High school kids watch porn. Why can’t they read a true story about stuff that actually happened to other kids, which happens to contain a sex scene? Lots of books have sex scenes. One example that sticks with me is Mystic River, which I read around 9th grade. Should I have been banned from reading that?
Just because kids watch porn doesn’t mean the government should supply kids with it. Nothing is being banned by not distributing it in schools. Kids, the same ones that watch porn even though it’s illegal, will be able get books that are not in school libraries.
It’s not porn lol, it’s a book
You can call it what ever you want but it’s still sexually explicit material.
So you want to ban Mystic River?
Do you have an exert from the book? That way we can compare the two
They abduct and rape a kid
That isn’t an exert we can compare.
Nothing is being banned. The gonernment isn’t banning Ferraris because they they are not handing them out.
I got my books from the school library. You’re saying they shouldn’t have given me Mystic River?
If it contains sexually explicit material, it should not given to minors.
Why do Republicans insist on “protecting” children from stuff?
It’s as if they think that if it’s not publicly available, then kids won’t have access to it. But so many parents are technically challenged and don’t even use their parental filters on their home routers. Just because they can’t protect their children with their own property does not give them the right to extend their façade of moral purity into the public sphere.
Also, what kids do you think are going to the libraries looking for this content? I, for one, would have never stumbled across any of these books. But if a person think they’re kid would, then what do you hope to accomplish by removing this source of vicarious experience? We know damn sure they ain’t coming to you as their parents to talk about their sexual orientation. The harm of removing sucks books is that the kids seek it elsewhere.
You can ban a book all you want, and you should be shamed to hell and back for even trying. But if the real intent is to “protect” children from stuff, then banning the book only ups the ante for acquiring the knowledge they seek. And that could quite literally kill them if they approach the wrong person or get involved with the wrong group in order to sate their curiosity.
Also banning books tends to have this Streisand effect where they end up being noticed more than they would have if the books were left alone.
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I would trust the discretion of the librarian to filter out books that are low quality or not appropriate. But if enough kids and parents request a book that book should be added to the library because ultimately the librarian/district works for the parents.
The call should be made at the local level, not by politicians who don’t even live in the district.
It’s a memoir about growing up black and gay. It contains true events from the author’s life. Why should this person’s high school memories be banned for high school students?
What parts can an adult mind comprehend, but a teenage mind can’t?
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Did anyone say it should be banned? I am a fan of common sense. This shouldn’t be available to 12 year old children at the school library. If parents want to provide it to their children, that’s fine but 12 year olds don’t need to be reading this.
Why is it not appropriate for a 12 year old?
12 year olds can watch movies and play games of people violently being murdered, but sex is off the limits?
What if a child was being abused and reading through another child’s account of abuse empowers them to speak to?
And complaining about dildos or sexual acts as if children by the age of 12 aren’t already beyond that? Shit I was masturbating by 10, and I’ve heard many women experimented with object insertion at similar ages.
In 2-3 years time many of those 12 year old children will be teenager’s experimenting with each other and not just their own body, it’s best to teach them before that point rather than wait until it’s too late.
In closing:
Of course they’re gonna know what intercourse is by the time they hit fourth grade
They got the Discovery Channel, don’t they?
We ain’t nothing but mammals… well, some of us, cannibalsWhat age are high school students in America?
I started my freshman year at 13, but my birthday’s pretty late in the year.
Not 11 or 12. YOu would be 14-15 as a freshman. You graduate around the age of 18.
This was provided to 7th graders. 11-12.
I agree in that instance it was inappropriate. Even that article says the retailer recommends it for high school students. I would be against removing it from high schools, not elementary schools.
I am not a fan of “banning” any book. I was an advanced reader but I wouldn’t have wanted to read this book at any age. That said, I don’t have an issue with it being in a public library where a parent could consent for the child to check it out. It shouldn’t be available for a 12 year old to check out by themselves. I am not a prude but it was some heavy content that should have someone put in context for a child.
Make the parents sign a waiver before allow kids to check out books with adult themes, sure. But banning books from libraries is something I will never agree with. I don’t see how anyone can be for personal liberty and then also ban speech. It’s not conservative, it’s fascist.
I don’t see how anyone can be for personal liberty and then also ban speech. It’s not conservative, it’s fascist.
You’re free to do what you like. Why do you believe that freedom necessitates that the government buy books for you?
To be clear I agree with you that the government has no responsibility to provide a library to anyone. The first amendment not only includes freedom of speech and freedom of association; it also includes freedom to information. If the government is providing a library, such as in a school; it should not be banning books for arbitrary reasons. I tend to trust the discretion of the librarian for which books are available in the library.
And how do you define an arbitrary reason vs a legitimate one?
An arbitrary reason would be any reason that is used post hoc to ban books that wasn’t an issue until some outrage of the month (ie banning books like “black like me” or “to kill a mockingbird” because of anti-CRT panic)
I mean it’s fundamentally impossible to know about something before it’s, well, made known. Plenty of people have opposed obscene content in schools for ages. They simply hadn’t been made aware of anything specific or actionable until recently.
Yep I’m not subbed here because I think Democrats are blameless. Anyone in favor of banning books, regardless of party, is wrong.
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Maybe if Tiffany Justice had access to books discussing dildos in high school, she’d figure out a way to remove the giant stick up her ass.
