FOX News Digital spoke with Moms for Liberty chapter president Kit Hart about the battle her district is leading over “sexually explicit” books in public libraries.
Hart won a small victory in Carroll County, Maryland, after a local reconsideration committee made up of teachers, parents, and even students voted to remove two books from the school library.
As of Wednesday, the committee has decided to release two books and keep seven other books on the school library shelves.
The governing body still has 49 books to review, Hart said.
The two books chosen to be issued from the school are “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and “Water for Elephants.”
The first book was found to be “not appropriate for the recommended age and grade level” by the reconsideration committee, Hart said.
“It’s basically for a mature audience and most of the books are based on sexual content.”
The second book also has a lot of “graphic and explicit material” that makes it “unsuitable for children,” he explained, adding that “we really need to start understanding the difference between what can be exposed to children and what can be considered by adults. appropriate or entertaining.”
It’s a distinction, he added, that “should be very different and respected.”
Hart said, as a rule, the books he recommends being removed from school libraries “contain very, very graphic and explicit sex” that make them clearly “not suitable for schools” or for children’s eyes.
Moms for Liberty chapter president Kit Hart spoke about the battle her district led over “sexually explicit” books in public libraries.
But Hart said he’s not done fighting to keep children in his district safe from “sexually explicit” material.
The next stage in his battle with his district is to appeal the committee’s decision to local superintendents.
When asked about what percentage of parents supported or opposed removing sexually explicit books from schools, Hart said that the group in favor of “looking at this book and considering removing it” was likely a majority.
Opponents have largely taken the position that removing sexually explicit or controversial books from schools is a form of censorship.
“There is a faction of the population made up of parents and some librarians who I think have taken the narrative of book banning and censorship and really resisted the idea of looking at the individual content of the book,” he said, which forced them to “defend the concept of book banning” as political tool.
As of Wednesday, the committee has decided to remove two books and keep seven other books on the school library shelves. Bloomsbury Publications
That’s also because, Hart adds, defenders of the so-called graphic books have a real problem defending the “content of the book.”
He also considers the popularity of the term “book ban.”
“People throw out terms like book banning and censorship” because, says Hart, “Americans don’t like those concepts.”
“Of course, we believe strongly in the First Amendment,” Hart said.
“We will fight for it.”
The two books chosen to be issued from the school are “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and “Water for Elephants.” Algonquin Books
But the issue of keeping sexually explicit books in schools is entirely different, he said, calling the phenomenon a “crisis of the making.”
Hart argues that movers and shakers in school libraries across the country, such as American Library Association (ALA) President Emily Drabinski, have “completely captured” school libraries.
Drabinski is a self-described “Marxist lesbian.”
“We react, we call out what we think is inappropriate,” Hart said.
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Hart also said that parents have the right to protect their children and reduce their exposure to sexually graphic material at school.
“We entrust our children, our most valuable possessions [to schools],” he said.
“So when they go to these libraries, and they find these books, it’s not a safe environment for them,” he added.
“And it really breaks parents’ trust” with “librarians and their schools.”
The mother also acknowledged some of the criticism she received in her battle with Carroll County.
“One of the criticisms we get is that all kids have access on their phones and computers to a lot of other things that are worse,” Hart said.
“But first of all, I’m just challenging these parents. So do you just bring it down to the lowest standard, the lowest common denominator? Do you not give them any expectations? Do you set the bar so low that you think it should be turned off and only be able to access material that is really disturbing?”
Hart said, basically, she and other grassroots organizations like Moms for Liberty are fighting for the “basic right of parents” to protect their children from harmful substances.
“I would really encourage parents to really be a presence in your children’s lives and especially in your children’s school.”
He said that children, who will serve as America’s future leaders, need a “really solid foundation” in life.
“We are their primary authority,” Hart said.
“We have to guide them to what is right and beautiful and good.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
