Considering that the law is not on their side, those who purport to ban books, especially in the context of teaching evolution, have found other subversive methods of achieving enforcing censorship. The Kansas Action is a key example. It was in August 11, 1999 that the Kansas Board of Education voted to comprehensively eliminate references to biological evolution from the state’s science curriculum. (Beem, 2006, p.16) This was seen by commentators as a reactionary counter-attack by creationists. Retrospectively known as the Kansas Action, this decision represented a growing tendency among creationists to attack the teaching of evolution at the level of local school-boards. Moreover, since the highest court in the country
“rebuked state legislatures for their efforts to either ban the teaching of evolution or require the teaching of both evolution and creation-ism, creationists have shied away from using the state houses to achieve their goals. Rather, creationists now focus their attention on gaining control of school boards and influencing education at that level…Regardless of the resolution in this case, creationists will likely continue their crusade against the teachings of evolution. Unfortunately the real losers at the moment are the students of Kansas, who have been stripped of their fundamental rights guaranteed by the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.” (Stewart Jr., 2007, p.552)
Censorship in schools should also be analyzed in the context of new information/communication technologies available to students. In the arena of the Internet, for example, it is difficult to contain the nature of information being transacted. There are two warring sides in the censorship controversy. There are those who favor student autonomy so that the power of the ‘null curriculum’ is minimized. ‘Null curriculum is defined by Eisner thus: “the options students are not afforded, the perspectives they may never know about, much less be able to use, the concepts and skills that are not part of their intellectual repertoire” (Eisner, as quoted in Tedesco, 2009, p.55). The opposing camp claims that with restrictions imposed on content, schools are able to better educate students due to improved discipline. But some of the bans in recent times have proved very controversial. In Idaho, for example, students are prohibited from carrying iPods in the classroom so as to prevent them from cheating in tests. Even some of iconic cultural works have been banned: “JK Rowling’s world-famous book series, Harry Potter, has been banned from a variety of Catholic schools following claims that its writings are against Catholic dogma”. (Tedesco, 2009, p. 55)
In the Internet Age, the modes of socializing have also changed for school students. The proliferation of computer terminals and high-speed Internet connectivity has extended the school day beyond the campus. Students can now ‘chat’ after school hours using social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc. Proponents of restricted Internet activity argue that these social networking sites are potentially dangerous for vulnerable students. For example, social networking sites can be exploited by bullies to intimidate susceptible classmates. The cyber-bully can exploit the relative anonymity of the Internet and create an intimidating persona for himself. They can send scandalous or lewd comments and pictures to spread rumors, which can make the classroom atmosphere tense. It is for reasons such as these that some governments have banned a few popular websites from student access. (Holmes, 2006, p.1)
Prominent examples of censorship in recent times are the following: 1. the Australian government banned use of YouTube in the entire public schooling system, 2. the Canadian Teachers’ Federation has also created additional classroom resources to control cyber-bullying. But, educators must realize that their decision to restrict access to some resources not only goes against constitutional provisions granted to them (First Amendment in the case of American citizens), but also interferes with a pupil’s capacity to experience and deal with a range of perspectives on different subjects. Students are deprived of an understanding of constructive social engagement – lacking this skill they will be impaired in performing their roles as citizens of the country. They lose their critical questioning faculty and are at risk to develop a herd mentality. It is for these reasons that educators must realize that if it is their role to help students become proactive participants in the country’s democratic processes; and that this end will not be fulfilled as long as the phenomenon of null curriculum persists. (Boston, 2008, p.37)