Florida classroom bookshelves left empty as education reform law goes into effect

sear said:

I followed the link, couldn't find any quantification of success / efficacy.
We're not likely to get a statute rendering it illegal for one group of citizens to interfere with the library options of other citizens. Congress hasn't the spine for that. BUT !
A stare decisis ruling tied to the First Amendment could serve much the same purpose.

note:
Casual consideration may regard our First Amendment as an impeccable defense of noble principle. The reality is a little less glamorous.
Popular speech, "I love you Mommy" has little if any need of defense in law.
The speech that needs protection is that which is most subject to criticism, objection. Consider the "Skokie" precedent.

1A protects UNpopular speech.

So in the case of book banning, the classics may be in jeopardy.
But when the book to be restricted is titled: How To Murder 57 Persons And Get Away With It what then?

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Good point.
At first I was thinking just anti-censorship.
But then I remember the fake propaganda the Nazis put out before WWII, like video scenes of Germans being abused in the Sudetenland.

And one from NY


"I wonder if he objected because they teach how religious persecution can lead to some baaaaaaaad things?"

Shiftless2 said:

And one from NY

After a Batavia (NY) City Schools board member objected to seniors visiting the Salem Witch Museum, the museum tells me they will offer free admission to every student on the trip. Leave it to Salem to respond to fear and misinformation with educat

After a Batavia (NY) City Schools board member objected to seniors visiting the Salem Witch Museum, the museum tells me they will offer free admission to every student on the trip. Leave it to...

www.facebook.com

"I wonder if he objected because they teach how religious persecution can lead to some baaaaaaaad things?"

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Since I never heard anyone ever show there was any actual witchcraft in Salem, then he obviously should have known the museum was against hysteria instead of being for witchcraft.
But from his opposition to the museum, he apparently had it all wrong.

But the mere mention of witchcraft set him off?

This is a guy who tells stories about a wizard who came to the shore, raised his scepter and called on his familiar spirit to part the Red Sea.

As American public schools ban books at a record pace -- 11,982 in the 2025-2026 school year, according to PEN America's new report -- we're honoring an author who has defended the freedom to read for over fifty years: Judy Blume! The beloved author of many Mighty Girl favorites such as "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret", "Deenie", and "Tiger Eyes," Blume has been writing children's and young adult fiction for decades.

What many of Judy Blume's young fans rarely realized, however, is that the frank discussion of topics like religion, puberty, and sexuality in her books -- the same honesty that makes them so appealing to young readers -- made her one of the most frequently challenged children's authors. As she once observed, by the 1980s, “censors crawled out of the woodwork, organized and determined. Not only would they decide what their children could read but what all children could read... Suddenly books were seen as dangerous to young minds.”

Even as a relatively new author, though, instead of bowing to the criticisms, Blume persisted in writing openly and honestly about issues affecting young people -- and speaking up for authors, teachers, librarians, and others who face disapproval, insults, and even the loss of jobs and careers because they refuse to remove books from the hands of young readers. As such, she has become a champion for children's freedom to read -- and authors' freedom to write -- about topics that some find controversial.

We are proud to celebrate Judy Blume's career, both as the author of many beloved Mighty Girl books and as a determined, forceful voice against censorship and book banning. At a time when her books still face challenges -- and when book bans are climbing to record highs -- her decades of fighting censorship, and her powerful words about the value of putting complex and daring books into young hands, matter more than ever.

To read our blog post, "Protecting 'The Books That Will Never Be Written'": Judy Blume's Fight Against Censorship," visit https://www.amightygirl.com/blog/?p=7425

For two inspiring books about girls fighting against censorship in schools - both for ages 9 to 12 - we highly recommend "Ban This Book" (https://www.amightygirl.com/ban-this-book) and "Property of the Rebel Librarian" (https://www.amightygirl.com/property-of-the-rebel-librarian)

For children's books about girls living in real-life societies throughout history with little respect for freedom of expression, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426

For a thought-provoking young adult novel exploring censorship, we recommend "Suggested Reading" for ages 14 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/suggested-reading

And for Mighty Girl stories that pay tribute to the transformative power of books, check out our blog post "Celebrating a Love of Reading: 35 Mighty Girl Stories about Books, Libraries, and Literacy" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11656



SOURCE with comments

JB point:

Shiftless2 said:

"Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. JB #247

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s counterpoint:
Absolutism has obvious appeal. When a rule has no exception, the simplicity imparts to it the appearance of virtue that attends hypocrisy exclusion.

Culturally, legally, sensibly we already censor for the benefit of children, at cinema.


All ages admitted


Some material may not be suitable for children


Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13


Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian


No One 17 and Under Admitted - source: https://www.filmratings.com/

I haven't seen hordes of furious parents angrily brandishing garden implements demanding remedy for this.
Is there compelling reason we should tailor education by age, restrict cinema audience access by age, but turn our backs on our children, toss them to the wolves in our "public" (a euphemism for "government") school libraries?

No sear, there isn't.

Thus, the problem. We ALREADY censor public school libraries.
The result: this is NOT a dispute about whether or not to draw the line.
Instead the issue is where the line is to be drawn.

sear said:

Instead the issue is where the line is to be drawn.

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How about "somewhere long before this point"?

As American public schools ban books at a record pace -- 11,982 in the 2025-2026 school year.....

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Shiftless2 said:

"How about "somewhere long before this point"?" S2 #249

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Rhetorically you may have scored a point here S2. BUT !

Does it really get us substantially closer to applied sensible, equitable, public school library standards?

Our children deserve better than a rhetorical Pyrrhic victory @CV.us