KIRKWOOD 鈥 About 15 parents and students spoke out Monday against the Kirkwood School District鈥檚 recent book bans, including a comic book adaptation of George Orwell鈥檚 鈥1984,鈥 the cautionary tale about government mind control.
At least 114 book bans have been enacted in schools across 狐狸视频 this fall in response to a new state law prohibiting 鈥渆xplicit sexual material鈥 鈥 defined as any visual depiction of sex acts or genitalia, with exceptions for artistic or scientific significance 鈥 provided to students in public or private schools.
Kirkwood administrators banned 14 books in response to the law, the third-most of any school district in 狐狸视频 County after Rockwood and Lindbergh. Eight school districts in the county did not change their library collections. Neighboring school district Webster Groves banned 11 books, including several crossovers on Kirkwood鈥檚 list, such as the graphic novel version of 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale.鈥
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Kirkwood鈥檚 banned books list mainly includes graphic novels but also nonfiction such as 鈥淎nnie Leibovitz at Work鈥 about the celebrity photographer; 鈥淭he Human Body in Action,鈥 a 1999 anatomy textbook; and 鈥淕ender Danger: Survivors of Rape, Human Trafficking, and Honor Killings.鈥
Table: Books banned most by area school districts
Book | Num. districts |
---|---|
"The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel" | 12 |
"Gender Queer: A Memoir" | 8 |
"Watchmen" | 6 |
"Flamer" | 5 |
"Home After Dark" | 5 |
"The Sun and Her Flowers" | 5 |
Several speakers at Monday鈥檚 school board meeting said they do not want political pressure to dictate the materials available to students. There were no comments defending the bans.
鈥淲e as parents were shocked and disappointed to learn our school district is banning books in our school libraries,鈥 Meredith Byers wrote in a comment read to the board. Byers said as a medical professional she was particularly disappointed about the anatomy book, which she described as accurate and appropriate.
Aside from the 14 banned books, Kirkwood parents are able to opt out of any titles they don鈥檛 want their child to check out from school libraries. They also have online access to school library book lists and records of books their student has checked out, said Bryan Painter, Kirkwood鈥檚 assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
Two school board members said they disapproved of district leaders banning books and asked for further review of the titles.
鈥淭he most important thing is that kids feel seen and kids feel heard and kids feel safe,鈥 said member Judy Moticka. 鈥淭he thought that we would take away a kid鈥檚 ability to find themselves, to understand themselves, to feel safe, is wrong. As a district we have to do better.鈥
But board president Jean Marie Andrews said the discussion around banning books deals with 鈥渟exually explicit content that represents pornography.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 not as simple as many would like to make this out to be,鈥 Andrews said. 鈥淪top making this about representation and book banning and address it for what it really is. We can represent all students without sexualizing them.鈥
The ACLU of Missouri issued a statement last month saying school library books fall under exemptions in the new state law because they have 鈥渁lready been screened under nationally well-established standards for selecting material that take into account the entire piece.鈥