Critically Thinking about Children's Books — What's in Your School? (Part 1)

A Very Disturbing Issue in US K-12 Public Schools

Before doing some research, I was under the impression that age-inappropriate books for children in the libraries of US public schools, were outliers. Wrong!

BTW, when I say “age-inappropriate” I mean any books in K-12 schools that normalize profanity, drug use, hate, violence, suicide, illicit sex, etc. are age-inappropriate. As if those weren’t bad enough, there are other deeply concerning issues in many of these books — like historical distortions, inciting activism, etc.

The possible good news part is that this can be a relatively winnable fight. One reason is that the gatekeeper for what books go into a school library is typically one person: a librarian. IF that individual can be reasonable, the battle is likely won…

I attended an interesting local meeting a week or so ago and came across an NC organization that I was not familiar with: Pavement Education Project (PEP). OK, I agree: the name is non-descriptive and non-inspiring. But forget that.

Perusing their website should give you a good idea of the amazing work done by these good people. We need to make more citizens (esp. parents, school board members, and legislators) aware of it.

If you are not in North Carolina, please check to see if your state has something like PEP. If not, then citizens should rely on the Moms for Liberty offshoot organizations: BookLooks.org and BookLooks.info…

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The basics of what PEP did (w BookLooks.org & BookLooks.info) —

1 - Is advancing a reasonable five-point book rating system (see similar below).

2 - Identified 300+ new “woke” books K-12 libraries are being deluged with.

3 - Carefully read those books.

4 - Listed representative examples of inappropriate material, with page numbers.

5 - Gave every one of those books a rating.

6 - Researched which of these books were in which NC K-12 libraries.

7 - Sorted this information by NC County.

8 - Put together a website for the public to see all this.

Here is the five-point book rating system being used…

Note that the book ratings are based on more than inappropriate sex. They also take into account violence, hate, profanity, drug use, etc. The takeaway is that the maximum rating for books in an elementary school library should be 1, for middle school = 2, and for high school = 3. Further, when a book is at the max level, parents should be involved so that they can have productive discussions with their children.

Little of that is happening anywhere in the US!

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An example —

To demonstrate how this works, I selected one (out of 100) NC counties. I picked Wake as that is where the capital (Raleigh) is, and it’s a good example of an educated, well-off community. Here is the list of rated books found in Wake K-12 schools.

My count is that there are 150+ woke books. Out of those, 84 (>50%) were rated 4 — no child under 18! In other words, no elementary, middle, or high school should have books rated 4 (or 5), as they are age-inappropriate.

Here is just one of those 4 rated books: The Freedom Writers Diary with Erin Gruwell. PEP’s listing not only gives a very brief overview of the concerns, but it also shows which school libraries in Wake County have this book. Note that this “no child under 18” book is stunningly in Wake elementary (ages 5-11) and middle schools (ages 12-14):

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So what’s the harm of having such books in K-12 libraries?

Briefly, exposing immature, inexperienced children to such material can lead to multiple very serious problems (see also here and References below), like:

• Decreased focus on academic achievement

• Reduced interest in extracurricular school activities (e.g., sports)

• Declined acceptance of parental standards

• Increased student-to-student friction

• More student-to-teacher disrespect, conflict, etc.

• Elevated interracial tension

• Drug use

• Depression

• Self-abuse (e.g., cutting)

• Rapes

• Unwanted pregnancies

• Abortions

• Irreversible sex changes

• Suicides

• Distorted relationships for life

• American patriotism undermined

There is quite a bit to cover here, and what I’ve written so far is already a lot to absorb. My next commentary (Part 2) will cover the American Library Association and conclude my discussion of this extremely troubling — and large — issue…

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Sample References:

The Impact of Pornography on Children (American College of Pediatricians)

How Porn Hurts Kids and Teens (Integrity Starts Here organization)

7 Signs Your Child is a Porn Addict (Integrity Restored organization)

National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)

NIH Study: Harmful effects of pornography

Social Emotional Learning (SEL: from PEP)

Parents’ Rights in Education (a parental rights organization)

Facts Before Fury (a parental rights organization)

Defend Young Minds (a parental rights organization)

Courage Is A Habit (a parental rights organization)

Clean Books 4 Kids (a parental rights organization)

Safe Libraries (a library watchdog)

Keller ISD Book Rating System (Here is who they are)

Parental Plan of Action (BookLook organization)

Parental Plan of Action (from PEP)

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Here is other information from this scientist that you might find interesting:

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