16 Comments

C. Elyse, Much appreciated!

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You deserve 1 million hearts, but I am only afforded one per posting!

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And while government bans our books, they have their AI quietly stealing them, training on them... the irony is almost too much to bear. Sigh.

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All too true. Double sigh.

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And not to forget, there is the issue of self-censorship. People police themselves. That's just a bad. It's really disheartening our moment into the visual realm and away from text - a much more involved journey into self.

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This is sadly very true: there’s a long history of hysteria and authoritarianism around preventing books that will open minds and change hearts -and proof that the end of the Age of Enlightenment began decades ago.

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The truth is there, for all to see. Online. Some people aren't interested in seeing it. The authoritarian mindset doesn't want a diversity of ideas, it wants to restrict freedom of thought, access to books they don't agree with, and access to books that aim to open minds and change minds.

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It’s most certainly is there in hi-def technicolor, and the authoritarians must restrict the mindset -the pedestal must remain properly propped.

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Thanks kindly, Franco!

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Thanks for your support, DuVay!

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Oct 13, 2023
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Teenagers (not children) will find and read what they are drawn toward, as they always have.

I'm going to go with PEN America, for a source of truth here:

https://pen.org/report/banned-usa-growing-movement-to-censor-books-in-schools/

Over the 2021–22 school year, what started as modest school-level activity to challenge and remove books in schools grew into a full-fledged social and political movement, powered by local, state, and national groups. The vast majority of the books targeted by these groups for removal feature LGBTQ+ characters or characters of color, and/or cover race and racism in American history, LGBTQ+ identities, or sex education.

This movement to ban books is deeply undemocratic, in that it often seeks to impose restrictions on all students and families based on the preferences of those calling for the bans and notwithstanding polls that consistently show that Americans of all political persuasions oppose book bans. And it is having multifaceted, harmful impacts: on students who have a right to access a diverse range of stories and perspectives, and especially on those from historically marginalized backgrounds who are watching their library shelves emptied of books that reflect and speak to them; on educators and librarians who are operating in some states in an increasingly punitive and surveillance-oriented environment with a chilling effect on teaching and learning; on the authors whose works are being targeted; and on parents who want to raise students in schools that remain open to curiosity, discovery, and the freedom to read.

PEN America has identified at least 50 groups involved in pushing for book bans at the national, state, or local levels. This includes eight groups that have among them at least 300 local or regional chapters. PEN America has identified these chapters based on the national groups’ own listings, by chapter or regional websites, and by their official chapter and regional group pages on Facebook. Insofar as we have been able to establish, there are at least another 38 state, regional, or community groups that do not appear to have formal affiliations with national organizations or with one another.

These groups share lists of books to challenge, and they employ tactics such as swarming school board meetings, demanding newfangled rating systems for libraries, using inflammatory language about “grooming” and “pornography,” and even filing criminal complaints against school officials, teachers, and librarians. The majority of these groups appear to have formed in 2021, and many of the banned books counted by PEN America can be linked in some way to their activities. Some of the groups espouse Christian nationalist political views, while many have mission statements oriented toward reforming public schools, in some cases to offer more religious education. In at least a few documented cases (for example, in Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania), the individuals lodging complaints about books did not have children attending public schools when at the time they raised objections.

This evolving censorship movement has grown in size and routinely finds new targets and tactics, homing in on the books encompassed in district book purchases or digital library apps. A parallel but connected movement is also targeting public libraries, with calls to ban books; efforts to intimidate, harass, or fire librarians; and even attempts to suspend or defund entire libraries.

Since PEN America published our initial Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights (April 2022) report, tracking 1,586 book bans during the nine-month period from July 2021 to March 2022, details about 671 additional banned books during that period have come to light. A further 275 more banned books followed from April through June, bringing the total for the 2021-22 school year to 2,532 bans. This book-banning effort is continuing as the 2022–23 school year begins too, with at least 139 additional bans taking effect since July 2022.

In addition to the role played in book banning by local, state, and national groups, efforts to restrict access to books were also advanced in the past year by government officials and enabled by both state-level legislation and district-level policy changes. PEN America estimates that at least 40 percent of the bans counted in the Index of School Book Bans for the 2021–22 school year are connected to political pressure exerted by state officials or elected lawmakers. Some officials for example sent letters specifically inquiring into the availability of certain books in schools, such as occurred in Texas, Wisconsin, and South Carolina.

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As both a parent and a literature teacher, I respect the distinction you are making. Book challenges originate with multiple motives. Some parents think some books are not age-appropriate (I have plenty of those for my kids - we're not reading The Bluest Eye together yet), but others take a sweet, uplifting friendship-and-family story, beautifully pictured, like The Prince and the Dressmaker, and put it on the list because the prince wears dresses. One parent articulated at a school board meeting in my area, "If you wouldn't want the behavior in your school, it shouldn't be [in books available at school]." If there were a single standard that everyone shared, and especially if it were the one you suggest, the issue wouldn't be the problem that it is. Librarians and teachers are often parents, and they know what's age appropriate. The huge jump in book challenges since 2021 suggests something new and different is going on, not just parents raising age-appropriate concerns about a book here and there. If only it were that.

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Yes to "Librarians and teachers are often parents, and they know what's age appropriate." To me, this relates to using common sense. To address the comment articulated at a school board meeting, "If you wouldn't want the behavior in your school, it shouldn't be [in books available at school]." This strikes me as problematic. Without addressing the differing values, beliefs, cultural systems, level of maturity, ( and many other factors) there's not going to be agreement on what this even means. YA novels are far different in today's world than they were even 10 years ago. They reflect today's cultural climate. Teenagers want their lives reflected back to them. This means access to a wide range of reading matter. Book bans are not new, what's new is the extremism tied to them, as referenced in the PEN America article. There's a great documentary on Amazon about the YA author, Judy Blume. She broke new ground in YA books before they were called such a thing. She's still banned for subject matter/language that's mild compared to today's YA novels. There's a section of the doc where she's being attacked for the content of her books on a talk show in the 1980s, that's worth viewing.

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Yes, and I would add that teens want their friends’ lives reflected back to them, too. Someone else recommended that Judy Blume documentary. Sounds very good!

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(I hope my comment lined up as a response to Conrad Hannon. I value the chance to come from different, but not opposite, angles on this important issue.)

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Yes, your different and measured response was in the spirit of discussion.

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