Anyone who has ever met a teen, been a teen, or even seen a teen in pop culture know: the best way to encourage them to do something is to tell them not to! And of course, banning books in their schools and public libraries is a great way to get them to read these books – though, not the strategy good library practice would advocate.
Check out this article exceprt below, and get some ideas on what teens think about book bans in the state of Texas. You can read the whole article here.
“Politicians May Be Politicking, But Texas Teens Say Book Bans Are Pointless at Best — Though a Little Guidance Might Be Nice
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n the ongoing power struggle between conservative politicians, local school boards, teachers, and parents, library books have become, as the kids would say, iconic — and nowhere is the fight bigger than in Texas.
For politicians like Fort Worth Republican Rep. Matt Krause — who demanded school districts audit their bookshelves for more than 850 titles related to sex and race — books are the encroachment of liberal values into classrooms.
School boards do see challenges about particular books from time to time, but a drastic uptick this school year speaks to the contentiousness of the last two years as mask mandates and critical race theory have packed boardrooms and ballot boxes.
Some parents have said that the graphic or salacious nature of the sex and violence depicted in books is the problem, but Dallas ISD student Symerra Lincoln, 16, like other students her age, said it was nonsensical to try to “censor” the information in the internet age.
“We’re going to find the content they’re censoring from us either way, whether that will be from the school, or online on social media or Google,” she said.
But behind the iconography of a dangerous idea or a political fight, Texas students told The 74 the books — more so the ability to choose for themselves which they read — are a critical part of their development.
They contain stories and protagonists who help them see the world through another’s eyes, and ideas that challenge them. And whether or not they identify with the characters or accept the idea, students said, they feel more mature having formed their own opinion.
“It is very important to read about social issues,” said Lincoln, “We need to read different views and information to form our own opinions on the issues.”
Mature content
Most of the students did recognize the need for guidance, especially for younger readers, and said librarians should be the one to decide what books are available to which students.
“Librarians should have the most power, because in their profession they have to have a degree (in library science),” said KIPP Beacon (Austin) eighth grader Kai Cantú, 13, “Their job kind of rests on them being unbiased”
Lucy Ibarra Podmore, chair elect of the Texas Association of School Libraries, and a high school librarian in San Antonio, said while parents and politicians are honing in on graphic passages, students rarely focus on those.
“They’re really focusing on the overall arc of the story. That’s what people are missing,” Podmore said. Students are drawn to stories in which teenagers like themselves have complex feelings about their identity, relationships, and the world around them. “
Grab the rest of this article here!