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<title> Censorship to protect people </title>
When I read the article called " Locking out violence" by Ginia Bellafante it occurred to me that there are different kinds of censorship. I have found that the word have a very negatively charged meaning and is sometimes used to get people to react in certain ways. What we tend to forget is that a certain level of censorship is good and in a way necessary. In Sweden the problem with television violence has increased in recent years and the debate about censorship have turned out to be a very hot and sensitive issue among people. The V ship Bellafante is writing about may be a step towards the solution to this problem.

We are used to hear the word censorship in situations where the stronger one is deciding over the weaker ones head. It has been known as a word that expresses guardianship where it is not wanted. In some countries censorship is a part of everyday life and a way for leaders to control their people. That is of course not a good way and should not have to be excepted by anyone. Unfortunately it is hard to put an end to it.

To fully understand the meaning of censorship I think we need to disregard the bad sound the word makes in our ears and look at it objectively. As I have already pointed out there is a very bad way of using censorship but censorship from the view that I would like to discuss is a kind that is for the better of people. 

The meaning of the word censorship is "a preliminary examination of films and written material made by the authority". What the examiners on Swedish television do is that they control that there are not, for example, scenes in a film that goes against what is allowed to show on television in Sweden. In this way Swedish television watchers know what to expect when they turn on the television. The situation with for example violence on television has been aggravated by the access of television channels from other countries through parabolas. Swedish authority has lost some of their control of what is shown on TV. In this case I think we need some kind of censorship to protect children from for example violence.

In the article Belafante is discussing something called the V ship. It is designed to help parents to delete programs with to high level of violence. Opponents to the ship feel that it is a bad kind of censorship but I do not think so. Every day in our society we prevent young people from doing things that they are to young to handle. Children are not allowed to drink alcohol or drive a car so why should not parents with the help of the V ship be able to judge what their children can not watch and what they feel that the children are to young to handle? 

In Belafantes article senator Robert Dole says that the V ship will bring us "one step closer to government control of what we see on television." In this case we are not even discussing to take away programs from television, just to prevent children from watching programs that can be damaging to them and their picture of reality. I do not see how that can bring us closer to government control. The V ship is a typical example of the kind censorship that I feel is necessary. In the beginning I also said that the word sometimes is used to create a certain reaction. In this case I think it is so. By using the word censorship Senator Robert Dole is likely to gain attention just because the word itself has a strong meaning and is a very eagerly discussed issue. People who are not very up to date in this debate may connect the negativity of the word with the V ship. And believe authority is trying to decide what they can and can not watch. I would like to point out that adults still would be free to watch whatever they like. The V ship is just to protect children. 
	 
The line between censorship used to control people and censorship used for protection is very thin. It is important that we make sure what kind it is we are talking about so we do not get manipulated by the word itself to make up our mind. The V ship is to protect children from violence and not adults. This is really important to remember in this discussion that probably will continue for a long time.
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