Censoring Writing

For my discussion leader, I did Sherwood's article on censoring students in the writing center. I was really excited to have this article as mine to lead the discussion, because there were so many different issues that were brought up in the reading, as well as many gray areas in the answers. The main point of the article was whether tutors should censor a student's writing if it is offensive or if that would be stifling creativity and denying their first amendment rights. The problems come when the tutor has to realize if the student is writing to express their opinion or point, or if they are writing for the grade, because those two things are not always the same goal. The ideas sparked a lot of discussion, and it just showed the problems when there are extinuating circumstances. I think Whitney was the one that brought up some different issues with offensive language, and Sara made a good point about ESL students who don't necessarily know something might be offensive. Overall it was a really lively discussion. I'm still unsure where I am on the issue, but I think as a tutor, my goal would be to help with what the student is looking for, if they want to express their opinion, regardless of reaction, then that's what I'll help them with.