Role and Effectiveness of Censorship

You need to know:
 * Role of censorship
 * How it is conducted
 * Pros and cons of censorship

Role of Censorship
Censorship and the 9 o'clock watershed:

Censorship is stopping the free flow of information. Censorship and the 9 o'clock watershed are restrictions put on TV broadcasting channels to not broadcast violent/sexual/age-inappropriate content on television before 9 o'clock.

Exam definition: Censorship is preventing information from being viewed (1) that is age inappropriate, violent or sexual. (1) The 9 o'clock watershed is one example. (1)

For Censorship
There has been some debate over whether or not things should be censored and should the watershed be put in place. Some points for the censorship:
 * Social learning theory shows that children learn through observing, so not exposing them to violence prevents inappropriate learning
 * Bandura found out that children copy violent role models
 * Violence and aggression may cause fear and upset young children
 * Adult viewing may confuse children who do not understand

Against Censorship

 * Censorship restricts people's freedom to choose what they want to watch
 * Restricts freedom of speech and legitimate expression of views and ideas
 * Children's viewing is claimed to contain more aggressive acts than adult viewing, watershed is not effective
 * Censorship regulations can be violated by parents, children, peers, so it is not effective anyway at preventing inappropriate viewing by children
 * Aggressive children seek out aggressive TV so censorship is not the issue