This discussion follows on from a lot of offlist discussion that I had with the
author of the report
about the Dumbest Generation (and Ed was sent copies of much of that). Eventually
the author and I
agreed to disagree because we were too far apart especially when he said, "I argue
the contrary,
Barbara, that we indeed should impose our knowledge and values upon the younger
generation. If we
don't, then we leave the field to other impositions going on--peer pressure,
advertising, . . . They
are too inexperienced and ignorant to judge things by themselves."
Here is a young lady questioning those values, as she should, but being censored
for doing so. Ed
said, " She was not making an anti-gay statement, but wanted to show how adults
influence the
attitudes and viewpoints of their children". What would the response have been if
it had been an
oral or written presentation? A country that calls itself "the land of the free"
and prides itself
on its freedom of speech.
This, from a country that has, in my lifetime gone from the Civil Rights marches of
MLK to having a
black presidential candidate, and a possible a female vice president.
I'm not trying to make any political statements - I just can't reconcile the issue.
In the meantime, there has also been much controversy here because an art gallery
hung explicit but
not obscene photographs of a naked 11 year old girl done by an
internationally-renowned
photographer. Because of the age of the girl, there was a cry of 'child abuse',
the photos were
seized and the photographer faced criminal charges under the Child Protection Act.
This is unlikely
to happen because the Chief Censor has deemed them no to be pornographic, but there
is a school of
thought that NO 11 year old, boy or girl, should be asked or allowed to be
photographed nude. (The
images were on the Internet and came a week before hundreds of people were charged
world-wide
because a child porn ring was busted - a website up for 72 hours got 12 million
hits!)
What would be your reaction? While censorship is an issue here, it seems to have a
greater/ louder
voice in your country.
Barbara
Barbara Braxton
Teacher Librarian
COOMA NSW 2630
AUSTRALIA
E. barbara.288@bigpond.com
Together we learn from each other
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