Does Innocence Matter?

Have you ever noticed that people like to throw around the phrase ‘banned books’?

This phrase is designed to create the illusion that mobs of insane people are storming local schools and libraries, hurling great works of literature into giant piles of burning pages.

But that image is far from the truth and hides the actual underlying issue. Should adults and community leaders be concerned about the content accessible to children in their public schools?

Let us not be distracted by the false question of whether books should be banned. The conversations should focus on asking if the innocence of children matters.

Who Is Responsible?

Would you be surprised to learn that in Colorado, school district boards of education have the legal responsibility to determine what publications are appropriate in their schools and libraries?

You know how we know? Colorado Revised Statute 22-32-110 (1) (r) tells us so:

...each board of education of a school district has the following specific powers, to be exercised in its judgement:

(r) To exclude from each school and school library any books, magazines, papers, or other publications which, in the judgement of the board, are of immoral or pernicious nature;

Are Controversial Books Here?

Would you also be surprised to learn that many of the controversial books being read at school board meetings across the country are available to school children in Poudre School District? Books earning tacit approval from Poudre School District Board of Education Director and candidate Jessica Zamora are accessible by PSD children as young as 11 years old. According to the PSD Online Library sexually graphic (as in actual cartoon graphics) books such as Gender Queer, Fun Home, and Flamer are available to local children. If you have children in PSD high schools or middle schools, your children have access to these types of books. Will your children bother reading these books? Probably not. You can hope. But they could. Their friends might. Kids are curious. Some controversial books are even found in elementary schools, accessible to the youngest members of our community.

What Questions Should Be Asked?

Given that it is the legal responsibility of school board directors to exclude any material they deem immoral or inappropriate from schools and libraries and given that books with graphic sexual content are available to local students, is it reasonable to assume that the Poudre School Board directors approve of all the books available in PSD schools?

• Would school board members be willing to explain to our community why they believe books including graphic sexual content should be available to children?

• Should all materials regardless of content be available to students of any age?

• If not, where does the school board draw the limits, and have those boundaries been clearly communicated for the community to evaluate?

• How do books containing explicit sexual content support the academic mission and purpose of the school district?

Again, the question is not whether these books should exist. The question is whether the innocence of children matters and what the elected school board directors believe is appropriate for our community’s children.

It is important to ask the right questions.