At 12:35 PM 2/1/02, Elizabeth Bentley wrote:
>When should students have the freedom to choose for themselves? Do
>they have to wait until they are no longer financially dependent on
>their parents, or does the moment come at some earlier point? If so
>when?
Along those same lines, at what point do you hold the child responsible?
I'm thinking here about a situation where a child checks out an expensive
book and severely damages or loses it. Do you ask the parents to pay, or
the child?
I suspect that most of us would expect the parents to cover the loss. Why,
then, should we not accept their ideas about what is or is not acceptable
for their children to read? I'm not talking about what is purchased for the
library, only about what a particular child checks out. Rights and
responsibilities go together. If the parent is responsible for the child's
loss, then the parent also has the right to say what the child may or may
not check out. If we're going to say that we will permit children to check
out materials against the known wishes of the parents, then the children
must also be accountable for any losses, not their parents.
Someone mentioned earlier today that the public library gives library cards
to children over 12 without the parent's signature. In many states children
under 18 cannot legally enter into contracts. Since a library card is
evidence of a contract, I suspect that if a child over 12 but under 18
checked out materials and failed to return them, the only recourse the
library would have would be to cancel the library card. Certainly the
parents would not be responsible, and since the child was under the legal
age to enter into a contract, the child wouldn't be responsible, either.
I realize that many of you feel that if material meets your selection
guides it is appropriate for all students in your building, and no one
should overrule you without going through a formal challenge process. That
isn't the situation that started this thread. The parents simply asked that
their child not be permitted to check out any books on a certain topic.
They didn't ask for those books to be removed from the shelves. Nothing is
being censored. The parents simply asked the school to help them enforce
their own rules with their own children.
David Lininger, kb0zke
LMS, Hickory County R-1 Schools
Urbana, MO 65767
mailto: tss003@mail.connect.more.net
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