This combination of multiplicity of values and concern for young people keeps censorship alive in school and public libraries. Current concerns for literacy and critical thinking in education may actually increase incidents of censorship.
Literacy assumes the power of texts and encourages exposure to competing ideas and beliefs.
Critical thinking implies questioning, the analysis and evaluation of those beliefs to come to a personal judgment that empowers young people to take ownership of ideas and control of their own intellectual and moral lives. New technologies are also causing an increase in incidents of censorship. The internet and the world wide web are especially problematic. In the virtual world of these media, there is a potential for a kind of anonymous intimacy that can be very seductive in our often fragmented, disconnected lives. Like most things, this can be either good or bad.