Proponents of less censorship argue that to restrict consumers' access to media based on their age violates the principles of freedom of speech. They claim children will hear profanities anyway, so for them to hear it on TV is not harmful. In addition, individuals who believe in "nature over nurture" argue that a person is going to turn out a certain way regardless of his environment. With as many problems as our world has today, the last

thing we need is more negative contributions from the entertainment industry.

Another way kids are getting into trouble with the Internet is by visiting pornographic Web sites. Just type "Playboy" on the computer and the official site will be the first in a list of retrieved sites. The only thing young people have to do to get into Web sites like this is click on a box that says the user is at least eighteen-years-old. That is the only security procedure that has been put into use. But are these procedures effective at all in limiting children's access? A person of any age can get into these "smut" sites without much hassle (White Paragraph 12).

With every other popular form of entertainment becoming a sordid representation of our society, we must not forget the Internet. The Internet has been the source of much negative attention recently. Being a place where anyone can find almost anything, the Internet does not really have any regulations, as it should. One attempt to regulate the Internet was the Communications and Decency Act (CDA), passed in 1996. The law's function was to make it illegal for "indecent" or "patently offensive material from being posted publicly on the Internet." Unfortunately, the Supreme Court decided to strike down this new law claiming it was a violation of the First Amendment. Justice John Paul Stevens justified the decision saying that the CDA was "content-based regulation of speech" (New Paragraph 11).

Luther Campbell, who is the president of his own rap record label, disagrees with many of his counterparts. While many artists are against censoring songs in any way, Campbell feels it is a good idea to have a clean version of rap songs for play on the radio or public areas. He states that he would not want his own young children to hear some of the violent and sexually explicit lyrics that other rap artists call their freedom of expression (Benesch Paragraph 14-15).

The idea of using V-chips is useful, but not quite as sweet as it sounds. They are relatively easy to program and use, but it will be about ten years before every new television set comes standard with a V-chip (Martin Paragraph 5). Former President Clinton, who agrees with the V-chip idea, feels that television executives are "handing the TV remote control back to America's parents." Others think the new ratings system and V-chips are not enough, and that both private and public leaders need to do more. Senator Sam Nunn argues, "We may be the first species that forgets how to raise its young." While making this comment he displayed an article about a ten-year-old boy who forced a five-year-old into sexual activity. The young boy said he was just doing what he saw on a pornographic television station (Bedard Paragraph 2, 4). As ratings are only a small step forward, Hollywood obviously has a long way to go before morality portrayed in movies and on television is truly reflective of the morality of most Americans. It seems that the word "tits" will now be allowed on network stations. It made a quiet entrance in an ABC fall drama called Cracker. The word was used twice in an on-screen conversation and caused no stir by ABC censors. Even though this is a word used by many people, it has no place in regular prime-time programming. How awkward might it be for a parent to be surfing through the channels one night with her youngster, when she happens to stop on the st

Some common words found in the essay are:
Household Materials, Bedard Paragraph, White Paragraph, Mental Health, NLC Paragraph, Marilyn Manson, Association APA, Terrorist's Handbook, Lichter Paragraph, Luther Campbell, supreme court, white paragraph, rap artists, paragraph 1, supreme court ruled, form entertainment, marilyn manson, sexual activity, web sites, television executives, bedard paragraph,
Approximate Word count = 2298
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)