Free Speech vs The Right of Children Essay

The ethical implications of such(prenominal) a topic must be cargonfully reviewed in order to reach an over every(prenominal) judgement and shutdown as to whether every citizens right to express independence of speech is an easy lay entitlement, or whether certain limitations ought to be implemented in order to bulwark the innocence of youth. This essay aims to underline that the latter must take motive over any(prenominal) reckless expression of this right. William Orville Douglas once stated that breastwork of separated thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions (Douglas, 49).This, although, provokes ones belief that freedom of speech is a duty bestowed upon all of us to convey, it quite distinctly fails to acknowledge the duty, and more importantly, the accountability every heavy(p) has to protect the early stages of a childs life from the evils our initiation presents. This paper will ultimately underline the obligations and duty each enceinte faces in order to protect the innocence of youth. It is for certain every sanely minded adults obligation to watch over and regulate what our children view.In such a society where learning is so readily accessible and operational via the outlets of the cyberspace and television, the dangers of being exposed to the vulgarity of dirty word and the severity of red-faced themes presented in television shows has never been more app bent. The entertainment diligence thrives on the younger audiences following such 2 shows as wrestling and obtains salary at the expense of the corruption it invokes in the psyche of children. Statistics show that teenagers who regularly tune into professional wrestling shows are far more belike to be involved in violence in their adult lives (Taylor, 1).This surely is an indication that our right to express violence as an top dogable favour has insinuations that directly affect the youth of our society. Ann Mainville-Neeson aptly asserted dont abandon safeguards in the name of freedom of expression. Although she was directly find the rights of women, the same notion feces be adopted in our line of merchandise confirming that freedom of speech is a privilege that must be wielded sensibly. Chomsky observed that If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you dont like (Chomsky, 183).This statement is flawed in that it does not account for the level of morality freedom of speech invokes. The question whether freedom of speech is appropriate is undeniable. After all the right is protected under statutory law, in particular Article 19 of the linguistic universal Declaration of Human Rights (Brownlie, 299). The argument remains of proportionality and whether the justification of only when quoting statute is enough to qualify anyone to thoughtlessly portray images that may close up the standing of our children in later adulthood.Interestingly, the First Amendment of the United States Co nstitution clearly instructs that, although the freedom of expression and speech is a fundamental right and can be enjoyed without any interference from the 3 government, the Supreme Court pacify recognize that such enjoyment must not summon any form of action that can cause violence or a breach of the peace. If this fact was to be correlated and run parallel with the observations make and results collaborated by the Southern Medical Journal, then one could argue that unsafe ramifications may be incurred and reform necessary to coincide with the law of the land.The availability and open accessibility to pornography, both soft and hardcore to children must be reviewed. Arguing that this is merely an avenue for those involved in the pornographic to vowelize their freedom of speech and expression is absurd and holds little regard for repercussions that their motion picture may find to young minds. Andrew Maisel stipulates that parents can control a point in measure of how much their own children are exposed to pornography on the internet is by banning the use of internet altogether. This concept, although harsh, offers a insight as to the desperate nature and dilemma most parents are left in.A situation leaving the parent to contemplate restricting online use for their children is a huge step backwards, yet it is oft considered as an alternative. A lesser of two evils if you will. The pornography industry must take steps in order to reduce the number of people who are inadvertently subjected to explicit, and often illicit, material. Henry Waxman and Steve Largents report on the level of accessibility of pornography suggests that even accidental access can build detrimental effects. They put forward the hypothetical example of a teenage girl exculpatoryly typewrite in 4Britney Spears into a music video search once a come upon and retrieving a result list of which 70% of the results contained pornographic titles (Waxman, 9). The question of responsibi lity over undoubted financial profit comes is raised again, and unfortunately, it seems as though the industry prefers the well being of its own existence by attracting further solicitude to itself, to fulfilling their duty as adults and protect the children and ensure their smooth, educated transition into adulthood. However, Soraker poses a possible reason as to the uncontrollable nature of pornography on the internet.The increasing use of frameworks within which Internet users can contribute nontextual information constitutes a serious obstacle to government attempts to accurately censor and supervise Internet traffic (Soraker, 40). The basic notion that too many sites are available for users of all ages to file share and contribute to the problem presents us with further difficulties in tackling the fundamental issues in question. Once again we are faced with queries founded in the level of responsibility and proportional morality. Our society seems to cater far more to uncon ventional behaviour.So much so that such acts have entered into the mainstream of society, and what was deemed taboo a decade ago, is now part of our solar day to day make up. It is each and every adults responsibility to ultimately stand their children, whether it be their own or ones of their community, to benefit from a culture free from such pervertions that will eventually serve to destroy their 5 innocent attributes. The unfortunate phenomenon remains that industries operating within the media will continue to start and canvass their ideals, which will undeniably capture our youngsters attention. Profit and financialgain will remain to be an overriding factor that will have the industry. All this with so little regard for the affect their actions will have on our children is a terrible tragedy. Surely the responsibility rest foursquare upon the shoulders of the parents and other adults who have the control and voice to rise up against such barbaric exploitation. The futur e certainly looks bleak if our children pass on the violent and perverted tendencies portrayed in todays media onto their own children and olibanum creating a snowball effect whereby the situation gets worse with every generation.The time to act is now. Freedom of speech is a right that many countries do not have the benefit of enjoying at all. We, however, seem to abuse this right. waver it, manipulate it and even use it as an excuse to further upgrade the boundaries. A measure of responsibility must go hand in hand when we discuss the issue of free speech. It seems, however, that the majority of us have forgotten that aspect.WORKS CITEDDouglas, William Orville, Right of the People Greenwood Press. 1980. 48-49 www,consumer affairs.com, Young TV clamshell Fans Take More Chances Southern Medical Journal. February 2008 1-2 Chomsky, Noam. Manufacturing Consent Noam Chomsky & the Media 1993 183-185 Brownlie, Ian. Principles of Public world-wide Law 5th Edition. Oxford 1998. 299-299 http//www. superkids. com/aweb/pages/features/netporn/, Parents, Kids and Pornography on the Internet 1-2 Waxman, Henry & Largent, Steve. Childrens Access to Pornography Through Internet File-Sharing Programs July 21st, 2007. 8-11 Soraker, Johnny Hartz, The Information Socity Penguin. 2007. 40-41