merits and demerits of censorship

Censorship is is everywhere-in movies,in advertisments, on the radio and even on the inetrnet(thanks to parental blocks). But is censorship really necessary?

Censorship is a way for the government to "protect" its people.If there were to be no censors on television or the internet, then people will be free to view everything-including drugs,sex,violence,vulgarities- the list is endless. Sure, this might not seem like such a big deal to adults or tennagers even,but imagine a young child exposed to such things.The consequences could be more harmful then we think.What if that young boy,exposed to movies on gruesome murders grows up to be a murderer, or a sex addict if he is free to watch t.v.soaps full of sex?Tender minds learn from watching.If they see things like sex and violence everywhere around them when growing up, when they too will grow up to think that this is all alright.

Also, if people were free to acess any media, then their values could be tarnished.For many cultures, sex is a sacred thing which is why in countries like India, any movie with even a kissing scene becomes an NC-16 movie.Not just that, media without censorship could also be offensive to people in terms of religion or race.For example,the movie Borat was banned in Kazakstan as it was a huge offense to the people of that country. If such a censorship act was not carried out there, then many people of that country might have started riots on watching it.

However, it is a fact that we, as human beings, deserve our freedom and therefore, deserve to know the truth.Not only that, if there was free media, then the early exposure to young children might actually be a form of education. In other words, if childrean were to grow up in a world where everything is blocked or censored for them, then their curiosity might lead them into even deeper waters than if they were simply exposed to the world from the start.

This debate is the very reason why it is so difficult for any authority to pipn point what should be censored and what should not. Once again, this is a debate that might never come to an end.