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Research Paper: Challenges and Censorship of Print Media in the State of Pennsylvania Adrienne Tate English IV CNN- 7th period Dry. Street April 22,2009 The following research will deal with the examination of book and print media censorship in the state of Pennsylvania. It will Investigate censorship for book and print media in this state over the past 20 to 30 years. To get an understanding of the state and its citizens we assessed the demographics of Pennsylvania. Through the use of databases and many other sources the different cases of censorship will be evaluated.
Economics The state of Pennsylvania has many great sources of income to help boost their economy as a state. Pennsylvania is a leading coal-producing state and is the only state mining anthracite coal. Pennsylvania is also a leading processed foods state. In the state, the production of processed foods ranks second in the manufacturing industry. In terms of revenue generated Pennsylvania top five agricultural products are dairy products, cattle and calves, greenhouse and nursery products, mushrooms, and chicken eggs .
Almost 70% of Pennsylvania agricultural income is generated by livestock and livestock products. Milk is the state’s most important livestock product and Pennsylvania is a leading state in the production of milk. Since the beginning of the year 2009 the United States as a whole has suffered rattle from the economic recession. Throughout the nation some states have had better stability than others. In the past 12 months, we have lost 3,00 Jobs, compared to 283,000 Jobs lost nationally.
We have fared significantly better than other large industrial states, such as Ohio Michigan, and Minnesota, which lost 19,300, 69,900 and 9,000, respectively, in the past 12 months. Our success is, due, in part, to the strategic economic and workforce development investments we have made over the past several years that have put us in a better position to weather this economic tort. From the Governor’s point of view it can be concluded that Pennsylvania is one of the states that has not been affected to roughly by the national economy and so far has been okay.
Print Media Challenges Over the past thirty years much of Pennsylvania print media has been challenged by an assortment of groups of people for various reasons. Most of the challenges placed against the print media has happened mostly in schools and public libraries. One of the most popular books today, Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, was one of the earliest banned books in Pennsylvania. The novel was considered “dangerous” because of objectionable language and “racists” terms and contents. It was challenged by the city of Harrington, Pennsylvania, in 1981.
During 1982 The Crucible , by Arthur Miller was considered dangerous by Cumberland Valley High School because it contains “sick words from the mouths of demon-possesses people. ” In the same year Judy Blue’s book, Forever was challenged by Mediaeval Junior- Senior High School Library because detractors cite it for encouraging masturbation and disobedience to parents. Critics in 1985 found A Separate Peace, by John language and sex a. School Districts in the early ass’s experienced challenges all throughout the state.
A Light in the Attic, was challenged in all the schools in West Mottling, Pennsylvania in 1992. The reason is because the poem “Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony” is morbid. For similarly reasoning Drawings, by Lawrence Yep, was challenged at the Apollo-Ridge Schools in Kittening, Pennsylvania. It was challenged because of the frequent use of the word “demon” in the novel. The Newbury Award – winning book might encourage children to “commit suicide because they think they can be reincarnated as something or someone else.
On September 1 5,1992, Judge Joseph Unclench denied a request seeking to ban the book from the district’s curriculum. In his opinion, Unclench wrote:”The fact that religions and religious concepts are mentioned in school does not automatically constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause. ” Than in 1993 and 1994 two books were challenged due to sexual content. In 1993, it was the novel, Gorillas in the Mist, at Weakest Middle School. The book was not banned or removed from the school, instead all the teachers had to use felt-tipped pens, and black out passages pertaining to masturbation and mating.
The other book The Bluest Eyes was ban from Borough High School English Curriculum after many parents complained about its sexual content and objectionable language. In one case, parent’s at Chestnut Ridge Middle School challenged the book , The Devil’s Storybook, by Natalie Bait, but not to ban it , but simply that seek parental approval before elementary and middle school students could check out this book and books related to it . Recently books have been challenged by the school population, but have somehow remained in the system despite the ridicule that has come from its audiences.
Instead the schools have created alternatives for the parents. The Buffalo Tree, by Adam Rap, was banned from Mulberry, Pennsylvania High School. Several months later the board decided to revise that decision and determined that a reading list be made available to parents including a rating system, plot summaries of all assigned books, and identification of any potentially objectionable content. According to the bibliography of Books Challenged or Books Banned in 2006-2007, Of Mice and Men had a complaint filed because of “racial slurs” and profanity used throughout the novel.
The book has been used in Greensward- Interim High schools in the tenth grade curriculum for more than thirty years. It was decided that the book would remain and those that objected were to have that the option of reading an alternative reading. Give a Boy a Gun, was retained at Bangor Area Middle School. This was despite a student’s aunts’ concerns about the books depiction of school violence. Anaheim Township, Pennsylvania schools have had two major cases of books being challenged in the ninth grade curriculum all within one year. The two books were I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelo and Animal Dreams, by
Barbara Kingfisher. Both of the books had been charged with having sexual references that was felt to be inappropriate for the ninth grade environment. Maya Angelinos book was retained in the ninth grade curriculum but was voted on by the book was also retained but was moved from the ninth grade curriculum to the eleventh grade curriculum. Within the Pennsylvania library system there have been books that have been challenged but also retained. The Joy of Gay Sex, which was written by Charles Silversmith and Edmund White was challenged at the Public Library in Broomball
Pennsylvania, Along with several sexual instruction manuals including: Sex Toys 101 : A Playfully Uninhibited Guide, by Rachel Evening; Great Sex Tips, by Anne Hooper; Ultimate Guide to Fellatio, by Violet Blue; The Illustrated Guide to Extended Massive Orgasm, by Steve Bodacious because these books are seriously objectionable in text and pictures due to the sexual explicit material. Another library case that has been documented in the Books Challenged or Books Banned 2007-2008, was located at the Lower Menacing Public Library. The donated book, King and King was challenged as a result of the quote ” let them be kids… D not worry about homosexuality, race, and religion. Just let them live freely as kids. ” Despite the challenge the book was retained without any restrictions or adaptations to its location. Other than books other print media has also been challenged in Pennsylvania. One of the biggest educational cases not only in Pennsylvania but the United States had to do with the challenging of a scientific theory that was being taught in Dover Area schools; the theory was called ‘Intelligent Design’. Biology teachers were required to present the theory as an alternative to the scientific theory of evolution.
Intelligent Design is an allegation that an intelligent, supernatural entity has intervened in the history of life. Parents challenged the theory because they felt that presenting it in public school classrooms violated their religious liberty by promoting particular religious beliefs to their children under the disguise of science evolution. The theory was considered unconstitutional to teach for the reason that it is in violation of the Establishment Clause. From this research most print media that has been challenged throughout the state of Pennsylvania surrounds the subjects of religion, sex, and profane language.
Early book challenges focused more on religion and if the book had something that would turn a child away from moral holiness, than the book would be classified as dangerous. Later on in the ass’s book challenges focused on religion but they also started to emphasize sexual content that would be available to the wrong age groups. Most of the books that experienced challenging in the ass’s and earlier were most likely banned after their challenging. As time moved forward less books have become banned and have Just had restrictions on where they are located and who can read them.