I want to raise my child to be tough and independent-minded, not an ignorant melting snowflake afraid to examine the world around him. So the push to restrict children’s reading materials at school strikes me as ridiculous and contrary to good parenting. We’re not talking about pornography here; we’re talking about books that discuss race, gender, sex, and other matters in age-appropriate ways.
Okay, I’m not going to let my nine-year-old watch Game of Thrones. But, despite warnings from Focus on the Family and parent activist Erin Lee about alleged “‘trans’ activism,” I bought my child the complete set of Wings of Fire books, some volumes of which he’s read twice, and several Warrior Cat books. He also sometimes produces “anthropomorphic art” featuring “animals with human-like qualities,” which Focus on the Family regards as another “potential red flag for parents to monitor closely.” Give me a break.
Amazingly, not only has my child read these “‘trans’ activist” books without turning trans, but he has read the entire Harry Potter series (he’s on his second reading) without thinking he’s a wizard, turning gay (like Dumbledore), or picking up J. K. Rowling’s trans-exclusionary views. Apparently shocking to fuddy-duddy conservative activists paranoid to find the “transgender agenda” behind every cute bunny face, my child is an individual capable of thinking for himself.
But some parents and some school officials think it’s their job to protect the delicate lambs in their care from the outside world, not teach them about it. We can find various stories about the foolishness of this, including Rapunzel. But that story involves premarital sex and violence, so perhaps the wilting adults in question would not allow it.
In August, board members of the Elizabeth School District “voted to remove 19 books from school library shelves after a curriculum committee reviewed the books for things like graphic violence, racism/discrimination, ideations of self-harm or mental illness, and sexual content,” Jenny Brundin reports for CPR.
Brundin continues: “The board also voted to place 100 additional books on a ‘sensitive topics’ list. If a student checks out one of those books, for example, Anne Frank’s ‘The Diary of a Young Girl,’ a parent is automatically notified and the parent can block the child from checking out further ‘sensitive’ books.”
Because obviously what busy parents really needed was one more hassle in their lives. If the board had only created a “sensitive book list” along with a way to let worry-wart parents opt-in to restrictions for their own children, that would have been merely ridiculous.
School board director Mary Powell said (quotes Brundin), “We need to be sure that we are protecting our students from things that are controversial.” An education that does not include controversy is no education at all. I hate to break it to you, but human history and literature are filled with violence, oppression, and sex. To “protect” a child from such knowledge is to seek to lock the child in a pristine tower.
True, some of the books on the district’s list of “temporarily suspended books” concern difficult topics. For example, Thirteen Reasons Why concerns teen suicide; Identical involves sexual abuse, cutting, an eating disorder, and substance abuse. Both of these books had been available at the high school. Obviously adults have a special responsibility to care for minors who may be suicidal, have mental health issues, or be victims of abuse. But such concerns for a minority of kids hardly justifies a blanket ban on the books in question.
Another suspended book is #Pride: Championing LGBTQ Rights, which had been available at the middle school. I was able to check out this book online through Jeffco libraries. There is nothing remotely offensive about this book, unless you are offended by the very existence of LGBTQ people. Since I had it checked out, I read it with my nine-year-old, and that was just . . . not a problem. This is history that everyone should know.
The history of the pride movement is, incidentally, directly relevant to Colorado politics this Fall. With Amendment J, voters can decide to repeal the state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Although this language has not been enforceable since the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling on the matter, its continued existence in our legal code is shameful. I’m glad that my child has been able to learn the relevant history.
Elizabeth’s list of “sensitive” books includes Orwell’s 1984 (!), Anne Frank’s diary, Brave New World, the Holy Bible, and books about Buddhism and Islam. If you think children need to be “protected” from books like this, bluntly, you are an idiot, and you are trying to turn children into idiots too.
You do not protect children by making them ignorant about the world around them. We need fewer book banners and more book readers.
Ari Armstrong writes regularly for Complete Colorado and is the author of books about Ayn Rand, Harry Potter, and classical liberalism. He can be reached at ari at ariarmstrong dot com.
