do believe that censoring can be an efficient way to lower crime, but we need to widen our view on what should be censored.
I think that it is acceptable to censor things but I think it depends on when you are censoring something and what you are censoring. The reason I think this is because I there are reasonable and unreasonable things to censor in my opinion. For example: inappropriate websites, or if someone swore for some reason on a “kids show”, or if someone swearers around little kids. Really it is up to the person doing, saying, or making the censoring and is only based on a persons chose. I think that the people that do the censoring for kids/ children should only be the parents responsibility not the governments. I think there are a lot of different ways to look at censoring something and I think something should only be censored if there is a good and reasonable reason to censor what ever needs to be censored. I think a reasonable reason to censor something would be because you might not trust a child or someone to only watch appropriate things on T.V. or other electronics. There are other reasons also but I think the biggest reason people censor things is well, I think it mostly involves if what ever is being censored is appropriate, and I guess that is pretty important because most people want there children to end up to be a responsible adult whether the adult is responsible or not.
Corrina C.
Is censorship ever acceptable?I think that censorship is acceptable in certain cases. I cases like kid t.v channels I think it is appropriate. But in cases of taking away books from school libraries because of one swear is unacceptable. On T.V thy have a great idea, fro 11:00 pm-5:00am they have no censorship because of the lack of child audience. In school if you curse you get in trouble, why don’t they do that to adults in the working word? By censoring one audience and not another it changes everything.
Is censorship ever acceptable?
No, I don’t believe it should be accepted! The only reason I think censorship should be used is for inappropriate Movies, pictures, and other things to a certain age. If we are talking about swears and words who offend a race, no. These things are said and done every day, life is not going to just stop because some stupid law said “NO SWEARING OR WORDS THAT MAY OFFEND OTHER PEOPLE OR RACES.” The world just won’t listen, we have the right to speak out and say what needs to be said. If Marten Luther King Jr did not speak out of the law using uncensored words, we would be like 20-30 years back…or more! If people did not say uncensored words, then we would not have the freedom of speech!
When it comes down to the bible, and people wont stop saying “Oh my God!” It’s just not going to happen, but we should have a choice. A choice to listen and learn about the bible (in a school) or for people like me who would rather not be asked to believe in some stuff about how the world came to be and about God, and church things. We should learn to respect and know what other cultures have for holidays, and celebrations in a public school, and beliefs. If you walk down your school hallway at Christmas you will see Santa, and flying deer, you don’t see many things for other cultures.
Banning a book, it’s banning someones art, or a piece of their life. They took time to publish a book, and made a million different drafts with like 100+ pages! In “Alice And Wonderland” that book was banned for to much drug use. Look round you, you will see someone who uses drugs, or someone who does something that they should not be doing. “Alice and Wonderland” is like life. A girl falls into a problem, loses her place, finds friends and enemies, fights for her life, and either lives or dies. So banning a book is like banning a part of someone.
So no I don’t think that censorship is necessary unless it’s banning a child (like a 4 year old) from something like inappropriate or too violent of a magazine, or movie.
~LivA ;P
I think that censorship is acceptable on somethings, where as though others should be left alone. For example, I don’t think that books should be censored. I also think that it is a good idea for people to make somethings optionally censored, so that you can buy them ether way. Censored or non censored but, you have to be a certain age to buy the item. I guess there is really no real way to pin point what should be censored and what should not be censored because there will always be an exception. So I think that it all comes down to common sense and you have to make the decision. What do you thinks’ appropriate for you?
I still hold on where I stand on censorship. Censorship should only be used for children. You can’t block any/everyone from the world forever.. With kids they are still learning the little things in life. Their minds shouldn’t be clouded by death and sexuality. As a child your mind is like a sponge. You absorb all that you hear and see. That’s why family safe movies and books are out! Use them! When you get older and know how the world runs.. That’s when very little should be censored from you. You have to start thinking about your job. If you want to be in the military, you should know whats going on in the present war. If you want to be a police officer, you have to know how your town acts. Both of those things are usually censored from parents. Like I said before you can’t block any/everyone from the world forever..
Anything threatening our homeland security such as battle strategies from the army should be censored. Nobody should have the right to say write or in any way show a persons name, address, phone number or other personal information without the persons consent. The government should not censor anything else but parents should have the right to censor things from their kids if they think their kids are not mature enough to deal with the ideas or graphics shown. Censoring war videos, as long as they gain the soldiers or their relatives consent, is wrong because it is important for americans to be aware of what really goes on out there and not just in vague reports. They should not censor swears because people should have the right to freedom of speech and if the want to express themselves through swears the should be allowed to do so.
Is Censorship Acceptable
I think that there should be a small amount censorship. All it does is it blocks how people are and how they act. Also in things like a book or a TV show and they swear and do things that some people don’t like it but all there blocking is what the creator wants there charictor to be like. I also think that the only person that should censor is yourself unless your under 18 then your parents should be able to censor what you watch and hear. Also your parents should not be able to interfer with what your being teachers are teaching you in school.
I think that if there is a line to be drawn it is where when people are being hurt or forced to do something. Like during the NHPR session they were talking about child pornagraphy that if there is no censorship people could see that stuff so i think that that kind of stuff falls under the catigory of hurting people.
I think that censorship should be acceptable in some cases. When shows for younger children are rated Y-7 and G, there definitely should be censorship one hundred percent. In my perspective having swearing and inappropriate things being said or broad casted would just be unethical on so many levels. It all depends on the ages of teenagers and children under the age of 12. I think that pornography should be banned from every place all around the world because it’s disgusting and really strange. I think that it shouldn’t’t be able to be sold in book stores or online. That is a big part of censorship and how I feel about it. I do not think that lyrics should be censored because I think that a lot of bands and singers will be unliked and that wouldn’t be fair to them. Lately people have been ragging on Insane Clown Posse (ICP) which isn’t necissary because I listen to them and they aren’t all that bad. Usually the things that they sing about aren’t to good but that’s besides the point. I do not go off and try and kill people and other stuff just because it’s in the lyrics. Not everyone is as messed up as the people that do follow what they say. The same thing goes with other rappers,singers and bands. Not all kids go along with the lyrics of some songs so the people that are in control of that kind of stuff shouldn’t take out swears and other parts of songs. Certain movies should be censored and others shouldn’t. Whether television shows, movies, songs/lyrics, ads, YouTube videos, excetera are or aren’t censored, it mostly is a personal preference and your age and maturity.
Is censorship ever acceptable? Yes, I think that in some cases, censorship is acceptable. If a parent does not want their five year old listening to rap music with lyrics that have rude meanings, then yes, I believe that is fine. However, if at 18, that same child wants to listen to rap music, they should be able to. If you are offended by a certain T.V show, don’t watch, if you don’t like a song, don’t listen, if you don’t like a book, don’t read it. Censor yourself. When it comes to video games, music, and literature, I believe that none of it should be censored. Most people who play video games and listen to music with words or actions that are considered bad, can do so without copying the ways of the words and actions. The same with books. As for the few who do take the meanings to heart, it is not usually just because of the music or video games. It is usually because of problems like bullying, and not being properly raised. Parents should censor their children, but give them more independence as they get older. Most people are responsible enough to censor themselves, and if they can’t, someone should guide them. A majority of people can handle the lyrics of songs, the meanings of books, and the actions in video games with out taking them to heart, as I said. Just because a few cannot, should that ruin it for everyone else? No. Censoring is acceptable, but the only people who should censor are parents, and people themselves.
Censorship? Is censorship ever acceptable? Yes, I think that censorship is acceptable in some circumstances. If they are censoring nudity; acceptable, music that is aired for kids; acceptable, and a school or parent censoring the Internet; acceptable. I do think there is a fine line between what is acceptable and unacceptable. If you are over eighteen years old there should not be any censorship (unless you censor yourself), the only censorship you should have is from drugs, and alcohol. Music on radio stations should be censored for swears or something like that. CD’s and music sold should be uncensored. If the music is “to bad” for kids then don’t sell it to them.
Socrates Is censorship ever acceptable?
My first thought was yes plan and simple censorship is acceptable but it got less simple. I wont kids to know about all things not gust good things because if kids are going to know of the bad things eventually why would we need things to be censored? If nothing was censored then would that be worse for children if they where to become venerable to predator’s or drugs at an earlier age.
After that thought I got thinking about adults some of them might not like to hear or see things that seem wrong to them on T.V or the radio or any other place.I think this because I would not like to see or hear things that I am disturb by. Then books would’t that be bad if we had to censor a peace of literature because it uses not nice words. This might even be bigger then books the fate of the country I mean to keep everything happy and nice would the government hid things for the American people? So I have thought and no thing should not be censored because to hide some thing that is meant to be viewed is not right.
I actually think that it is acceptable at the right time. For example when you get mad you want to express your emotions so you’ll swear. And sometimes times that will be a good thing or a bad thing. It really depends on what you say and where you say it. You also should not be aloud to say the “n” word in public. If you say it when no one is around, I would think that is going to be fine. NEVER in a million years so the “n” word in public, especially in front of a black person. Unless they tell you that they are not offended then that is okay also. But never say it when you know that they get offended.
I have a lot to say about this subject but also it is really hard to say. I think that you should be responsible as teens, young adults, and adults should be able to censor inappropriate things all by themselves. For example: “I think that this would be an really fun game to play…. lets see… what is it rated?? OH, never mind its rated ‘m’ I guess I can find something else that is going be just as fun to play.” That’s one example for censoring something all by yourself. I also think that if you want something like an inappropriate video that’s for adults or something, and your parents say that you can have it I think that you can just find something else and not get that. It will tell your parents that you are/can be responsible when you want to be.
And, well, the Internet is a whole lot different. There are things that you are not aloud to watch or view, and its not blocked because it is meant for adults, well its for ages 18 years and older. That’s basically why they don’t basically why its not blocked/censored. I think that they should not ever have that stuff (pornography) on the Internet or even on the television. In my personal opinion I think that shouldn’t even exist because people under age abuse it when they are not even supposed to look at that.
The television is not as bad as the Internet but they are kind of similar but not quite. They do have pornography on the television. I think that should be okay if its in a romance film. To me it’s just a way to express your feelings for each other and thats what you will be doing when you get older. Just when you see it on the television don’t make a really big deal over it. And if you don’t like it plug your ears and close your eyes. Its no big deal. Well, I think that im going to rap it up and say that only certain things should be censored.
Censorship is always acceptable. No matter wear you are. If you want to censor something go right ahead and censor it. Although at some points there is no need or time to censor it. For example when you are in a fight there is really no point at all to censor your words. Or when someone has something that is yours you should censor your words if a kid is there. But if there is no kid and you tried to say it nicely then don’t censor yourself it would be a waist of time. When you are talking to a little five year old you want to censor words that you do not want them to hear. Or have a tenth grader writing a story you want them to censor words depending on who is going to read it. Parents want music that there kids listening to have no swears in it. Parents want people on the bus to censor what they say so that there kids do not here it . When a parent buys a game for there kids they may ask someone who has played it if there are any swears, blood, guns, and etc. Just to see if it would good for them to play or not. So I think that at sometimes it is okay to censor stuff but at other times there is no need to censor things.
By Dakota Waddington
I feel that something shouldn’t be censored unless it does not fit it’s rating. I have herd many people complain how they hate shows like Family Guy, or South Park, because of what is shown, or heard, that those shows are not appropriate for their children, because they don’t censor what is said. In my opinion, those people should realize that shows have ratings, so the only people letting their children watch those shows, are people that don’t pay attention to what their children watch, or are ok with them watching that show.
Also, I feel people should think before they say they want things censored. Imagine what it would be like if the world censored everything, people would lose interest in shows, songs, or books. However, if we did not censor anything, then children would see, or hear things, and pick up bad words, or actions.
Another thing is that why is it that the government only thinks about the downside? Saying that we can’t handle things being uncensored. That may be true for some, but not for all. Maybe if there never was censorship in the first place, people could hear an uncensored swear on T.V. and not think anything of it. In some places like Europe, they don’t care about censoring things, and so they even have beaches for people without clothes on, and to them that’s just normal.
Finally, people should consider that if a kid says or does something from a movie or game, it’s not just the kids faults, some of it goes to those kids parents for buying the restricted game or movie in the first place, but then again, kids should no better then to do something they saw in a movie or game. So my final opinion, is that for censoring to work, there has to be a middle ground.
When is censorship acceptable? Draft 2
My opinion on censorship, is still the same. Because what I thought is mot likely the right thing to do. That is to, keep violent pictures, movies, shows etc…… away form the younger ones. I think the age that kids can start playig more violent games is, when their about 16 to 18 depending on the violence in the game or show. Even when your older and much more mature you, should still censor yourself from the things that you don’t want to hear or see. No one or, most people don’t want to hear some very nasty rude things so it’s a good thing to keep bad topics to a minimum. I just think a lot of things should be censored, mostly from the younger kids.
I still believe that censoring certain things is acceptable. But one of the huge things is, if you think that something shouldn’t be censored, then you can watch it. if you think something should be censored, then you shouldn’t watch it. It’s all about you and your decision. Say if you thought that something was against your religion. That doesn’t mean that you should ruin it for all the other people who like it. What I’m trying to say, is that you should be able to censor what you want or need to censor. The government should not be in control of the “censoring”.
Is censorship ever acceptable?
Under certain circumstances yes but, other than that no. We shouldn’t be censored from everything around us if we weren’t exposed to new things we wouldn’t know what and what not to look out for. I think school is under the right circumstances, like there right to be blocking stuff be cause kids don’t need to be going on pornographic websites in school theres no use whatsoever for that in school. And games in school you cant really do anything about that a kid is going to go on a game site no matter what. Also people should censor themselves a little bit to they should know what they want to see and what they don’t. So like i said under the right circumstances yes censorship is ok.
Now that I have read some of the responses on NHPR, I must say truthfully that my opinion did not change at all. I still do not know what to believe on the matter, but that we should censor ourselves. Allowing that, however, would cause chaos, as would no censorship at all. I do not know if we should censor things or not, but again we should live in a country that does not hide the truth from us. I must say that I did not answer the correct question. It was, “Is censorship ever acceptable?” I responded to why. Why do we censor? Because if we had never censored out sex, swears, drugs, important information, or anything, we would live in a much better, easier country, I think. I mean, if we had never had the stereotype that sex is inappropriate, we could watch it on the television and think nothing of it. People would walk around without clothes on, and children would not laugh at it because it would be normal. Everyone’s lives would be much easier, I think. Also, swearing. If you were speaking with your mother and you said the “f” word, she would get extremely angry. Well, most Moms would. But in a world where there was no stereotype saying it was bad, that it should be censored, then she would not even notice. It would be like saying any other word. Normal. So really, though reading through most of the many postings, I have not come to an exact point where I am across the fine line I drew between censorship.