Pro 1
Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when.
Having books with adult topics available in libraries limits parents’ ability to choose when their children are mature enough to read specific material. [4] If books with inappropriate material are available in libraries, children or teens can be exposed to books their parents wouldn’t approve of before the parents even find out what their children are reading. [16] “[O]pting your child out of reading [a certain] book doesn’t protect him or her. They are still surrounded by the other students who are going to be saturated with this book,” said writer Macey France. [17]
Pro 2
Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries.
Books in the young adult genre often contain adult themes that young people aren’t ready to experience. [18] Of the top ten most challenged books in 2019, eight had LGBTQ+ content, and three were sexually explicit. [25] According to Jenni White, a former public school science teacher, “Numerous studies on the use of graphic material by students indicate negative psychological effects,” including having “more casual sex partners and [beginning] having sex at younger ages.” [19] The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that exposure to violence in media, including in books, can impact kids by making them act aggressively and desensitizing them to violence. [17] Kim Heinecke, a mother of four, wrote to her local Superintendent of Public Schools that “It is not a matter of ‘sheltering’ kids. It is a matter of guiding them toward what is best. We are the adults. It is our job to protect them – no matter how unpopular that may seem.” [19]
Pro 3
Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids, but doesn't stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them.
Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council noted that removing certain books from libraries is about showing discretion and respecting a community’s values, and doesn’t prevent people from getting those books elsewhere: “It’s an exaggeration to refer to this as book banning. There is nothing preventing books from being written or sold, nothing to prevent parents from buying it or children from reading it.” [20] What some call “book banning,” many see as making responsible choices about what books are available in public and school libraries. “Is it censorship that you’re unable to go to your local taxpayer-funded branch and check out a copy of the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’? For better or for worse, these books are still widely available. Your local community has simply decided that finite public resources are not going to be spent disseminating them,” Weekly Standard writer and school board member Mark Hemingway stated.
Explanation:
