Conclusion

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=Conclusion=

[|Merriam-Webster Dictionary] defines censorship as "the act of examining in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable." With the rise of technology in education, the concern over the dynamic content that is presented and consumed in educational settings has also increased.

Arguments against censorship in the United States trace their way back to First Amendment rights protecting free speech. For public schools, funded by the United States government, censorship in education is questioned and criticized much more readily. While the standards against censorship are much more stringent due to legalities arising from the First Amendment, new challenges have surfaced with the increase in technology-rich educational content. The line determining censorship in private schools, on the other hand, is blurred due to the lack of funding from the government. The governing code in private schools is independently established, so censorship is more difficult to confirm. Numerous scenarios have presented themselves in the recent past that question the validity of censorship in private schools.This has lead to steps that protect the right of students in privates schools. In addition the explosion of user generated sites, such as YouTube and Wikipedia, and expanded and muddied censorship arguments, many educators have been forced to reevaluate when it is appropriate to censor content, both created by students and others, found online.

A complex aspect of the censorship issue that has recently arisen is online education. Because of the changing ways in which material and information is presented through online technologies, a much more critical eye must be used in judging the quality of ideas communicated. In addition to online education causing schools in America to reevaluate their definitions of censorship, the Internet and online education has also forced many other countries to do the same. The governments in countries like Turkey and China have passed new laws to deal with online content, unilaterally blocked access to sites they deem inappropriate, and harassed citizens who challenge the //status quo//.

The arguments over the role of technology, the internet, and online educations use in the classroom are still in their infancy. As the use of technology and the Internet expands in the classroom so will the arguments over censorship.

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Clip from a 2006 debate at at McClatchy High School about education and censorship.(video url: [])