For this task, you will write a letter on one of the topics related to freedom of expression and the limits on freedom of speech. Choose one of the topics listed below. Think about which aspect of the topic you will write about. Freedom of speech: You might write about whether schools should have the right to limit what is discussed or covered in a student newspaper or a student news broadcast. (There is a Supreme Court ruling stating that school officials cannot censor student expression unless there is reasonable proof that such expression can disrupt school activities.) Freedom of the press: You might write about conflicts that arise when journalists try to photograph or videotape police in action. You might also consider whether cameras should be allowed in a courtroom. Banned books: Certain books are banned in schools. You might want to write about whether or not this is a good policy. Speech related to violence: You might want to write about limitations on freedom of speech related to violence. Speech that incites violence is not covered by the First Amendment and can result in prosecution in the United States. However, speech that merely supports violence as a political option is not considered a crime.

There is a substantial number of books that have been banned from the official system of education, for the reason of being offensive, politically incorrect, or in some other way detrimental for young pupils. Of course, it is utterly understandable to take care and try to raise the students’ social awareness, considering their impressionable nature.

By banning certain books, we try to protect pupils from ideas that we perceive as dangerous. One of those ideas is racism. However, maybe we underestimate the pupils’ (especially older ones, in middle and high schools) capability of understanding and interpreting dangerous texts. Instead of prohibiting those texts, maybe we should let the students read them, while guiding them through the historical context and the books’ present implications. Instead of prohibiting, for example, Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”, maybe we should encourage our students to read it, and guide their understanding as to why this book is dangerous, and which ideas derived from it have had such devastating implications on the world as we know it.

All of us know that “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a 19th-century novel that has a lot of N-words. But it is also one of the first novels that puts in center an African American boy, presenting him as the main hero and humanizing the life experience of a black child (even though it might be filled with stereotypes). But instead of banning it, so the students won’t read the N-word, it is far better to read it and interpret it in a critical fashion. Let’s try to come to a conclusion together: what are the social merits of this book, and what are the problems it deals with. At the same time, we should ask our students to detect the stereotypes. Let’s have confidence in their ability to do it, and their resistance to a potentially bad influence.