Not in Front of the Children: Indecency, Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth

Marjorie Heins

Hill and Wang, 2002 - Performing Arts - 402 pages

The first comprehensive history of the debate about censorship designed to protect children and winner of the ALA's 2002 Eli Oboler Award for best-published work in the area of intellectual freedom
From Huckleberry Finn to Harry Potter, Internet filters to the V-chip, censorship is often based on the assumption that children and adolescents must be protected from "indecent" information that might harm their development -- whether in art, in literature, or on a Web site. But where does this assumption come from, and is it true? In "Not in Front of the Children," a pathbreaking history of "indecency" laws and other restrictions aimed at protecting youth, Marjorie Heins suggests that the "harm-to-minors" argument rests on shaky foundations.

What people are saying

Review: Not in Front of the Children: "Indencency, " Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth

User Review  - Chris - Goodreads

Good overview, if a bit dry, of sex ed, press freedom, and media freedom.

Review: Not in Front of the Children: "Indencency, " Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth

User Review  - Tyler Malone - Goodreads

This book really is a remarkable piece of work. Sure, a lot of same characters and platitudes come in a little too often, but the thesis, should taboos be restricted by governments or corporations, is ...

About the author

Marjorie Heins is the Director of the Free Expression Policy Project, National Coalition Against Censorship. She is the author, most recently, of Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy: A Guide to America's Censorship Wars. She lives in New York City.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Not in Front of the Children: Indecency, Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth
• Author: Marjorie Heins
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Hill and Wang, 2002
• ISBN: 0809073994, 9780809073993
• Length: 402 pages
• Subjects: Performing Arts / Film & Video / Screenwriting