As Nathaniel Branden once said, “The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.”

     In the wake of the modern civil rights movements and protests, the severity of censorship is a controversial topic that needs to be addressed. In our society, everything everywhere is censored. From books to history, people are consistently forced to limit their expression and are restricted from certain ideas. In most schools, students are restricted from nudity and anything that barely looks towards the direction of sex. The censorship of sex and nudity in education doesn’t preserve the innocence and purity of the students, but only acts to thwart their education. Students are restricted from great works of art, literature, monumental events in history, and  even some topics in science because of the “mature content” in them.

     Attempting to salvage innocence through censorship should not be the equivalent of the loss of freedom of speech and expression. People should be able to have their own ideas and their own opinions. It’s the unfortunate truth that some people’s opinions are offensive and harmful, and that’s where the line is drawn. But society today is all about acceptance. Although it may seem counterintuitive, but being open-minded and accepting is to be mindful of the plethora of different views and ideas.

     As dismal it is to admit it, complete world peace and harmony can’t be achieved- at least not in our lifetime. But as we take steps to get closer to it, we need to embrace the different ideas that people have. We need to understand that every group and every individual will have their own biases, opinions, and needs. Society has become too politically correct, afraid to upset even a single person. To better ourselves, and our society as a whole, we need to be able to respect different perspectives even if we don’t understand them. Maybe after then, we will be able to be the city on the hill that we all so desperately want to be.