Personal Freedom on Intellectual Freedom

FRIT 7332

Dakota Tillman

Intellectual Freedom
 Intellectual Freedom is an essential aspect of any respectable and successful media center

in today’s society. With the abundance of information being so easily accessible, students must

have the right to intellectual freedom. Every citizen has the right under the First Amendment to

read or express views of their interest whether they be radical or unpopular, and the same should

go for our students when they step into the media center. This means as the media specialist, it is

my job to ensure that students’ have access to multiple viewpoints and resources from different

perspectives without permission. I must also ensure that students’ have the opportunity to check

out other resources, such as technology, without being limited based on mitigating

circumstances. I must ignore the pressures of censors from all different places to ensure that my

students have the right to intellectual freedom.

Applying the principles of intellectual freedom to my media center would begin with selecting

broad and diverse reading materials for students on different subjects. Allowing students to have

the ability to read different viewpoints and resources on specific subjects will allow them to

develop unbiased opinions on those subjects, as opposed to only reading a singular viewpoint.

With the abundance of information and the lack of accurate information available on the internet,

students must have access to information to develop their viewpoints. To do so, I must listen to

students’ for materials they would like to support their intellectual freedom. Being unbiased and

open myself is a big part of promoting intellectual freedom in the media center. It begins with the

media specialist.

Claxton High School is sometimes referred to as a “melting pot” of diversity. We have

almost an equal percent of Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic populations at our

school. This benefactor creates an environment that generates multiple different viewpoints

based on ethnicity, economic structure, and geographical structure. To promote intellectual

freedom, I must have a media center that is reflective of our students. Being able to put my own

beliefs and viewpoints aside to allow students to develop their own is extremely important. The

diversity of material in the media center must be as diverse as the student population. Students

have the right to read about their backgrounds and heritage no matter how controversial or

debatable. Allowing students to study their own culture and develop that understanding is a

crucial part of intellectual freedom.

As an advocate and leader of intellectual freedom in my school’s community, I believe it

is extremely important to start with the staff at the school. Getting the staff to understand the

approach of intellectual freedom and get their support will translate to them promoting it among

their students in their classrooms. When teachers are vouching for students to gather alternative

viewpoints from different reading material, then you get a student body who are more educated

on subjects and understand the different viewpoints of that subject. Emphasizing the importance

of this to the staff at the school will ultimately help the process.

References

Admin. (2017, October 20). Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A. Retrieved from http://

www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorship/faq
Admin. (2019, July 13). Restricted Access to Library Materials: An Interpretation of the Library

Bill of Rights. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/

interpretations/restrictedaccess

Censorship. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ilovelibraries.org/get-involved/key-issues/

censorship