Electric Cars Essay Research Paper The Constitution

Electric Cars Essay, Research Paper

The Constitution of the United States of America contains the basic rights of citizens of

this country. There is, perhaps, no right more controversial than the First Amendment in

the Constitution, first introduced on December 15, 1791. The First Amendment states,

.Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of

the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of

grievances.(1st Amendment, Internet). Due to the indecisiveness of this Amendment,

arguments over the interpretation of the words written by the founding fathers have

flourished for years. One of the main arguments that has arisen over the years is over the

interpretation of what is meant by free speech and free press. While this argument has

stemmed off in many directions, one of the most recent and heated debates is over the

governments ability to censor material to the public. Some of the major forms of

censorship occur in television, music, literature, and most recently, the Internet.

Censorship has taken place in various forms since the earliest rulers existed. These

earliest forms of censorship existed through a leader of some sort trying to keep his people

from saying bad things about him. This censorship, while fairly undocumented, has taken

place in various governments throughout time in most areas of the world. While

censorship today has taken a different form in the United States, the same basic principles

have remained the same. Censorship is basically an attempt by the government to limit

what the public sees, hears, or absorbs. I believe that all forms of censorship are basically

a violation of the basic First Amendment right that so many people take for granted.

Some limit must be put on the ability of the government to censor any kind of

communication in the United States, or the basic rights of the people will be infringed

upon.

One of the biggest forms of censorship that takes place in the United States today

exists in one of the largest mediums of communication we know of. This medium is

known as the television. In 1999, it was reported that over 99% of all American

households have at least one television, with a majority of the households having more

then one set available(Chafee, 173). This startling statistic is accompanied by another fact

that shows the average American watches 30 hours of television weekly(Chafee, 173).

With this kind of participation from the American public in any kind of medium of

communication, it is no wonder why some people consider the idea of censorship with so

much enthusiasm. However, adults have the right to view material they please, and

therefore, their rights should remain intact. The problem that most people have with

violence, sex, and profanity on television comes into play when considering the number of

children that watch television without a parent or any sort of controls on their viewing. It

has been reported that 10,000 acts of media violence are witnessed in one year by the

average American child(Zeinert, 88). One must keep in mind that this statistic does not

include any sexual content or profanity children may view. The American public has

expressed some concern over the material their children view each day, and that has been

the beginning and the continued push behind the need for some sort of censorship of

television. It wasn.t until the dramatic increase in violent crimes committed by children,

however, that there was a strong public demand to censor the material children have

access too. While the claim that something needs to be done to at least reduce the amount

of violence, sexual material, or profanity that American children view has began to pick up

support among the American public, the means by which to accomplish such a task have

yet to be resolved. Some argue that censorship is the only way to accomplish such a large

scale problem, but others argue that the problem starts at home. A survey conducted by

the Roper Center concluded that over 50% of parents do not monitor what their children

watch at home. This figure shows me that parents are not taking the responsibility to

watch their children, and instead are just relying on television to show programs intended

for younger viewers. With the help of some electronic blocking devices, such as the

V-chip, parents can monitor what their children are able to watch, without getting the

government involved. The V-chip can help parents watch their children even when they.re

not home. This new safeguard is the best alternative to censorship. Since many programs

are beginning to contain a rating system displayed at the beginning of each show, parents

can get a basic idea of the content of the show without having to sit through each program

their child wants

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