Book bans don’t protect education — they hinder it
There’s a bit of irony in Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz purposefully mischaracterizing a book like Marilyn Reynolds “Shut Up!” as “sexually graphic” to scare a person into silence. The abuser in “Shut Up!” accuses his victim’s older brother (a witness to the abuse) of watching pornography, resulting in expulsion from the house, so he could have full, unprotected access to his victim.
Yes, I am the parent — sorry, “activist” — that Commissioner Diaz was referring to when he shared his uninformed opinion of the book “Shut Up!” at the “book ban hoax” press conference last week in Orange County. Both of my children attend OCPS schools. I volunteer my time tracking censorship across the state for the nonprofit Florida Freedom to Read Project. Am I an “activist?” A “mama bear?” I prefer public-school parent, exercising the right to protect my children’s education, including pushing back when books are banned.
And yes, I mean banned. If this book was simply being removed to make room for others, a media specialist would be able to reorder it when a student expressed interest in reading it. That cannot happen with “Shut Up!” in Orange County. It also can’t happen with “The Bluest Eye,” “Sold” or “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” These are all books that address sexual assault in direct, descriptive language. These books are not pornography. They are not obscene. And, they are not expressly forbidden under the current language of the law.
Ignorance does not protect innocence, and we have health standards at the secondary level that cover sexual assault to protect and prepare young people for the world. “Shut Up!” supports the curriculum by addressing sexual assault from the perspective of a teen boy. It warns teens about grooming, covers signs a friend or loved one might have been assaulted, and provides guidance on how to seek out help — all while being empathetic to the many ways a sexual assault may impact a teen’s life. It was initially challenged in March 2023 because a parent felt the triggering topic was inappropriate for instructional use in OCPS high schools. It wasn’t escalated to a district-wide prohibition on self-selected reading in our school libraries until August, after HB 1069 went into effect. The district took the position that the law prohibited any description of “sexual conduct” regardless of context or literary value — there’s no room for a discussion about age appropriateness.
That’s why I filed an appeal to the state last September (on the first day the rule went into effect) for a special magistrate to review the district’s permanent removal of the book. I argued the district did not follow the law or their policy when they permanently removed the book without a district level committee review. Then, I waited.
It was just before the winter break that I was told my appeal was pending a decision by the Commissioner as to whether or not my appeal would move forward.
I waited some more.
Finally, last Thursday Commissioner Diaz shared publicly what he thought about my appeal. Only, he didn’t disclose that I was a parent appealing a removal to a special magistrate. No, he called me an “activist” working to have an “inappropriate” book installed into our schools.
Why would he encourage banning a book when its purpose is to help teenagers stop sexual assault and report grooming to the proper authorities? What sort of message does it send to young people when we prohibit speech about sexual assault because it might sexually arouse the most depraved among us?
The special magistrate appeal is not supposed to decide the final fate of a book. It’s supposed to rule on whether or not policy and law were followed. Yet, his comments about my appeal likely solidified the removal of that book for all OCPS high schools, and could lead other districts to follow without reviewing the book in its entirety for age appropriateness.
I have yet to receive any confirmation from the Florida Department of Education that my appeal has been rejected. They must have assumed I watched and took the hint: Shut Up!