English Club on Censorship, Freedom, and Human Rights

Topic: Censorship, Freedom, and Human Rights

Fun Fact of the Day: “The average American spends a third of their overall time online playing games and using social networks” (www.funfactz.com).

 Topic:

1. Have you ever heard of “banned books week”?  Generally, this “campaign celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals.”  Based on this definition, what do you think about this movement?  Do you think it’s important to spread knowledge of such initiatives?

2. What other “freedom” movements are you aware of?  What is freedom?  What basic freedoms do you think that all individuals should possess?  Are you an advocate of any such movements (like the “banned books” campaign, or others)?

3. Does censorship alter basic freedoms?  Do you think that censorship is generally a good thing or bad?  What controls do you think there should be over the media?  Do you think that violent content on TV or in video games, for example, affects individuals negatively, and thus should be censored?   

4. Do you think that the Internet should be censored?  What kind of information can individuals find on the Internet?  What percentage of this do you consider harmful? 

5. In contrast, what mediums do you think should never be censored?  How do you imagine our world without censorship?

6. How are “human rights” considered to be basic freedoms?  What examples of these rights can you think of?  Do you feel like society generally has all rights needed, or are there areas for improvement?  How do notions of “equality” relate to human rights?  Are you aware of any human rights movements?  If so, do you think they have been successful?

7. Based on this discussion, in your opinion, what is the most important “freedom” in our lives?  How can we protect our rights and freedoms?  How do you see similar movements and initiatives changing over the next 10, 25 or 50 years? 

 Schedule: Please put topic ideas in the Suggestion Box!

 Saturday, 20 October at 10:30

Thursday, 25 October at 5:30- Special presentation by Mike!