Did anyone else’s mom leave out an educational book about sex to be “found” by her daughter? 
4 Likes
My kids have access to my Kindle account- good luck to them!
I found about sex in the time honored way—from older kids in the neighborhood. Ah, the 70s.
3 Likes
Let me tell you, I never looked at my neighbor in quite the same way! 
1 Like
They aren’t published because the family has decided not to publish them anymore. That’s very different from banning them.
5 Likes
I think if there is a kid seeking that out in a high school library there is probably a reason. The reason is it’s something they are questioning. So the question is not should it be banned but at what age does it become appropriate? Well, we all know that by high school, sex is a developmentally appropriate topic.
To me, the bigger issue is the BIPOC/Holocaust/Cultural Genocide books that are banned. I feel like the books with gender issues get thrown into the same category as a smoke screen. While people can agree to disagree about when kids should be exposed to sex, what they can’t deny is history. Make someone mad enough that they will fight to get a book out of the library and you might just be able to prevent kids from learning real history if you present it as a book/library/school problem to the right crowd.
3 Likes
I definitely understand this sentiment. I am not really sure about this but I get the impression that many of the parents who are upset about books like Gender Queer are pushing to ‘ban’ it because it has illustrated panels of graphic sex. I did find the pages online scanned in, and yeah it’s porn. Are the parents also upset because of the reasons you described? Sure - they aren’t comfortable with the idea that gender is something kids can decide on their own. But I don’t know if the ‘banning’ of the books is really about that as much as it is about showing porn. One big thing I think is missing from a lot of the back and forth over this is a central question: Are books like Gender Queer ‘helping kids understand’, or are they advocacy books? Advocacy is a bit different. Are the books helping understand or are the books trying to show kids imagery that stimulates them to act on sexual impulses. I know that is an awkward question to ask but I think that is the central question.
2 Likes
My mom and I had a deal that I would buy her books for birthday and Christmas gifts, then she would regift them back to me. Often I just looked for interesting looking books, no real in depth assessment. My middle son, once past 4th grade or so, also read practically every book in our house.
Once I was reading one of these books and came across a more explicit section. I casually told H, “I probably should hide this book.” Immediately from the next room over I heard, “Why?” I wasn’t even aware he was there, but stammered out something to the effect of, “Well, it has some more grown up sections in it - things people read when they’re older.” “Like what?” was his reply. “Oh, nothing major - just a few adult things.” “I already read the book! What things?”
And so ended any worry I had about sheltering my kids from anything. The world is out there. It’s fine if they know about it. What’s over their head is over their head - unless we draw attention to it, of course.
As we continued through life I also figured out it was better to openly talk about anything than pretend it wasn’t out there. My kids, even today, know they can talk with me about literally anything. I like it that way.
To this day, all of us are committed Christians, and we have no faith problems due to it at all. The world we live in is the same world everyone else lives in.
5 Likes
Just not worth the effort.
Are you sure that’s why they chose to not publish? Because that is not their explanation. Dr. Seuss' Company Will Stop Publishing 6 Books, Citing 'Hurtful' Portrayals : NPR
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/6-books-nix-books-dr-seuss-works-halted-for-racist-images/
“Dr. Seuss Enterprises listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field as part of our review process. We then worked with a panel of experts, including educators, to review our catalog of titles,” it said.
What made the company review the books? The same complainers that resulted in the banning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Huck Finn etc. in many school districts. But those books are still published. Why should teachers, academic, specialists, experts and educators decide what should and should not be read/published and parents have no say?
1 Like
Every few weeks I’d come home to find educational pamphlets left anonymously on the bed. 
2 Likes
You have seen the book- what age do you think it’s appropriate for?
My kids have never heard of the book. When I told my oldest about it- her first comment was- do these people understand how easy it is to get porn???
I think kids have plenty of better resources for that, they don’t need cartoon drawling. I didn’t have sons, but from what I understand, they don’t need a whole lot of inspiration to “act on their sexual impulses”. I do think that for many people- having their sexuality repressed can lead to some bad things.
1 Like
School board members are “qualified “? Qualified to do what by whom?
Oh you mean like the books that are being banned because they might make some children in the classroom “feel bad”?
Absolutely they have a right to have a say about what their children are taught. They are paying for the schools that their children are attending. I hope sooner rather than later parents have the right to direct their tax dollars to the school their children attends. I’m sick of my tax dollars supporting all the garbage that’s going on with the public schools (which my kids did not attend thankfully).
4 Likes
School board members are some of the worst offenders. I agree that they aren’t any more qualified than most parents and are primarily political animals.
The curriculum should be set by professional educators. It’s certainly fine for parents to question the reasons for some choices and the questions should be answered but ultimately, the responsibility should lie with educators.
My kids didn’t attend public schools either but we paid big taxes to support our local public schools because, guess what? It’s our responsibility as citizens to make sure ALL the kids in our community (not just the affluent white kids like ours) get a solid education. That’s one reason we won’t be moving to some low tax “paradise” when we retire as so many seem to want to do. I prefer to be surrounded by (mostly)decent, rational people who will also accept their responsibilities as citizens of a community they care about.
Doing otherwise is, IMO, selfish. There’s too many people in this country who don’t feel any sense of responsibility for anyone outside their own circles.
6 Likes
Aren’t most if not all school board members elected? Given that those parents are mostly going to be responsible for deciding whether to re-elect them (or else in some cases stand to replace them), it would seem foolish in the extreme to completely ignore their views, let alone belittle them.
2 Likes
I agree in principle. But for example, to move away from the books/history issue, my son’s school implemented “every day math” when he was in third grade. A new way to teach math because some educational consultant convinced the school that it was a good idea. It was a fiasco. The kids didn’t learn because the teachers didn’t know how to teach it. It was cumbersome and convoluted. The parents were upset and discussed it with the school. In a year or two it was discarded and they moved on to something else. I understand that educators are supposedly the people who know best. But I think that parents have a place in the conversation.
2 Likes
In our system of government, responsibility lies one way or another with elected officials. Maybe the local school board, maybe the city/county/state, maybe different branches argue about it. But in no way is it completely divorced from politics, and it never has been. Not to mention that “professional educators” are not always apolitical either.
2 Likes
I don’t have a kid in the public school system and I pay plenty of taxes- do I get a say? Parents in our school district are consulted and on boards that decide things and school boards are elected. Right now there are many politicians who are deciding what’s taught, I doubt most are qualified or have even had a kid in school recently.
I think this whole posturing is really about taking down public education, so the funds can be directed elsewhere.
2 Likes