A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on book bans took a racy turn Tuesday, as Republican senators and a witness read scenes of various sexual content into the congressional record to defend the banning of multiple titles from U.S. schools.
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The hearing on book bans was called as multiple Republican-led states have made it easier for books to be challenged in classrooms and as school board meetings have been flooded with arguments on what is appropriate for children to read.
The American Library Association said the number of book challenges in the United States doubled between 2021 and 2022.
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Republicans and Democrats found common ground in agreeing there are books that are inappropriate for some children, but Democrats said the argument that all the books under discussion are sexually explicit is a scapegoat for the issue.
“No one is advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or in [the] children’s section of the library,” Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. “That’s a distraction from the real challenge. I understand and respect that parents may choose to limit what their children read, especially at younger ages. My wife and I did. Others do, too. But no parent should have the right to tell another parent’s child what they can and cannot read in school or at home. Every student deserves access to books that reflect their experiences and help them better understand who they are.”
Would you look at, the Bible is missing from their evidence of sexually explicit books read to children. All the prof you need that this has nothing to do with child safety
Oh how I miss the old Cracked.
Ezekiel 23:20 ftw
They are suspiciously silent about violence and gore.
Apparently understanding procreation exists is more dangerous than a heaping helping of the ol’ ultraviolence.
That’s something us Europeans find weird all the time. Splatterfest 9000 Ultra Bloody Gore edition is fine, but God forbid there is a literal mm of female areola in screen for a fraction of a second!
I like the glib answer that the USA was founded by religious nut jobs so uptight and conservative that they got kicked out of Europe for being so annoying - the puritans.
Several times from several places.
What’s amusing to me is that one of the stated reasons the religious nut jobs were persecuted was for their anti-war beliefs. Somehow that script got flipped.
Yeah… Nixon grew up as a Quaker, and Quakers were supposed to be super pacifistic. Just an example to your point.
Yes, sadly there’s more money to be made from violence. Politicians can rake in political donations from fear, get lobbyist support (bribery) from arms manufacturers and watch your stock portfolio swell from voting for gun ownership and war. How do we stop this madness?
The Walking Dead TV series didn’t show much of the sexual assault/rape from the comic series but all the zombie gore was fine.
Attention everyone: Your mom and your dad had the sex, thats how you even exist. Some of them had a lot of sex. Some even had sex with other people.
Censorship is required for effective brainwashing. Fuck autoritarians, not in the fun way.
IVF. I can honestly tell my children that their mother and I were just holding hands when she got pregnant.
Jesus Christ!
Twins, we have a backup savior.
Also a lot of them supposed “Christian” politicians regularly commit adultery.
Why are these people so obsessed about sex and moreover want to control sex for other people? They should seek therapy.
These people are wild. American first and freedom of speach, then something says something they don’t like and its ban this, make this illegal.
So you want elementary schools to have sexually explicit books in their libraries? Do you have kids of your own?
“No one is advocating for sexually explicit content to be available in an elementary school library or in [the] children’s section of the library,” Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said. “That’s a distraction from the real challenge. I understand and respect that parents may choose to limit what their children read, especially at younger ages. My wife and I did. Others do, too. But no parent should have the right to tell another parent’s child what they can and cannot read in school or at home. Every student deserves access to books that reflect their experiences and help them better understand who they are.”
So whats going on is these idiots aren’t aware of what a “book ban” actually is, and are wasting everyones time.
Now Ive wasted my time, simple case of dumb govt.
I have a now 6th grader and it’s called parenting. I decide what is appropriate and not appropriate for my child. Not someone else.
Dude’s a troll (or just can’t read) and it isn’t worth engaging with him.
I find it impressive how you managed to quote the article while clearly not having read it
You didn’t argue against him. You shamed him.
You shamed him for arguing an objective truth. Your children will grow in a land without freedom because you shamed people who tried to defend it.
Yes and yes
I have a kid of my own. I want her to have access to all kinds of book content, sexual or not.
Sexual content in books is not going to ruin children. The vast majority are mature enough to handle it and it will more often than not help teach them to navigate the real world with more nuance than they would otherwise.
It can give words to the actions and feelings they come across, say for example, when a child is sexually assaulted and isn’t aware that it’s wrong, so they don’t speak up about it.
The books are not the problem. Books are never the problem and banning them is a huge infringement of the government on people’s freedom.
I WANT MORAL OUTRAGE ABOUT TOPICS THAT DON’T MATTER!
This is Lemmy. Of course they don’t have kids. Most of these people are severely emotionally stunted teenagers going through a Che Guevara phase.
Not you though, right? You’re special.
“special”
I don’t think anyone has ever accused me of going through a Che Guevara phase.
Your “not reading the article” phase continues unabated though.
Wait until they find out about fan fiction. Hope they get hard reading it to each other on the house floor.
How many senators popped viagra in anticipation of this hearing?
Wait until they find out about apples airdrop and androids nearby share. By which one kid can spread porn to an entire lunchroom.
But sure, let’s worry about sex scenes in books.
Every student deserves access to books that reflect their experiences and help them better understand who they are.
I think it’s important to learn about experiences you also don’t share, so you can understand others better as well.
Parents have a right to decide which materials are taught to their kids. I know parental rights make some of you uncomfortable, but you’ll just have to find a way to get over it. I won’t allow my young kids to be given literal child porn.
I won’t allow my young kids to be given
That’s a page from Gender Queer. Which is a book for 18 and up. Nobody is trying to give it to young kids you absolute spanner.
People like you screaming about parental rights always forget that parents who don’t want their children taught theocracy or white supremacy are in the majority.
If you actually believe that your child is being handed books with literal child porn, you ought to be contacting the police and FBI immediately, not posting links to it on the fediverse.
Kids have a right to be taught what they need to know as adults even if it is something their parents don’t want them to learn.
Kids need to be protected from those who want them to be ignorant, whether it is a parent or a politician.
Parents have a right to decide which materials are taught to their kids
- So if my family is a holocaust denying family I can get books about holocaust banned?
- Or if I’m a young earth creationist I can get books on history and evolution banned?
- Perhaps if I’m a flat earther then I can get books on geology banned? Especially the ones about vulcanos which I liked so much when I was a kid?
- If I don’t want my children to read about incest I can get the bible banned?
Is there any limit to that or will every book be banned on the future?
Is there any limit to that or will every book be banned on the future?
Yes. Because books make you literate. And literate folks don’t vote against their interests nearly as much as illiterate ones
Nobody is being forced to read any of the books you reactionaries are worried about. If you don’t want your crotch goblin reading Genderqueer you’re perfectly within your rights to forbid that but you don’t and shouldn’t have the right to deny someone else’s kid from actually developing their own healthy sexuality.
Wish I could set a remindme! Bot for a decade from now when your kids experiment and hunt down this shit on their own and the fallout from that. Have fun with that one
Also, have you read the Bible? Kid fucking, beastiality and genocide abound. I assume you’re cool with that tho
Don’t forget the incest committed by the kids of Noah after the flood, and the killing of kids by bears for being kids and making fun of travelers clothes, or sacrificing children to prove devotion… nothing more comforting for bedtime stories, right?
And your rights end with you and your child. Imposing your puritanical beliefs on society is the antithesis to freedom and violates everyone else’s rights. Perhaps you’d be more comfortable living in Iran or some other religious state.
Parents have a right to decide which materials are taught to their kids
So why give that right wholesale to the government? Isn’t it the right of the parents?
Oh wait, I’ve used logic here and apparently you only have the ‘appeal to emotion’ chat style unlocked. Sad.
You’re allowed to not let your kid go to public schools if they’re teaching things you find offensive. You’re welcome to be that weirdo homeschooling kids; or paying to send them to private schools that do all the brainwashing for you.
There’s your parental rights. What you should not be allowed to do is decide what books are available to children-not-your-own.
Lol, let me guess hetro teen romance with heavy sexual innuendos is fine for your child?
Romeo and Juliet is a classic!
You’re not allowing any kids to be given materials you don’t approve of. Do your own damn job and don’t press it on others who may disagree with you.
Not only is nobody forcing your kids to do anything, you’re the one trying to force everyone else to not be allowed to do what they want. Extremely unamerican.
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