On Jan. 30 the Utah House approved legislation that would make pulling books from shelves of libraries and schools more effortless.
HB29 would allow the removal of books statewide as long as officials in three or more school districts decide that the material in the books violates state law, and is deemed too sensitive for children. The types of content these districts are looking for are books that consist of sexual content, or explicit messages.
Representative Ken Ivory from West Jordan, the sponsor of this bill states “It is time that we get behind protecting children in our schools, that it is a place of safety and decency for all children.” He argues that pulling these books from schools and libraries will help create more uniformity and order within schools.
On the other hand, Representative Carol Moss of Salt Lake City is speaking out against the bill.
“With this bill, just a couple of individuals can take away the rights of parents statewide to make choices that best fit their children’s needs,” Moss said. “Parents can and should be the ones that monitor their kids’ reading, not the government.” Moss worries that this measure is allowing a small minority to dictate the removal of access to books from all children while the matter should be left up to the control of local officials.
This issue has been prevalent for years all over America, however in Utah especially we have faced challenges of The Book of Mormon and the Bible in the Davis School District, pushing this ban too far.
The problem with the bill is that it fails to define what is regarded as “sensitive” material subject to removal, as the guidelines for HB29 haven’t been updated since 2007.
Books that violate these guidelines in three or more districts will be pulled statewide, however, it’s been found that there is a pattern when it comes to parents challenging books. Last year 96 books were challenged by a total of only six people. A legislative committee reviewed those books collectively for over 100 hours, costing over $100,000.
While I can agree that books can contain material that may be deemed sensitive for some children, I believe that banning certain books for everybody is remarkably unnecessary. I feel that there is no point in shielding children from material that they will have to learn about eventually.
If parents believe that a topic is too sensitive for their kid to read then they should have to right to make that call for their child and their child only.
In my own experiences reading material consisting of unfamiliar topics has deepened my awareness, and better prepared me for high school and the rest of my education by opening my mind to unfamiliar topics.
