Banning books in schools (2 Viewers)

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    Optimus Prime

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    Excellent article I thought deserved its own thread
    =========================

    On the surface, it would appear that book censors and censored authors like myself can agree on one thing: Books are powerful.

    Particularly books for children and teens.

    Why else would people like me spend so much time and energy writing them?

    Why else would censors spend so much time and energy trying to keep them out of kids’ hands?

    In a country where the average adult is reading fewer and fewer books, it’s a surprise to find Americans arguing so much about them.

    In this election year, parents and politicians — so many politicians — are jumping into the fray to say how powerful books can be.

    Granted, politicians often make what I do sound like witchcraft, but I take this as a compliment.

    I’ll admit, one of my first thoughts about the current wildfire of attempted censorship was: How quaint.

    Conservatives seemed to be dusting off their playbook from 1958, when the only way our stories could get to kids was through schools and libraries.

    While both are still crucial sanctuaries for readers, they’re hardly the only options. Plenty of booksellers supply titles that are taken off school shelves.

    And words can be very widely shared free of charge on social media and the rest of the internet. If you take my book off a shelf, you keep it away from that shelf, but you hardly keep it away from readers.

    As censorship wars have raged in so many communities, damaging the lives of countless teachers, librarians, parents and children, it’s begun to feel less and less quaint.

    This is not your father’s book censorship…..

    Here’s something I never thought I’d be nostalgic for: sincere censors. When my first novel, “Boy Meets Boy,” was published in 2003, it was immediately the subject of many challenges, some of which kept the book from ever getting on a shelf in the first place.

    At the time, a challenge usually meant one parent trying to get a book pulled from a school or a library, going through a formal process.

    I often reminded myself to try to find some sympathy for these parents; yes, they were wrong, and their desire to control what other people in the community got to read was wrong — but more often than not, the challenge was coming from fear of a changing world, a genuine (if incorrect) belief that being gay would lead kids straight to ruination and hell, and/or the misbegotten notion that if all the books that challenged the (homophobic, racist) status quo went away, then the status quo would remain intact.

    It was, in some ways, as personal to them as it was to those of us on the other side of the challenge.

    And nine times out of 10, the book would remain on the shelf.

    It’s not like that now. What I’ve come to believe, as I’ve talked to authors and librarians and teachers, is that attacks are less and less about the actual books.

    We’re being used as targets in a much larger proxy war.

    The goal of that war isn’t just to curtail intellectual freedom but to eviscerate the public education system in this country.

    Censors are scorching the earth, without care for how many kids get burned.

    Racism and homophobia are still very much present, but it’s also a power grab, a money grab. The goal for many is a for-profit, more authoritarian and much less diverse culture, one in which truth is whatever you’re told it is, your identity is determined by its acceptability and the past is a lie that the future is forced to emulate.

    The politicians who holler and post and draw up their lists of “harmful” books aren’t actually scared of our books.

    They are using our books to scare people.

     
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    Lets stick with the question. Do you think 50 Shades is appropriate for a 7th grader?
    Well, it very much depends on the 7th grader we are talking about, their level of literacy, their life experiences and the parents’ willingness to discuss the book with their child and help them put it in context. Your turn - what do you think will happen to the 7th grader who checks out that book? And why do you want to take away the parents’ ability to decide whether that book is appropriate for their child?
     
    There's a picture in It of a girls butt in the shower. Clearly no child should ever be able to see this. They just passed some pretty terrible rules directed toward gay and trans students in Katy is as well. They also removed from the school board charter the portion of the social contract that said they had to make decisions based on truth. My wife has formed a PAC and is getting financial support from some big organizations including the NAACP to fight the facist radicalization of the school board here.

    This is the section they struck out and the offending picture.
    Jesus, man, how about a NSFW warning!!!!

    😂
     
    Yes, the strawman argument about what kind of erotica we allow in children's school libraries.
    I know typing words is a little much for you so I guess you can post memes on here, as the rules are optional.
    It's hard for him to type out his own words. He's used to posting propaganda articles from the DNC...I mean Washington Post.
     
    I guarantee I've posted more of my own words than he has. I bet MT15 has posted more Twitter links than I have.
    Zero self-awareness. Of course I have posted more tweets than you have. I actively participate more often than you do. However, you are dead wrong about coldseat. I would make that bet with you in a heartbeat. Coldseat often posts his own words. He tells us his experiences and make genuine contributions to the site. No freaking comparison, dude.

    Here’s the thing: when you post your own words, and knock off quoting the partisan hacks, you could actually bring a valuable perspective to this site. The few times you have done so I have enjoyed reading what you have to say. But you are so wrapped up in proving the crap you read is true, and believing every conspiracy theory, and deciding whether people are “good” or “bad” based on what “team” you perceive them to be on that we never get to actually converse with you honestly.
     
    Zero self-awareness. Of course I have posted more tweets than you have. I actively participate more often than you do. However, you are dead wrong about coldseat. I would make that bet with you in a heartbeat. Coldseat often posts his own words. He tells us his experiences and make genuine contributions to the site. No freaking comparison, dude.

    Here’s the thing: when you post your own words, and knock off quoting the partisan hacks, you could actually bring a valuable perspective to this site. The few times you have done so I have enjoyed reading what you have to say. But you are so wrapped up in proving the crap you read is true, and believing every conspiracy theory, and deciding whether people are “good” or “bad” based on what “team” you perceive them to be on that we never get to actually converse with you honestly.
    I was referring to Optimus Prime who Farb had quoted.
     
    I was referring to Optimus Prime who Farb had quoted.
    Same argument applies. I sincerely doubt you have posted more of your own words than he has. He does post a lot of excerpts, but it is done in a forthright manner and they are good sources. He doesn’t post tweet after tweet though, making extremely long posts that are a pain to scroll past. So there’s that. 🤷‍♀️
     
    Optimus also is posting from sites that are paywalled and giving a pared down synopses.

    90% of the time Optimus' edit for length is enough to get the gist of an article to see if I wish to read the full piece.

    I find it incredibly helpful.

    And please do tell how Technofog and the Washington Post are the same.
     
    This is a great thread which explains why book banning is bad. I know our resident banners want to focus on what they consider pornography, but those books are not generally found in school libraries. Instead the book banners are targeting books like “The Diary of Anne Frank” and the book this thread is about. It’s worth the short time it will take to read it.







     
    It's hard for him to type out his own words. He's used to posting propaganda articles from the DNC...I mean Washington Post.
    I’ve typed plenty of my own words, here and on PDB

    And whatever problem you have with me posting articles compared to the issues we have with you and you running buddy
     
    Yes, the strawman argument about what kind of erotica we allow in children's school libraries.
    I know typing words is a little much for you so I guess you can post memes on here, as the rules are optional.
    “What about the children??!!”

    Always the gateway to right wing authoritarianism

    concern about erotica in school libraries leads to books about Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, books the mention gay people exist and the Diary of Anne Frank being targeted and banned

    And you counter with basically “is Johnny Stallion and the 100 Man Orgy appropriate reading for 1st graders”
     
    There have been plenty of comments about these books from minorities and gay people saying ‘my life would have been much different if I had these books when I was in school’

    Some have said ‘my friend might still be alive if he had these books when he was in school’
     
    I’ve typed plenty of my own words, here and on PDB

    And whatever problem you have with me posting articles compared to the issues we have with you and you running buddy
    I have no problem with what you post. I only reference you when MT15 repeatedly complains about me posting articles or tweets to show she tries to enforce her rules on people she disagrees with and doesn't say anything when someone she agrees with does something similar.
     
    This is a great thread which explains why book banning is bad. I know our resident banners want to focus on what they consider pornography, but those books are not generally found in school libraries. Instead the book banners are targeting books like “The Diary of Anne Frank” and the book this thread is about. It’s worth the short time it will take to read it.








    Didn't you just complain about how it's hard to read my posts when I post multiple tweets in one post?
     

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