Each year, high school students across the district are required to participate in a book club by picking out one of multiple graphic novels. Some of the books students could choose from included “Laura Dean Keeps Breaking up with Me” by Marikio Tamakai, and “The Handmaid’s Tale: A Graphic Novel,” by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault. However, since 2021, no student in Leander ISD can read these books as a part of their book club, or discuss the ideas of these books in class. These books are banned.
The ban occurred because a small group of parents pushed for the removal of these books in the district, deeming the content within them inappropriate for students to access. While this incident happened a few years ago, recent developments in the Texas legislature appear to support parental overreach in school libraries.
Last month, the Texas senate passed Senate Bill 13, which gives school boards the authority to decide which books are physically available in school libraries. This would subsequently remove a key aspect of a school librarian’s job: instead of a librarian deciding what books should be featured in the library, school boards would have final say. The bill would further allow groups of parents a larger say in what books all students can read, and the ability to recommend and remove books via local advisory councils.
Parental overreach threatens public school systems’ ability to produce thoughtful students who will be able to navigate ideas different from their own.
Allowing a small group of outspoken parents to make decisions affecting the entire student body sets a dangerous precedent. Certainly, parents should have at least some right to decide what may be appropriate for their child to read. However, inherent problems arise when those parents are allowed to decide what every child may read.
If legislation supporting this idea continues to advance, the net result will likely be an outspoken minority shaping public libraries to feature books only they deem “appropriate.”
Additionally, if students are prevented from exploring emotional or controversial topics, the state has failed in its responsibility to educate a generation of well-rounded individuals who can accept unique ideas and perspectives. Schools are critical in introducing distinctive, new concepts to students as they mature. For many students, school is the sole source of unique ideas and perspectives. When schools censor even a few books, they are subsequently limiting a student’s ability to explore ideas that may be integral in developing their interests, sense of self and understanding of perspectives different from those around them.
Parents that advocate for bans on certain books may argue that there are some topics that shouldn’t be introduced at all in school. In reality, it depends. No, students who are in elementary school should not be exposed to sexual content in books in graphic detail, and no book should be promoting hatred or malice as a key message. But what parents and lawmakers alike fail to understand is that there’s a difference between having a sensitive theme in a book, and having a book be entirely about an inappropriate topic.
One book that was raised for district review recently was “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book depicted the story of a young girl and her journey through high school after experiencing sexual assault. While the assault itself may be deemed as “inappropriate,” the message behind it allowed readers to understand the nature of overcoming a traumatic event, and finding one’s sense of self through that experience.
What Texas lawmakers fail to understand is that they can’t have it both ways. You can’t have well-rounded, original thinking students ready to introduce new ideas to the workforce, and limit each student’s access to sensitive, unique topics at the same time. If Texas schools want to ensure that they are helping to create the next generation of well-rounded students, then they should consider how banning books and parent overreach may lead to a slippery slope of education that is curated for one specific belief system.
*Editor’s note: Connie Cooper is a student writer. All views expressed in the commentary are her own and are independent of the district, Rouse High School and the publication.
*As seen in print