Want to call attention to a book? Ban it
SB 1700 – to create banned book list for schools – is wrong move for arizona
If you want to call attention to a book, there’s no faster way to do it than by banning it. And if you want to help kids find the banned books, make a list of them. I’m perplexed by the Arizona Senate, which this week gave preliminary approval to a bill that would direct the Department of Education to come up with a list of books to ban in public schools.
The Senate Fact Sheet on the bill notes parents can submit books they find to be “lewd or sexual in nature, promote gender fluidity or gender pronouns or groom children into normalizing pedophilia” to the state to be included on the prohibited list.
Governing boards would be required to exclude “all books, publications, papers or audiovisual materials” on the list from its schools.
Arizona, don’t be that state.
It’s up to parents to actively take a role in their child’s education both in the classroom and outside, and determine what’s OK for them to read and what’s not. But one parent doesn’t get to choose for all students across the school or the state.
Sen. Christine Marsh – a teacher from Phoenix – hit the nail on the head. She noted there is content that is “too graphic for the classroom,” Capitol Media Services reports.
“But there’s also no room in the classroom or in libraries for banning books simply because it upsets one group of people at the expense of so many others,” Marsh said.
Marsh pointed out that the books likely to be banned are those that reflect experiences of those not in the mainstream, including gay children and victims of sexual abuse, Capitol Media Services reports.
She noted it’s important for books on these topics to be available, not only so these children can see themselves in literature, but also so others develop empathy for them, Capitol Media Services noted.
Frankly, I couldn’t agree more.
Banning a book does not eliminate a concept or an idea, and it doesn’t make the book automatically disappear. In this day of the Internet, there are a variety of ways for anyone to access books – all it takes are a few clicks online. And children are perfectly capable of doing that.
Books are a gateway to knowledge, a portal through which we learn about people who are different than us, and gain empathy and understanding about the diversity of the human experience.
The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom notes, “Books reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship, on the other hand, creates barriers.”
As for children and books, the ALA notes, “each family has the right to determine which library resources are acceptable for its children and must accord the same right to other parents.”
This is a slippery slope Arizona is perched upon. Today, the target is lewd or sexual content, or content that “grooms children into normalizing pedophilia,” or content that promotes “gender fluidity or gender pronouns.”
And we should pause for a moment here – because frankly, that last one is really broad. Don’t we all have gender pronouns, so by default, couldn’t all content be banned if it uses the words “he, she or they,” regardless of context? It’s quite the potential Pandora’s box.
Anyway, I digress. Today, this bill is targeting sexuality. Does it open the door to expansion on criteria related to race or religion next?
Clearly, I am not in favor of Arizona State Senate Bill 1700.
Parents, if you have concerns about a book, talk to your children about it, and help them make reading decisions that fit your values.
We don’t need legislation or a banned books list to do that.