Censorship and education

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jun/18/google-reports-alarming-rise-censorship

I have never heard, nor would I ever imagine, that censorship would be good for education. I have enough trouble with it on the “parental browser settings” level, where any child with the desire to do so can override the settings. On the level of national governments, I find it shameful, and a sign of corruption and weakness.

People talk about “citizenship” as an important skill for the next hundred years. A citizenry that is never exposed to certain ideas is necessarily weakened and undereducated, and a government that intentionally weakens its citizens should not expect to do well.

Education at its most basic requires exposure to a wide variety of ideas. Guided, perhaps – but not censored.