VOTERS ARE SWAYED BY THIS TOPIC. WHAT YOU HAVEN'T HEARD ABOUT THE BATTLE OVER BOOKS. (UPDATED OCT. 2022)
Despite claims that parents are attempting to "ban" books, parents and teachers are actually only asking Rockwood to consider restricting content that may be inappropriate for minors.
WHY THE FORMAL CHALLENGES?
The district says it will only formally review book content if someone challenges it, per district policy.
LIBRARIANS DON'T READ THE BOOKS
Most people think Rockwood already reviewed the books parents are challenging, BEFORE ever putting them in the libraries. No.
WARNING: MATURE CONTENT
Rockwood's head librarian specifically told us she did not know about the explicit sex scenes parents found in the books.
Librarians don't typically read books before they put them on the shelves.
Now that a new state law went into effect, they do need to read through books with images. The law says it's now a class A misdemeanor if schools provide sexually explicit images to students.
But, in books without images....if librarians don't know what's in them, how are students or parents supposed to know?
SHIFTING RESPONSIBILITY
Rockwood administrators say it's up to parents to manage what their kids read by telling them not to read certain books, or by alerting librarians that their kids shouldn't check out certain books.
That might seem reasonable.
Except, Rockwood hasn't given parents tools to do that.
The district doesn't provide a list of books that have controversial content, or put ratings on the books that would let readers know about potentially objectionable content. Some librarians put a colored sticker on the books to indicate mature content, but, it is not consistently applied and not all libraries use it.
PARENTS TRUST BOOKS THAT TEACHERS RECOMMEND.
If a teacher recommends a book, especially for a class assignment, parents and students assume there won't be objectionable content in it.
But, they might be wrong.
Here, the book, "The Hate U Give" was promoted by a 7th grade teacher at Rockwood South Middle school.
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| 2021-2022 school year. |
The teacher gave it 5 stars. Its story includes racism and police brutality, current topics we often see in the news.
Nowhere on her door, though, or on the book, does it say it contains gratuitous profanity (300 profane words, including the "f" word 53 times).
It also doesn't warn that it contains under-age characters drinking and doing drugs, minors involved in intimate acts, or, that police in South Carolina describe this book as almost an "indoctrination of distrust of police."
Here's an excerpt from the book:
“Fuck the police! Fuck the police! Devante continues to shout. Vante, man, come on, says Seven. “I ain’t scared of them! Fuck the police!” —page 396
Here's an excerpt from a book that a 9th grader read for language arts during the 2021-2022 school year. The parent who challenged this book said it was on a list of books her freshman was told to choose from.
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| "Where I End and You Begin." 9th grade reading assignment. |
ROCKWOOD'S "APPROVED" BOOKS
The approved list, though, doesn't mean it won't have gratuitous profanity or otherwise objectionable content. So, parents may still want to research those books.
"The Hate U Give," seen above, is on that list, despite parents concerns about gratuitous profanity and negative portrayals of police.
HOW TO ACCESS ROCKWOOD'S "APPROVED" BOOKS
Note: To access the "approved" book lists, click on the grade level, language arts, and, then book list.
Also note: Rockwood recommends "The Hate U Give" for grades 9-12, but, the book is in middle school libraries anyway.
Also on that list are other books with anti-police themes, profanity or, otherwise, mature content.
Many of the books that have been challenged are not on that approved list that teachers recommend from.
They're in the school libraries, though, and can be read for language arts assignments.
ROCKWOOD'S EXISTING "POLICIES"
Administrators SAY there are two ways parents can restrict what their kids read:
Tell the librarian to put a note in the computer that your child can't check out a specific book title.
Or, restrict the whole young adult category:
1) RESTRICT TITLE
Problem: TITLES UNKNOWN
As stated above, there's no district list of potentially concerning books. Parents have had to rely on complaints from other parents.
Parents can check the approved book list above for titles, but, only about 10% of Rockwood's library books are on that list.
2) RESTRICT THE WHOLE "YOUNG ADULT" CATEGORY.
Problem: You will be restricting thousands of books, most of which are ok.
The category is not discerning and includes content that might be rated G, PG or R, if it was in movies.
Example: The books below.
One is a cookbook. One is a violent story about a girl who is kidnapped and raped repeatedly, for years.
Both are in Rockwood libraries, categorized as "Young Adult."
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| Categorized as "Young Adult" in Rockwood school libraries. Source: Destiny |
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| Categorized as "Young Adult" in Rockwood school libraries. Source: Destiny |
This is what Common Sense Media says about "living dead girl:"
Common Sense Media recommends ages 17 and up.
In Rockwood, kids as young as 14 can check out this book.
In Rockwood, kids as young as 14 can check out this book.
HOW DID THESE BOOKS GET IN THE LIBRARIES IN THE FIRST PLACE?
IT'S ALL ABOUT "DIVERSITY."
IT'S ALL ABOUT "DIVERSITY."
Rockwood has said many times that it offers the books parents have questioned because the books have authors or characters who provide "diverse" perspectives, such as being black or gay or non-binary.
Some of those diverse perspectives are in books that include an anti-police emphasis as well.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BOOK CHALLENGES
Note: both parents and teachers filed challenges for these books. All have been retained in their libraries. Some of those decisions were appealed to the school board. But, the decisions were upheld.
To find out more about the challenge process and why parents say it's not transparent or objective, click here.