The question of whether ideas expressed in popular culture can be harmful to children has a history stretching back to Plato and Aristotle. In the 1950s, concern about crime, sex and horror in comic books led to strict limits under the Comics Code Authority. Then in the 1980s, a well-connected group of parents raised alarms over sex, drugs and violence in rock lyrics, and the music industry responded with warning labels. This lesson explores meanings and forms of censorship and the beliefs that drive them, up to and including recent “trigger warning” initiatives, and what it all means for free expression and academic freedom.
If used in a U.S. History class, this lesson best fits with other historical examples of limitations of free speech. In a Government/Civics class, the lesson best fits with free speech and Constitutional rights debates. In an English Language Arts class, the lesson best fits the limitations of freedom of expression by artists, writers and content creators.