Other reviewers have aptly summarized this book, touting its main value, a succinct summary of the developing censorship of 'offensive' media. I, for one, am disappointed that this book never looks beyond the legal realm to which its study is confined. Simply stated, the book sadly fails to explain why all the fuss? If we accept the thesis, underwhelming at best, that little evidence justifies the government's intrusions made under the banner of protecting the children, no effort is made to explain why this tactic is so pervasive or persuasive. When the government protects, who exactly is being protected, from what, and why?

This book is a responsible and important study of how we rationalize censorship policies to "protect" children. The interests at stake here are as obvious as they are important. The freedom of expression has long been considered the touchstone of individual liberty and, in turn, democracy. Legally, we have enacted many safeguards to protect this essential aspect of our society, and continue to give mouth service to its importance. But, even as we tout the importance of such personal freedoms, both overseas and on American soil, we are sadly failing in one critical respect: we are not instilling these values in our children. Instead, we are showing them that an authoritative regime may censor and punish unpopular or offensive speech in the name of safety and conformity. We lecture students over the values of the freedom of speech while allowing schools inappropriately broad latitude in declaring student behavior inappropriate or dangerous if it even references violent or sexual themes. Anything considered "sexual" in nature is censored from school life entirely, and even sexual education classes suffer in their ability to inform and protect students.
What are teenagers learning about the importance of personal freedom when they see their peers suspended, expelled, and even imprisoned, for their artistic expressions? Students can legitimately complain that many primary and secondary schools unnecessarily subject them to enforced orthodoxy and repressive strictures, particularly in regards to sexual and violent imagry.
I agree with the author that this paternalistic censorship harms children in many ways, and her discussion of the "modeling effects" and the teaching of authoritarianism should not be dismissed lightly.
I can see how this book may be a slightly difficult read for those who haven't been to law school or haven't studied this subject matter previously, but it is worth the effort. You don't have to be lawyer to understand it, and perhaps the most importance audience for this book isn't.