This article made me think of community standards and censorship. The St. Louis County Library has made the decision to put additional labels saying “high school” on teen books that contain sexual content. In addition, signs will be placed throughout the teen section, explaining that these books are meant for 9th-12th graders. Area group Citizens Against Pornography (CAP) had complained about certain books. The titles in question were said to “contain graphic depictions of homosexual and heterosexual sex acts not suitable for young readers.” The article mentions that some people feared teens would fantasize about these depictions (as if they can’t do that otherwise), and that they might even lead to an increase in STDs.
“Charles Pace, St. Louis County Library executive director, said the purpose of the labeling system is not to prevent people from checking out materials…” But this community has undoubtedly heard about CAP protesting these books, and that letter ‘P’ leaves quite an impression - these books might as well be labeled “porn.” I am guessing that this labeling system will prevent at least some people from checking these out altogether – even if their kids are old enough. And unfortunately there may be others, who may not want or think to take the time to review these books themselves, who will rely only on these labels in making their decisions.
I wonder if these labels are just going to draw more attention to the items, and cause more kids to want to check them out. I also think about the authors of these books, and how they intended them to simply be Young Adult or Teen books, and would perhaps not be thrilled with these extra labels and their possible implications. I know that these books were not actually removed, but in a way, it still seems like censorship. By applying these labels to them, they're sort of removing them from all other teen books.
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I feel like putting the labels on these books will just alert youngsters to their presence, and possibly make them want to read them more. I know it would have made me more eager to read them, as I wanted to read anything that was verboten.
Also, their suggestion that the presence of the books could lead to a rise in STDs is completely asinine. With that logic, Moby Dick could lead people to become crazily obsessed with hunting whales, and any number of crime books could lead to a rise in crime. The fact that they would even consider that a possibility betrays their lack of trust in not only their children, but also in the way that they raised them, in my opinion.
Yeesh. Well, it's a good thing they didn't let science get in the way when they began issuing warnings about increases in STI rates. Did you all notice how that article makes it look like CAP is running the library. They have all the power. They are deciding if the library's actions are satisfactory. Why are they the bosses of everyone else's children, I'd like to know. Does one mouthy group really determine the standards for the whole community? I am ashamed of how often I think "wow, that person/group is really overempowered."
Gretchen, I wonder about the tolerance of sex vs. violence, too. I have a friend whose mom is very offended by the least bit of sexual content in movies, but she just loves incredibly violent films. What's that about? She's a nice lady, too, and though I'd love to blame it on the desensitizing nature of American TV, she's not from here.
You know, I keep wondering why people wanting to limit childrens' access to books don't push for including books in the same ratings system as movies? Not that kids can't find a way into R or X rated movies, but does anyone know why books aren't treated the same way as movies?
It just seems strange that one format can be to some degree censored while the other format can't. Hmmmmmmmmmm
Labelling sure sounds like censorship to me, at least when it is this type of labelling. Mysteries and large print I can understand but...
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