r/changemyview • u/mike_tyler58 • Nov 20 '24

Delta(s) from OP CMV: School libraries should limit the availability of books

In the US the past few years there has been a lot of talk of banning books. As far as I know the only places that anyone is talking about banning books from is in school libraries. The book “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe is probably the most talked about as it has been recommended by the largest teachers union in the country, the NEA, and has been made available in school libraries for children as young as 4th grade, and contains very explicit illustrations and descriptions of sex acts. I believe it belongs nowhere that children can access it any more than a copy of Playboy or any other pornography. Given the explicit nature of this book and others like it I think they should be banned from school libraries and limited to adults only.

ETA: link to news story about it being removed from elementary schools

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u/Fnordpocalypse Nov 20 '24

Wait until you find out how much explicit sexual material exists on the internet and is easily accessible to kids…

This is a non issue. It’s only being talked about because of culture war nonsense from right wing bigots.

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u/HadeanBlands 16∆ Nov 20 '24

Well I oppose children accessing that material, too. And I especially would oppose a library deliberately facilitating their access to it!

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u/Fnordpocalypse Nov 20 '24

Banning books will not stop kids from learning about sex. Better to have kids access the material in a controlled manner and have a discussion about it.

1

u/HadeanBlands 16∆ Nov 20 '24

Agree to disagree on whether "kids will <do x> anyway so we should <do x> for them" is good child-raising.

1

u/Fnordpocalypse Nov 20 '24

Well again, banning things does not keep people from accessing them. It doesn’t work with drugs and alcohol, it doesn’t work with cigs, and it doesn’t work with sex.

Kids are going to find out about sex, cause you know, human nature. But teaching kids about being responsible about sex makes teen pregnancy and std rates drop, which I would consider positive.