EWC 4U1 Yallup

     To me, in the classroom, unless you are personally attacking someone, you should have as much freedom with what you write as possible. I think that as students age they should get more rights and freedoms with their writing as well. Say, for example, a grade twelve student, I believe that a grade twelve student should be able to write about whatever they would like because I think they have earned the right to be able to write with freedom due to how much schooling they have been through and how much censorship that they have had to deal with during it all. I think as students age, they should earn more and more respect from their teachers and they should be able to have more “adult” conversations and be able to write about more “adult” topics. Writing is about expression and how are people supposed to express if they are so restricted?

These brief articles make you think about where you draw the line between punishing inappropriate content in students' work and censorship. What thoughts or writing can you reasonably censor or punish a student for? The situation described in the first article is, frankly, ridiculous. Aside from the fact that "shoot the neighbour's dinosaur" sounds like the sort of thing an eleven-year-old might dream up and not to be taken seriously, why does a fictional story involving a firearm and the untimely death of a prehistoric animal merit arrest, search and suspension? Teachers shouldn't jump with paranoia when a shocking and scandalous word like "gun" shows up in a student's vocabulary, seeing as the English novels we read for class involve death, torture and weaponry galore. Exhibit A: 1984. Exhibit B: To Kill A Mockingbird . Etc., etc., etc. Or was it was the dinosaur that so appalled school officials? *coughs* The situation in the second arti...

My favorite book is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read this novel in Grade 6 as a read aloud. I enjoy reading books in small groups, as it gives you more of an insight of a book. I enjoyed the characters in the novel. I feel that the author describes them all very well. Katniss is the main character. She has long brown hair, she enjoys hunting and helping others. She is very close with her mom and sister Prim. The author splits the book into different districts, these are the settings. The author uses a lot of descriptive language to describe where the characters live. I feel that this book is a very good book for young adults. I would recommend this book to young adults who enjoy reading with a good use of descriptive language.

Censorship can be a touchy subject, especially when writing online or in classrooms. I believe that in a creative writing course, you should be able to freely speak your opinion. Often, when I write stories, I don't censor my work because I am afraid of what others will think. I write what I think it most formal for my stories, journal entries or any other writing piece. I believe that it is okay to write about things you feel passionate about and express your opinion. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion and they shouldn't have to censor it. I feel that teachers now are trying to protect students from the real world. I think that we have the write to know what is happening in our world and express how we feel about it. If we don't express our opinions, then we won't be apart of the change that will make our world a better place to live in. Censorship should be allowed in classroom, but moderated to make sure others are not over stepping their creative bound...

When writing I do not believe in censorship unless it is used to intentionally harm a specific race, group or religion. I believe that in order for your writing to be effective, you have to be real. life isn't very pretty so you cant sugar coat everything. With creative writing, the writer should have complete freedom. I feel that only intentionally degrading. If a work is dangerous it could just be the writers choice of genre. When writing the only question a writer should have in mind is "what will my reader take away from this?", not 'who is this going to hurt?". Overall I don't believe in limitations.

    After reading all the articles on the subject of censorship in the classroom, my opinion on the topic is that a student should not be penalized simply for writing something that is considered "uncomfortable" or "intimidating" by school administrators or board members. If the writing does not contain any threats or actual harm to anyone reading it, it should not be considered a serious problem. If the student who wrote the piece does not act on what he/she wrote or do anything bad that coincides with the content of the written piece, it should not be considered a serious problem. However, if what the student has written is actually threatening, harmful, or extremely inappropriate, then some action should be taken, such as bringing that piece up to the principal/parent and talking with that student about what that piece could mean in terms of their mental health or personal issues. If necessary, some consequences should be applied towards the student, however I d...