.
I know how this is going to look to a lot of you - censorship is an ugly thing and I hate it, too - but I'm very concerned that our kids aren't being protected well enough from the oodles and oodles of religious books and videos available to them through public sources. Nobody, especially libraries and librarians, have though things through far enough and nobody is holding anyone accountable.
A kid who enters a public library is immediately, naturally, drawn to its "Children's Section" and to stacks and stacks of unsorted materials there - all for their perusal. And isn't that nice? But what's there, really?
The fact is that libraries, and I'm speaking of Public libraries, generally don't sort out religious books aimed at kids from anything else a kid might enjoy. The same is true for video materials. A case in point: "Veggie Tales" are a popular series of old testament Bible story videos. They're very professionally made and they're a powerful indoctrinating tool aimed at the uncritical minds of kids. Check it out... You'll find "Veggie Tales" mixed in (unsorted for its religious content) with every other variety of video. and you'll find books on angels and yes, even on the life of Jesus.
From the book stacks, young readers will easily find that "Christmas" and "Easter" stories and "Jesus this and that" are all a part of the mix. Shouldn't a set-aside section of religious subject matter be provided for kids just as it is for adults?
Libraries sort adult selections with strict attention, but for kids books... its a willie-nillie oleo. Does anyone care? I know I care. Honestly folks, who's minding the store when it comes to what a kid can pick up at the library? Even the fictional Hogwarts library had a restricted section, and wasn't that wise?
. Books for kids - the library
I know how this is going to look to a lot of you - censorship is an ugly thing and I hate it, too - but I'm very concerned that our kids aren't being protected well enough from the oodles and oodles of religious books and videos available to them through public sources. Nobody, especially libraries and librarians, have though things through far enough and nobody is holding anyone accountable.
The fact is that libraries, and I'm speaking of Public libraries, generally don't sort out religious books aimed at kids from anything else a kid might enjoy. The same is true for video materials. A case in point: "Veggie Tales" are a popular series of old testament Bible story videos. They're very professionally made and they're a powerful indoctrinating tool aimed at the uncritical minds of kids. Check it out... You'll find "Veggie Tales" mixed in (unsorted for its religious content) with every other variety of video. and you'll find books on angels and yes, even on the life of Jesus.
From the book stacks, young readers will easily find that "Christmas" and "Easter" stories and "Jesus this and that" are all a part of the mix. Shouldn't a set-aside section of religious subject matter be provided for kids just as it is for adults?
Libraries sort adult selections with strict attention, but for kids books... its a willie-nillie oleo. Does anyone care? I know I care. Honestly folks, who's minding the store when it comes to what a kid can pick up at the library? Even the fictional Hogwarts library had a restricted section, and wasn't that wise?
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