Comments on: Librarians: Warping Your Children’s Minds with Factual Information About Sex

By: jovan byars

jovan byars — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:31:59 +0000

As Cara mentioned, it is a public place, which means that the anti-choice lunatic fringe has no right whatsoever trying to inject their beliefs on anyone. If they don’t like what web pages the library allows on its computers, then they don’t have to come. Enough said.

I really hope that the National Coalition Against Censorship and the ACLU are paying attention to this.

By: Beej

Beej — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:22:39 +0000

Aren’t libraries where people are supposed to go for information on a variety of topics, including sex and abortion? Also, this is the INTERNET. You know the kind of crap you can find on the Internet by Googling “sex” or “abortions” or “condoms”? Wouldn’t you rather have your children reading the facts, the truth, on Planned Parenthood?? But, as a seventeen-year-old… none of my peers are likely to ever, and I’m talking ever, go on the library web site. Except for if their parents were to mention there was something on there they didn’t want ‘em seeing…then it’s straight to the computer.
Counterintuitive much??

By: Cara

Cara — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:20:54 +0000

Yup, it’s open to the public — the wingnuts at Families Against Planned Parenthood are asking their supporters to attend. The last link in the post, to Midwest Feminist, has the time and location (as did FAPP).

By: Jenee

Jenee — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:50:02 +0000

Where did you find that information about the meeting on July 15th? I only live about 10 minutes away from Batavia, and I’d like to check that out, if it’s open to the public.

By: Laurenamillion

Laurenamillion — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:45:01 +0000

“if libraries are afraid to present interested parties with factual information on a topic because it might upset some puritan folks, we’re in a very bad place”

I’m in library science school right now – and censorship comes up in almost all of my classes. The impression that I get, at least from the professors, is that libraries are very rarely afraid of those who would censor – librarians tend to be the most serious anti-censorship fighters around (see the American Library Association for details). While this type of behavior on the part of these pearl-clutchers is stupid, it’s not unheard of (it’s been happening forever, ever since libraries opened to the public), and most libraries now have collection development policies that specifically contain a clause protecting the library’s collection decisions – and links to websites can be included in those clauses. The ALA also provides free legal help to libraries who get sued by censors, and fully backs the collection decisions of its members against censorship challenges.

So yeah, when librarians come across this stuff, they’re usually ready. Very rarely will libraries cave in to the censors; but I think these librarians should get all the support they can get. Small communities with delicate funding tend to be the most vulnerable to censorship challenges, so I’m totally going to support this library should they choose to ignore the challenge.

By: roses

roses — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:47:56 +0000

But in the end, the threat isn’t to our children’s innocence (something I’ve always found to be strangely over-valued, by the way

Why does innocence = lack of knowledge about sex? There are a lot of things I’d want my (potential future) children to be innocent about for as long as possible – how shitty and unfair the world can be and how much people can be such cruel assholes to each other. But sex? Of course I wouldn’t want them having sex before they’re physically and emotionally ready, but how does knowing about sex destroy their innocence? I honestly don’t get it.

By: Renee

Renee — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:39:26 +0000

Kate stories like that are exactly why I am going to supply my sons with condoms. I don’t want them to engage in sex prematurely but if they are going to do it I would much rather them be safe. Parents are just going to have to learn that we cannot control our childrens sexuality.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:20:11 +0000

1. Don’t these ultra right wingers have anything better to do?
2. Thank you for the link to teen wire! I was in the car with my 18 year old Goddess daughter just this afternoon, who as a product of abstinence only sex ed was trying to figure out what to tell her best friend (age 17) who has a 4 month old, wants to resume sexual activity, cannot take birth control due to mood disorder and epilepsy, and has a boy friend who will not wear a condom (obviously see 4 month old). So I asked her if her friend could get an IUD. She had no idea what an IUD was. (Thankfully she did know what a uterus was!)

I graduated high school 15 years ago and vividly remember the lectures on contraception, including the IUD. These girls have NO IDEA how to avoid pregnancy other than a condom, which they only know about from commercials and ads.

I just e-mailed the teenwire link.

Perhaps we can start a viral e-mail of the Teenwire link around the country. (Pun intended.)

By: Cara

Cara — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:33:52 +0000

Jenn, I’ve heard of that phenomenon before, actually. I have a friend who practically lives at the library, so she knows the librarians pretty well, and they were telling her that there are certain books — the “controversial” ones — that always seem to go missing, time and time again, purchase after purchase, and this is why the fees for losing a book are so high, to dissuade assholes from pulling that shit.

But burning them? Jesus Christ, I’m guessing that their totally missing the associations of book burning. (Or, much worse, they’re not.)

By: Jenn Smithson

Jenn Smithson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:28:02 +0000

Libraries facing censorship from similar groups is nothing new and at least they’re just going after information on the website because groups like these are notorious for checking out the books they don’t want ANY children to see (not just their own) and burning or otherwise destroying them. We had a similar group go into a Public Library down here (Texas) and check out “Heather Has Two Mommies”, “It’s So Natural”, and other similar books AND THEY BURNED THEM!
They invited the local media (just 1 newspaper) to watch them do it and because of the reporting, the library received A LOT of donations of money and books, including the books listed as having been destroyed.
Anyone who would burn books or censor the internet, I literally have no words to describe my utter disdain for people like this.
Knowledge NEVER hurt anyone. Ignorance does kill people, including Young “innocent” People.