I have to say you couldn’t pay me enough to sit through the spectacle of the SB meetings, especially last night. Kudos for your resolve.
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For the record, out of the 100 books identified as pornography in the Dover school libraries on the attached (xls) list (174, not counting duplicates, in the city paid for by taxes), only a few involve people from the LBGTQ community. There are hundreds of books that are about this topic, but I did not list them unless they met the criteria of adult content according to city and state law.
The books listed are rated from 3-5, which meet or exceed the criteria for obscene sexual adult content and for an audience over 18. Many of the books from 1-2, not listed, have material that is not obscene but has topics about race, the LGBTQ community, and other related topics.
I’m really not sure who or why these folks, the rabid crowd last night, believe that pornography books are related to LBGTQ community!? The few books that have gay or trans people in them, are raped, bullied, assaulted, and murdered!
Why on earth would anyone, gay or straight, want children exposed to such horrors?
The majority of the books on this list involve predominantly hetero-pedophilia, rape, gang rape, sodomy, suicide, self-mutilation, trafficking, drug and alcohol abuse, and more. The argument that children need these books is weak.
That these books help them get through life challenges or offer some shred of literary value is slim to none.
Even if one in ten children is suffering from such horrors, the remaining nine are now indoctrinated into a dark world that can lead to proven social and emotional confusion that leads to obsession or, worse, crime. Besides, if one out of ten is suffering, a book that promotes this behavior rather than supports positive behavior, will be their undoing.
Not one of you can stand on merit, fact, or proof that these books are some kind of therapy.
They are written by adults who are in the business of selling sick propaganda to children, promoted by the ALA, publishers, School Board assn, etc., to make money.
If you notice, authors like Ellen Hopkins have 15 titles in our high school. Her books, like many others on this list, are disturbing at best, yet the money makers slap stickers on the covers disguised as awards. If you argue the outcome of these books has some kind of “value,” it does not make the journey any more palatable.
Rather than argue about pornography and its merits (oxymoron), as it’s already in the libraries, we should work together toward a safe, nurturing environment for children to actually learn skills in becoming productive citizens, not porn stars or worse.
Just for a moment, remember what it was like at 15. You may recall some emotion or experience, but you’re looking at them through many years of added experience. Therefore, it’s not the same raw feeling as when you were young.
Now imagine you are a victim (or not) of pedophilia or family drama and read Boy Toy, a teacher raping a boy student, or Tricks, a book about several children having troubles, turning “tricks” for money with lots of drug and alcohol abuse. Man sodomizing/raping a boy, girls turning to prostitution, etc. Hopkins tries to make a feel-good ending through one teen character after trying to commit suicide by an overdose in the hospital where her family actually cares.
Not much literary value, and just how would this book and the others like it be therapy?
And when has self-help through books ever worked?
You cannot argue that children may find the teen characters’ behavior “cool” or a way to get attention. That’s not therapy; it’s grooming or, worse, enabling. By allowing and keeping these books is causing undo harm to children… abuse.
The laws on adult content are clear. I doubt, as a parent, you buy Tricks any more than you’d buy Hustler for your child to read. You probably don’t try to sneak your child into Moonlight reader for the “life’s experience”. Yet you stand on a thin line about sexually explicit books in our schools? If people want these books, let them buy them. I will not stop until my tax dollars do not support this madness.
Let’s take Tricks and how it does not support the LGBTQ community. By making it ok for a man to sodomize/rape a boy? Does that really support their cause? I would hope not. Don’t they want relationships that nurture, not abuse?
Out of all the books on the list, only a few have LBGTQ characters. The ones that do, victimize and abuse them.
What are these people with rainbows and signs about love really upset about? One would think they would be fighting to remove these books too!
Not one person said anything about removing books due to gay content at all. One has to wonder why the School Board and the LBGTQ are fighting to keep pornography in the schools.
That’s a dark thought, indeed.
Juliep
Ward 5
Dover NH
Editor: Lightly edited from an email to:
