Why are book banners showing up at FCPS SB meetings
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Anonymous
You haven’t read them. Go away. |
Anonymous
It’s the weird “tender age” poster again. No teenager is going to be “spoiled” by reading either book. You should try reading them. I promise they won’t make you travel back in time to sexually experiment in 4th grade or question your gender identity, just like reading Go Ask Alice did t turn you into a dead junkie in 1981. |
Anonymous
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There are so many logical fallacies on this thread! From both sides. Everyone should read this:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/logic_in_argumentative_writing/fallacies.html I have not read the books and don’t intend to, so I will not opine on whether they should be removed. However, I will say that we should not automatically remove books because they have inappropriate sex in them. Context matters. On the other hand, we should not automatically say anything goes, free speech. There are 13-14 year olds who have access to these libraries. |
Anonymous
Common sense says Asra is pushing lies and misinformation. |
Anonymous
False equivalence. No one said “anything goes”. |
Anonymous
There are many views and opinions. I don't think language that graphically describes sex between 10 year olds is appropriate to have in a school library. I don't care whether it is sex between boys, or between boys and girls. I don't think sex between ten year olds should be accepted as normal. To have our taxes pay for this--taxes that are supposed to be to educate our kids--is troubling. As for the graphic novel that is also in the library, ask yourself "why?" |
Anonymous
It wasn’t a mature sex act. It was kids experimenting with their bodies. A totally normal thing for kids to do. You do know what “graphic novel” means, right? |
Anonymous
| Just read through these threads. This online community needs to stop feeding the trolls who find it acceptable for school library books to depict 10 yr olds having sex. I’m putting away this filth and am going to go enjoy the rest of the day with my family. |
Anonymous
The “trolls” are the people who haven’t read these books. Don’t understand them. And just blindly, ignorantly call them “filth”. |
Anonymous
Agree |
Anonymous
| I don’t expect the Democrat-controlled School Boards to read in advance every book that ends up in a school library. I do expect them to oversee the hiring of the right people in charge of expenditures of public funds and not to try and silence parents who express concerns about objectionable material. On that score, they’ve failed, just as they’ve failed on every other major issue confronting FCPS in recent years. Vote these idiots out. |
Anonymous
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I consider myself to be very liberal and am an avid reader who thinks all books should be available. I don't generally worry about what my kids are reading, I'm happy they are reading and being exposed to many viewpoints. I've read Lawn Boy and have zero issue with it being included in a school library. The graphic novel Gender Queer does give me pause. Seeing detailed pictures of blow jobs prompts a different reaction for me than reading about the same thing. There is more escape when it is words and you supply your own imagination to make the picture. It's also easier to skim through or ignore if it's triggering for you. But seeing the oral sex happening on the page feels different and I can understand why parents would prefer this be available in a public library, but not in their school's library.
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Anonymous
Sexual acts between 10 year olds is not normal, it’s a sign one of them is being abused. |
Anonymous
What’s refreshingly reasonable response. Quite different from the erroneous screams of “pedophilia!” And “pornography!” I agree that comic books / graphic novels are different in terms of visual literacy. The question is whether the book has merit on its own despite the potentially problematic frame. Professional school librarians who make these difficult choices decided for whatever reason that there was a need within their school community for a comic book style treatment of a non-binary teen. A reasonable committee of teachers, parents, students, and others can assess the book and see if they agree or if the book, on the whole, would be better as a voice in the public library only. Screams of “filth” and “smut” are a ridiculous outsized reaction to a book that sensitively portrays a person’s feelings toward their body, gender expression, relationships, hopes, and dreams. No trainable person reading either could conclude that they are porn or promotion of anything, from sex to gender identity to sexual orientation. They are heartfelt stories. Maybe one doesn’t belong. Maybe it does. But a reasonable person like you could email a principal or librarian and say, “I was concerned about a book in your collection so I read it in it’s entirety. I am concerned that the illustration on page 76 is unsuitable for a high school library. I would like to request that the title be reconsidered.” That would trigger a committee’s review and the book might be removed. But THIS….this was a circus deigned to make people start freaking out that, “Democrats on the School Board are buying porn and books with pedophilia for school libraries rather than building new schools or teaching cursive!” Just look at the reactions here from people who haven’t even read the books. It’s a crazed witch hunt. |
Anonymous
Eh I don’t have a problem with it. Flowers in the attic was written to be titillating and it was read for that purpose as well. It was circus. No more then dime store garbage but it was fun. Get it out of libraries because it’s junk; not because it’s porn. The book being discussed....I haven’t read it bit I want to read it because the words quoted are really well written. Poetic and lyrical. The books that stand the test of time are either relatable and have a strong moral arc. The best books I’ve ever read in some way lead to me a greater understanding of the complexity of what it means to be human. I don’t have to have personally lived something in order to learn from it. How many people discuss the why or how they did something. Lit gives one the opportunity to get inside of a characters mind to understand the why to explain the how. To understand humanity. Trust we are all a sum of our actions and decisions. The balancing of right and wrong and the fallout that ensues no matter the choice we make. All of that plays out in well written Lit. Well literature, and yes usually it is the lit that is considered controversial for its day, is what actually helps to develop critical thinking skills. You know the ability to actually think things through. To weigh the costs and benefit, to align your actions with your belief system. Woe is the man who is incapable of looking beyond a few morally objectionable words or imagery. Who sees no value in challenging thought and belief systems. Who is afraid of a books power to formulate ideas, opinions and beliefs. Who get’s trip wired by a few “dirty” words or images. Colloquialisms “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!” I think it is shocking the number of people who fell and are falling in-line behind right wing extremist doctrine who are hell bent on destroying this country for what? Whether it be for economic power, or just power. Getting you all worked up about a book is just one more way of praying on your ignorance your lack of innate intelligence. Your fears and your inability or unwillingness to peek behind the curtain or under the bed in any area of your life. Ask yourselves why do my “leaders” want me to be ignorant? Why do they want my kids to be ignorant. The world is moving on while you fight your insipid culture wars. Put it to rest already. Do the book burners even read? Genuine question. Do you actually read in your downtime? When is the last time you read anything other than rantings of some weirdo friend of a friend who reposted from a friend of a distant Facebook friend... you know a long ranting screed “needin to learns your children on the dangers of devil books”. With a long list of books that need to be banned “right now” . Most of which, all of which you’ve never even heard of, let alone read. “The great pleasure of ignorance is the pleasure asking questions. The man who has lost this pleasure, or [Worse] exchanged it for the pleasure of dogma, which is the pleasure of answering, has already begun to stiffen” To the more intelligent and liberal among us I quote “The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” Get out and vote in state and local elections at every single opportunity. |