Brunswick Beacon, 03.02.23
Pender County School District Administration has pulled 42 books from the schools’ libraries while they go through an internal review by their book review committee. Among the 42, one of which the district does not own, are classics, including Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five,” and Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World.” The books will be removed from the school library shelves and put in the custody of librarians during the review process. This action was self-initiated by the school board.
The books have not been challenged by parents, according to the school district. School Board member Brent Springer made the motion to remove the reads as they undergo review.
A report on the results of the review will be delivered to the board next month. Most of the novels on the list allegedly contain sexual or violent content, leading to the board calling for them to be banned.
Parents don’t monitor what children receive on their digital devices, including Snap Chat, TikTok, and Facebook, where content is often questionable. Book bans inhibit a core function of public education. They teach students that they should be protected from offensive ideas rather than how to engage and grapple with concepts they may not like.
American students are being taught that speech is dangerous. They are earning that the proper response to an offensive idea is to ban the idea and punish.
Rob Priddy
Shallotte