In the Cameron high school library, the process and reason behind the sexually explicit books which have been added to the school libraries makes sense when you know the players behind the scenes. Or in this instance, it is the state library association known as MASL. It is the position of this organization that children should be permitted to read any content they want to read.
Listen to this interview with the President of the Missouri Association of School Librarians (MASL) and then ask yourself, should an organization with these stated goals and opinions about parents be creating our guidelines on what content will be made available to children?
Here is an example of the content being made available to children as young as 14 in the high school library in Cameron, Missouri. The school district and the board of education know this content is there but refuse to even require parental approval for a child to check it out. They know this content is in the hands of children but REFUSE to take any steps to protect them.
Give this a listen and then try to convince me how this is appropriate for children.
The second largest school district in Georgia, as reported by AP News, has removed the book Me and Earl and the Dying Girl from 20 of their school libraries. They cite the reason for removing those books was because it had
“highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”
Cobb County school district as found on AP News
The board of education and superintendent at the Cobb county school district have the courage to let the community know exactly where they stand on the issue of sexually explicit content. The Cobb county school district gets it. Sexually explicit content does NOT belong in our schools. If only the board of education and superintendent here in Cameron had this type of morality, leadership and courage.
“Protecting our students from sexually explicit content isn’t controversial, it’s what our parents expect,” John Floresta, the district’s chief strategy and accountability officer. “Our board and superintendent are clear — any book, video, or lesson which contains sexually explicit content is entirely unacceptable and has no place in our schools.”
It just so happens that the Cameron High School also has this book on its shelf, complete with that very same “highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”
It just so happens that the Cameron High School also has this book on its shelf, complete with that very same “highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content.”This book is one of 80 in the Cameron high school which have been challenged and will be reviewed by they district. You can see the list of all the books currently being challenged on the Cameron school districts website. Or you can go directly to the page with the current lists.
Recently I had a comment on one of my posts on our Facebook page about the book The Hate You Give, by Angie Thomas. It’s one of the books that are available in the Cameron high school library that was challenged and will be reviewed.
In this Facebook post, they mention that the book was made into a movie and that it’s only rated as PG-13. The implication being that this book should be perfectly acceptable for kids to read.
First off, the movie is rated determined by the content of the movie, not the book it is based upon. The movie is never exactly like the book. The film directer can, and usually does, leave out elements that would earn them an R rating when they want a larger and younger audience to watch the movie. The movie version of a book is not a direct reflection on the content of that book.
However, this commenter does inadvertently make my point for me. Let me explain.
If the movie version of the book did indeed include every scene and all the language as it is written in the book, the motion picture associations film rating committee would rate it as Restricted. In movie form, the students in Cameron high school would not be allowed to view that version of the movie!
RESTRICTED.Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.These films contain some adult material. An R-rated film may depict adult activity, hard language, intense graphic or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements.Parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously. Children under 17 are not allowed to attend R-rated films unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Parents are strongly urged to find out more about the particular film in determining its suitability for their children. Generally, it is not appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them to R-rated movies
Movie Rating Stem PDF on https://www.filmratings.com website
So what content is really in the book? we highly recommend the site Book Looks and will provide a link to the PDF for The Hate You Give. Go verify our work. The language alone in this book would certainly earn it a rated R rating. Our school district cannot play rated R movies with this kind of language for students. Why then can they provide books with the same content that would be prohibited in a movie?