Comic book censorship

Censorship is not a new issue...it has been a prevalent problem in American society for decades. In 1955, the U.S. Senate investigated the so-called direct link between comic books and juvenile delinquency. It was stated that parents had gone to administration with concern as to how the content of comic books has had a "deleterious effect upon their children of certain of the media of mass communication". The government says that the public has a right to state their concerns for the welfare of their children and that "certian types of mass communication media are to be reckoned with as contributing to the country's alarming rise in juvenile delinquency". It rationalizes that although juvenile delinquency is not caused by one factor, comic books have a significant effect upon the entire problem. It also justifies that just as juvenile delinquency has been a rapidly evolving issue, so has the increase in print media, television and radio. The Senate says that children today are exposed to the sights and sounds of new entertainment that can be delterious to their upbringing and are very different to the way kids were raised decades before. They say comic books are a "powerful counterpoise working evil" and greatly impact a child during its developmental years.

The Senate uses the following criteria as reaons for why comic books are so harmful:

character, plot and setting
the use of supernatural powers to hurt others using real-life
situations
would show kids that they can use violence on others
language
words alone are more graphic than words and battle scenes are
depicted
using harsh words. Kids learn to use these harsh words to evoke
power over
others
sequence
the sequence of events is so quick that kids believe that there are
no long-term consequences to their actions. stories show the
climax of events
in the end so that kids believe that the best is yet to come.

I have to approach this issue in two perspectives. Firstly, the year is 1955 and the US was not as liberal at it is now, so the Senate and parents who complained to administrations were probably shocked at the new wave of literature and entertainment available to the masses. Secondly, I view this topic with a 2005 perspective. The reason I do so is because there is a direct correlation between the arguments in 1955 and 2005 concerning censorship. Are not the arguments posed by the 1955 Senate similar, if not exact, replications of the arguments today? They complain that the literature has gotten out of control and is corrupting youth...and in 2005 the same feelings are expressed.
This idea poses a great threat for me. Have we not changed as a society since 1955? Are we still stuck in a time when we thought comic books were harmful for children? What happened to parenting and showing kids the difference between recreation and reality?
Comic books are just another form of literature, just like the newspaper. Isn't the newspaper worse? Doesn't the newspaper tell about actual events that occured, such as rape, murder, war, death, suffering, etc?

Source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/kefauver.html