Interesting perspective, you make a good point, IMO. School board candidates in my area have primarily been focusing on getting back to educational basics; the State Dept of Ed has baked CRT and DEI into the public school curriculum which appears to be much more important than being able to read at grade level. There are parents who are very involved in going through school library lists to find the offensive books and trying to have them removed. These books don’t/shouldn’t be in schools; let the parents teach what’s theirs to teach. And what kids don’t learn at home, they will learn from their peers. But I believe you are on point--even w/o books, the woke teachers will indoctrinate with whatever the curriculum dictates. Focus on getting the right people in the right positions to make the right changes and get American education back on track.
As a public librarian in the woke blue state of New Jersey, I can tell you book banning is 110% counterproductive. First of all, before all the uproar about how horrible the books are (and I agree, many are totally disgusting!), nobody checks out these books. I check the circulation of books like "This Book is Gay", and nothing before the book banning. Then the banning starts, suddenly the book is being checked out. Another work of advice to book banners, please read the book before wanting it banned. I make a habit of reading as many of the books on the banned list as possible. I have found several that are really not bad at all. For example, kids books where kids have two moms or two dads. I understand why Christians object to those books. I don't necessarily agree, but I understand. However, these books are pretty tame compared to the books with graphic sexual descriptions and photos. Also, the left uses the tame books to paint all people on the right with the "homophobic bigot" brush. Notice how they never advertise the extreme content parents object to. They just point out that the book is about gay dads, or social justice, or racism, etc. Then they show the relatively tame examples being objected to. I belong to an anti book ban group in New Jersey, so I see the posts from the (very many) leftist librarians in this state. And these and the tactics mentioned by Karlyn are exactly the ones they use to pull the public over to their side. Please, if you or anyone you know is in on the book banning, please, pick your battles carefully! Karlyn is spot on in her advice!
Dr. B, the main reason your points are important is because we don't report the books that have been banned by The Left with the same ferocity. Neither do we have the mass media pounding out that "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" have been banned by The Left with equal force. So, The Left will continue to win this argument despite their own hypocrisy.
Interesting perspective, you make a good point, IMO. School board candidates in my area have primarily been focusing on getting back to educational basics; the State Dept of Ed has baked CRT and DEI into the public school curriculum which appears to be much more important than being able to read at grade level. There are parents who are very involved in going through school library lists to find the offensive books and trying to have them removed. These books don’t/shouldn’t be in schools; let the parents teach what’s theirs to teach. And what kids don’t learn at home, they will learn from their peers. But I believe you are on point--even w/o books, the woke teachers will indoctrinate with whatever the curriculum dictates. Focus on getting the right people in the right positions to make the right changes and get American education back on track.
Good points. Spot on.
As a public librarian in the woke blue state of New Jersey, I can tell you book banning is 110% counterproductive. First of all, before all the uproar about how horrible the books are (and I agree, many are totally disgusting!), nobody checks out these books. I check the circulation of books like "This Book is Gay", and nothing before the book banning. Then the banning starts, suddenly the book is being checked out. Another work of advice to book banners, please read the book before wanting it banned. I make a habit of reading as many of the books on the banned list as possible. I have found several that are really not bad at all. For example, kids books where kids have two moms or two dads. I understand why Christians object to those books. I don't necessarily agree, but I understand. However, these books are pretty tame compared to the books with graphic sexual descriptions and photos. Also, the left uses the tame books to paint all people on the right with the "homophobic bigot" brush. Notice how they never advertise the extreme content parents object to. They just point out that the book is about gay dads, or social justice, or racism, etc. Then they show the relatively tame examples being objected to. I belong to an anti book ban group in New Jersey, so I see the posts from the (very many) leftist librarians in this state. And these and the tactics mentioned by Karlyn are exactly the ones they use to pull the public over to their side. Please, if you or anyone you know is in on the book banning, please, pick your battles carefully! Karlyn is spot on in her advice!
I hadn't thought it about the book bans from this perspective, but you are right. All very good points. Thanks for your work!
Dr. B, the main reason your points are important is because we don't report the books that have been banned by The Left with the same ferocity. Neither do we have the mass media pounding out that "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" have been banned by The Left with equal force. So, The Left will continue to win this argument despite their own hypocrisy.