Book Bans Harm Kids; Scientific American, November 19, 2024

 THE EDITORS , Scientific American; Book Bans Harm Kids

"Books are a gift, opening a door to the wide world. But not if you live in one of the U.S. communities where local school boards or state officials have cast certain books as scary monsters that harm children with words and ideas.

Organized conservative groups in many communities are censoring books from school and public libraries, claiming that some themes aren’t age-appropriate for children, never mind the context. They target books on health, climate change, psychology, and other science they find distasteful or antithetical to their way of thinking. They try to criminalize teachers and librarians who dare to give kids a chance to indulge their curiosity. Under the guise of protecting children from harm, they vow to defund public libraries and alter school curricula.

But it’s the book bans themselves that cause the most harm, robbing youngsters of opportunities to think critically, explore ideas and learn about experiences different from their own. The people responsible for moving books from classrooms and library shelves are trying to limit the flow of information. Their efforts aim to un­dermine democracy; they would create an electorate of young people who will not question authority, build alliances with people who have less political power, or challenge the status quo. Knowledge is power. Book bans go against the very nature of an open, civil society. Whether through the legal system, the ballot box or our voices, we must uphold educational freedom and support knowledge. We must stop the censoring of books.

Censorship has a shameful history in the U.S. The infamous 1873 Comstock Act made it illegal to mail works considered to be obscene, such as pamphlets about birth control. James Joyce’s Ulysses was banned in the country in the 1920s, and the U.S. Postal Service burned copies. More re­­cent­ly, conservatives have bowdlerized the history and science children learn in schools, altering depictions of slavery, rejecting textbooks that reference climate change and challenging evolution...

Some teachers are keeping canceled books in secret drawers. Some schools in more open districts are introducing the idea of reading clubs focusing on banned books. Librarians are questioning what they are allowed to put on shelves instead of promoting what’s there. Parents who want their kids to have a thorough education are trying to fight back against well-funded and politically motivated advocates of book bans.

The kids who can are speaking up for books and libraries. It is up to us to help them, as well as the ones who can’t. Book bans are antithetical to free speech and free thought. They are antidemocratic, antiscience and antievidence. Reading this editorial with no one looking over your shoulder is your fundamental right. Our children deserve the same."