Censorship exercised on behalf of children, from removing Huckleberry Finn and Harry Potter from the school library to v-chips and Internet filters, assumes that they need to be protected from certain kinds of information—works of art, literature, websites, etc. But where did this assumption arise, and is it true? Two decades of experience as a First Amendment lawyer persuaded Marjorie Heins that this issue requires a dispassionate debate. In her recent book, Not In Front of the Children, she discusses the history and current political minefield of censorship for the purpose of protecting youth.

From Plato's Republic to Victorian obscenity laws to contemporary conflicts in the United States over sex education and media violence, the impulse to guard young people from "immoral" or "dangerous" thoughts and impulses has always been with us. Heins asks whether there are not less censorious ways to address society's anxieties about the moral development of the next generation. Presented by the Wolfson Center for National Affairs.

Inscription: Not in Front of the Children / Ad Spec. Prgms / 06/14/01.