One of our readers in Indiana noted the paradox that Illinois has banned the banning of books while Indiana Republicans are welcoming any parent or ne’er-do-well to complain about a book and get it removed from school libraries.
Indiana’s Republican-controlled General Assembly decreed this year in House Enrolled Act 1447 that every public school board and charter school governing body must establish a procedure for the parent of any student, or any person residing in the school district, to request the removal of library materials deemed “obscene” or “harmful to minors.”
The procedure may provide for an intermediate response by school personnel to a request to remove a library book, but it must include the school board reviewing, and possibly implementing, each removal request at its next public meeting.
The new law followed claims by Hoosier Republicans that Indiana school libraries are secretly loaded with books containing pornography and other content inappropriate for children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Can you imagine how completely, utterly, irredeemably screwed up one has to be to see pornography in any functioning school library? And on top of that, actively look for and see it where it in no way exists. This cult is toxic to basic decency.
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It’s a moral panic driven by viral tweets and tiktoks about a handful of books that frankly most parents probably would be fairly shocked to learn was in a school library.
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Like The Diary of Anne Frank, the Ruby Bridges Story and And Tango Makes Three? All of which have been banned for supposedly “pornographic” content. Your assumption that ANY books in school libraries are actually pornographic is laughable
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Look down at the bottom of the thread.
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It’s a very carefully staged campaign by astro-turf organizations funded by conservative donors and think tanks.
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Nailed it, Ms. Mulligan! Those organizations are lighting the grass fires.
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These are really twisted people. I think of John Ashcroft putting blue drapes over Lady Justice in the DOJ building to hide her nudity. Being him–being THAT narrow and twisted and small and scared and creepy–is its own punishment.
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Indiana…the Mississippi of the Midwest.
Full disclosure: I’ve lived in Indiana since 1973.
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I started school at Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1973. And yes, there were people who read books there. Lots of brilliant people who read books. Professors whom I was blessed to learn from. All honor to them.
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I heard that Indiana is the Mississippi of the North.
I LOVED the article since I’m the mysterious “One of our readers in Indiana…”.
I’ve lived here since 2007. It was cheaper than living in Illinois. I came here after having taught band and classroom music grades 4-6 in the Santa Cruz Cooperative School in Santa Cruz, Bolivia for two years and then teaching music in the International School of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 8 years. I lived in KL for 9 years.
THANK YOU Diana Ravitch!!!
You have recognized that Indiana has some uneducated politicians who fear getting a populace that is indeed intelligent and who read.
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The Hoosier State used to elect moderate Democrats, like Birch Bayh, and be proud of its public schools. No more.
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Who is so expert as to determine what is inappropriate for EVERY child ? What if another parent or group of parents WANTS a book available to their child/children? Most classic literature has something, somewhere that someone might consider objectionable. Has the country lost its collective mind?
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yes
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The Bible has LOTS of things parents would otherwise find obscene and ultraviolent.
Incest, rape, mass murder – you name it, it’s in there. The Old Testament makes Charles Manson look like a piker.
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Yep, and the Bible has been limited to high schools in a district in Utah. It was done as a protest to all of these books bans
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2023/06/13/republican-lawmakers-attack-utah/
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Yep, and a parent in Utah, protesting these book bans, got the Bible limited to high schools in this Utah district. Needless to say, people are freaking out.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2023/06/13/republican-lawmakers-attack-utah/
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It grieves me that this woman is supposedly an English teacher:
https://popular.info/p/florida-english-teacher-pushing-book
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How would anyone in Indiana know what was in a book?
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And while Mama is screaming at the school board about the “pornography” in the school library, her darling Bubbachild is at the back of the room listening to A$AP Mob f/ Flatbush Zombie’s “Bath Salt” on his iPhone.
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In other words, if there is no course to be had, water will make one.
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But I suspect that will go–whoosh–right over the little bouffant-coiffed, porcine-appearing but mostly empty Repugnican heads.
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Pigs are smarter.
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This is right wing propaganda on steroids. One of the Moms for Liberty here in Florida was complaining about porn in local school libraries as well. When extremists use the identical language, it is a sign that the narrative is a boilerplate talking point from their handlers.
During my long career in pubic education including over twenty years teaching in a elementary school, I was a regular school library user in liberal New York. I never once encountered an obscene book on the shelf. Our professional librarian screened and curated all materials that were of interest and appropriate for 5 to 12 year old young people, and she was an expert in children’s literature.
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https://imgur.com/a/IjqKvJr
This is one of the books that went viral on Twitter and started this moral panic.
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OMG. I didn’t know that people have sex. Wow. What a surprise!
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People have sex. I am shocked. Shocked, I say!
ROFLMAO
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See my notes below.
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Bob, you think it’s odd that some parents would not like learning that this book was in the school library? Does that mean such parents are anti-LGBT? Note that Diane in this thread said she doesn’t think it should be in a school library. I take it from your comments here that you disagree strongly.
Myself, I’m ambivalent. But I can’t pretend to be surprised that a lot of people wouldn’t like to learn this was in a school library. Not everyone is as sexually liberated and free-thinking as the most sexually liberated and free-thinking people in society.
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See my notes below about the consequences of sexual liberalization, Flerp.
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RT, I tried to post a photo of a couple pages from one of the books that went viral on Twitter and ignited this moral panic, but it went into moderation. Possibly because those pages are, in fact, pornographic.
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Then, I would ask who is responsible for ordering such library materials?
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Anyway, here are some photos of pages from a Twitter post, with some redactions for the more “obscene” portions.
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Prior to the internet and social media, that would be a reasonable approach. Today our discourse has gone haywire. We are presented with the most extreme version of everything, and we either clutch pearls in horror or defend it as a perfectly reasonable thing.
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FLERP! Extremes, yes. And one person here apparently thinks Donald Trump is NOT a criminal (in the face of all the evidence). How does one respond to laughing icons instead of a reasonable answer? (sigh. . . .)
And then in another note this same person asks if Diane has evidence for her assertion about the deaths of children from the use of guns. I guess this person want to wait for more children to get killed so that we can get the data to make such a claim. (Reasonable thought has no place in it?)
“Screwy” doesn’t cover it. CBK
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In a previous article, I cited the data from CNN that homicide by gun is now the leading cause of death for children in the US.
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Diane I’m getting the feeling that “she” has a “crickets” place in her head where she puts things she doesn’t want to read or hear. But I speculate . . . . CBK
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https://adambcoleman.substack.com/p/gaslighting-disingenuousness-and
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Lisa, you will probably be attacked for providing a link that includes the words “both sides.”
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Flerp, I know I will, but that’s OK. I will also be scolded by a certain person that I am posting “right wing talking points”….and that’s OK, too. I find his writings /articles/opinions very balanced, nuanced, centric and well researched. The 85-90% of “us” have a voice it’s the voice of reason…..and it doesn’t mean that “we” are horrible people, or fascists, or Nazis, or stupid. I’m tired of the hate from both sides.
I can remember the fights over Playboy, Hustler and the other “skin/sex” mags being available on the store shelves where children could clearly see. Oh, but Playboy had “good articles” was the one side and then the other side was ban those rags. The compromise was that the skin magazines went behind a “shield” on the magazine rack. We have lost all sense of compromise/nuance in a fight for “our side”. I recently changed my voter status to “I” as an “F— you” to the Dem party because I can’t agree with the far left Dems or the far right Repubs. Call me what you will, but I consider myself a fiscally responsible Dem or a socially conscious Repub…..pretty much center!
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The content of a few books does not warrant taking decisions away from trained, professional librarians. Opinions vary. Any complaints should go to school boards, not to legislatures.
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LCT, I agree. This is a terrible, terrible thing for legislatures to be getting involved with. But let’s not gaslight people by saying that this stuff doesn’t exist. And let’s not act surprised when a significant number of parents aren’t happy when they find out it’s on school library shelves, or act like every parent who isn’t happy about it is an anti-LGBT bigot.
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FLERP, how many school libraries own that book?
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LCT: Well said. It is an issue that can be resolved locally.
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I can agree with that, except that a complaint should be accomplished by writing a letter to the school board, or by stating during public comment of a school board meeting a polite request to review the shelves. You must admit, there has been too much public outrage. Too much yelling. Too much fist clenching. Too much firing. It is intimidating. I’m Jewish, and if people started getting that angry about library books containing graphic depictions of bar mitzvahs, I would be mentally harmed and likely afraid for my physical safety. That is how many LGBT people feel right now.
No one has to like me. Everyone must, however, treat me fairly and with respect. No one has to like all the books. Everyone must, however, be civil in their disagreement, and one side in this particular debate is rife with incivility. I’m not saying you are uncivil; I’m saying you must see how others are acting.
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LCT, I am a bit disturbed at how this backlash has morphed into something larger, i.e., a general anger at the concept of “pride” most recently. Harassing Target employees, etc. I agree, too much yelling. Backlash often (always?) goes too far. I do think it is helpful to not gaslight or dig in on fringe positions at the outset, though.
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Are you equally “disturbed” by the growing hostility to gays?
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Diane, I don’t know how many school libraries have stocked the book. I do know it was the #1 book on the American Library Association’s list of the “most challenged books,” a list the ALA puts out annually to “the public about censorship in libraries and schools.”
https://cbs6albany.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/gender-queer-deemed-most-challenged-book-to-stay-in-high-school-library
Do you think school libraries should stock this book?
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No, I don’t.
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“Are you equally “disturbed” by the growing hostility to gays?”
Yes, Diane, that was what I was trying to say. This has morphed into a more general hostility to homosexuality that is disturbing to me.
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I read your remark as a feigned concern about the backlash to the very existence of gays.
There are people in this country who would kill people as Matthew Shepard was killed, slowly and brutally, when his only “crime” was being gay.
Why the hysteria about drag queens? Florida had five legislative committees writing drag queen legislation. They are performers. They are not dangerous. They don’t kill people like angry folk with AR-15s.
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Well then you’re reading my comments incorrectly.
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Frankly that comment annoys me a lot. You don’t know me or my life. I try to speak honestly and say what I think as clearly as I can.
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And you don’t know me or my life. Gays suffer far worse discrimination and abuse than people who don’t approve of them.
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People should be strong in their fight for equality and justice, but should moderate their desire to be widely loved or worthy of imitation. I suppose everyone gets a little holier than thou sometimes. Both sides. Purity and pride are both double edged. Live and let live. Both sides.
Thank you, Flerp and RT.
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Flerp, a gentle reminder that your original point was that “this stuff exists.” You kind of switched tacks, and Diane was rightly concerned. I understand you were trying to find middle ground, but that got lost in the back and forth. Water of a duck’s back and under the bridge, no?
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Meet with the librarian. Raise the issue. If the librarian agrees that that the material is problematic, have him or her do the equivalent of putting the magazine behind a shield that hides all but the name–on a shelf of books that require permissions, for example.
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There are people in this country who would kill people as Matthew Shepard was killed, slowly and brutally, when his only “crime” was being gay.
Yes. And we are closer than people think to handing the power to do that to monsters in some parts of this country.
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So, we made all kinds of drugs illegal and put into place severe penalties even for mere possession of small amounts. Trillions of dollars spent, and millions of lives destroyed. What did all this prohibition do? IT MADE DRUGS A BIGGER PROBLEM, and it served as a job creation program for drug cartels.
We had the sexual revolution. We invented birth control. We allowed sex, often quite graphic sex, in every part of popular culture, just about, and with the coming of the Internet, there was a massive boom in online pornography, web caming as a profession, and so on. (One m or two in caming? One, I think.) And what were the results? Young people are having FAR LESS sex before marriage. Teen pregnancy and STDs are WAY, WAY DOWN. This is so much the case that pundits are writing articles about what is wrong with young people today because they are having so much LESS sex than in the old days.
Where are the teen pregnancy and STD rates the highest? In the Bible-thumping states. THERE ARE REASONS FOR THAT.
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This liberalization that the Reich-wing parents are complaining so much about has resulted truly dramatic, historically unprecedented DECREASES in youth sexual activity, in STDs, in pregnancies. DECREASES. Accompany this with real sex education, including education about consent, and you’re really cooking.
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What has happened is that with the liberalization, ALL the trend lines related to sex among the young have gone SHARPLY in the right direction. THAT’S what we should be talking about and researching.
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Less sexual activity is the right direction?
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I see your point, Bob. But I think it’s a stretch to conclude that reduced sexual activity among teens is the result of education campaigns. More likely it’s the result of decreased social interaction and dramatically increased screen time.
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Young men wanking it to porn instead of having sex with others, growing up into adult men wanking it to porn instead of having sex with others, is not a high state of enlightenment to me. It’s depressing.
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In comparison with the past, at this time, right now, when our media are more sexualized than ever, when sexual content is everywhere, from Euphoria on television to explicit streaming services–young people are waiting longer to have sex, they are having far less sex at early ages, they are contracting fewer STDs, they are having fewer unwanted pregnancies, etc. ALL THE STATS ARE BOOMING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
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It’s a result of lots of things–real life has complicated etiologies. But part of this astonishing truth about life in America today is that kids know more–they are more hip to the problems they can get into and so more cautious. Liberalization has had DRAMATIC positive effects. If you want the stats you have in West Virginia, then effect these bans everywhere. If you want the horrifying rates of STDs, teen pregnancy, early sex, sex without consent involving young people that we had in the 1980s–all this ugliness–then return to the repression we had in the 1980s.
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We see this very differently, Bob. Less STDs is a good thing for sure. But a trend toward less sex — and it’s not just later sex, it’s less sex overall — is not a good thing for the psychological health of young people or adults, it’s not a good thing for loneliness and sadness, and it’s not a good thing for a country with low birth rates.
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“There’s something happening here, and you don’t know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones?”
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DO NOT deemphasize that point that the sex is happening LATER. That’s HUGE. We were at a place where very young kids–middle schoolers–were having very dangerous sex, where that was widespread. And they weren’t ready for it physically and psychologically and it was a horror. And then we liberalized, and that MOSTLY STOPPED. THIS IS A REALLY BIG DEAL. It’s a HUGE win. As are the sharp declines in STDs and teen pregnancy.
Where there is more repression, all these problems are MUCH WORSE. There are reasons for that.
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I agree, Flerp, that we should be working to create means for young people to interact IRL–teen centers with transportation to these, for example. If politicians thought about that kind of thing–how to create safe places for RL, RW interactions–instead of spending their time having heart attacks about naked cartoon mice, . . .
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OMG. What? People masturbate? Oh, that’s so terrible. Doesn’t this cause blindness?
–Concerned senior in Flor-uh-duh
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It’s true I don’t know your life, Diane. But I’m not impugning your motives here, either.
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I don’t think I impugned your motives.
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RED states are passing legislation that turns justice over to vigilanties who do not have to prove anything. If these individual, legally empowered vigilantes say something is wrong, its wrong.
To stop these legalized vigilante laws, someone else has to spend a lot of money and time going to court.
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