Sex and violence sell and the media often use these, to an unlimited degree, to seize market share regardless of the damage that may occur to children and adolescent youth. This violent and often foul language content is spewed over airwaves, seen and heard on television, at the movie theaters, and read from pages of books and magazines. The truth is often sensationalized to win viewers or sell music. Under the guise of entertainment, children are becoming desensitized and often violent as they seek to portray or copy what they have seen, heard or read. It is difficult to censor without crossing the line of free speech, but in an environment where parental guidance is lacking and youth violence is increasing, control must be integrated.
Book banning has been a familiar part of the educational landscape in the twentieth century, and even such literary masterpieces as Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice have not escaped the censor's wrath for their allegedly racist views. Since the beginning of the century, public schools have felt increase pressures within their communities to maintain a cautious vigil over the materials used in teaching children. For one thing, more literature is available for children and young people than ever before. In addition, over the past thirty years literature designed for the young child has changed dramatically. This literary revolution has reflected society's own loss of innocence (Day 362). .
Changes in society resulted in more realistic literature being published and former literature patterns, designed to be uplifting and to free the imagination of the child, were changing with the times. Young readers, whose lifestyles differed from those of their parents, had different interests (Day 363). Authors began writing books about new lifestyles that interested youth. Personal and social problems often became the theme of the new books.
