I've truly appreciated everyone sharing their opinions and providing helpful
information for those of us who have not yet experienced this controversy. I
know it's been difficult for some to share their opinions for fear of being
labeled as biased, old-fashioned, or worse, identified as prejudiced. As
I've been reading, I was reminded of my job as a librarian to not make
judgments on issues and to simply provide information on either side. Man,
is that hard sometimes! I feel that it would be beneficial to present some
viewpoints of the more conservative side and offer a way to respond to it
productively as an elementary school librarian. It is far more important for
us to understand their perspectives before disregarding their opinions or
preaching against censorship. I have no doubt that these books will be on
our elementary school library shelves shortly, if they're not already, so I
view my job as finding a way to productively address the concerns of these
parents without making their values out to be petty.
These days we believe in being totally tolerant of anything and if you have
concerns about something then you, in turn, are bashed (ironic, isn't it?).
Although it's not always true, people in the more conservative category are
often Christians or otherwise God-fearing citizens. They feel that
h0mosexuality is wrong in the eyes of God and fear that if these types of
books make it to the school bookshelf, then their child will learn to
believe that these relationships are the way God intended them to be. They
feel that the penalties of practicing h0mosexuality, in the Bible, are equal
to or even worse than death (A few are: Gen. 19:4-5, Lev. 18:22, Lev. 20:13,
Romans 1:18-27, I Cor. 6:9-10, Jude 1:7, 1 Tim. 1:9-10). They hear about the
"g*y gene" that's recently being debated amongst doctors and wonder why it's
any different from all of the other genes that make humankind desire
unhealthy things (for example: alcoholism, obesity, violence, etc.). For in
all other gene-related situations, there are a number of successful methods
in our society to work against inherent urges. This group believes that we
have free will, that we can make our own decisions despite bodily urges, and
that no inherited gene forces us to do something that God calls sinful. They
even have thousands among them who now consider themselves "recovered
homosexuals". Hearing of these books entering their child's library that
promote g*y/l*sbian lifestyles strikes fear in their hearts because their
belief is that this act leads to death. In their minds, having such a book
in the library is just one step away from having this side being taught as
truth to their child in the classroom. So when considering the library
books available to their child, they are looking for consistency. In the
library we claim to believe in presenting all sides of an issue, no matter
who is offended, and that we provide equal reading materials so that our
patrons can get an even amount of knowledge and perspective. However, it is
doubtful that any school library will be allowing the other side to this
issue in their libraries. It's simply not the same to have a story about a
heterosexual family and call that equal representation because it is not at
the heart of this issue. In other words, it's not homosexuality vs.
heterosexuality, obviously. But can you imagine having a book specifically
about homosexuality from the conservative "Christian family" perspective on
the elementary library shelves? So, these parents have logical fears that
only one side will be represented, thus encouraging their children to
believe in its justification.
As a librarian, I would be especially sensitive to this crowd. I am a
Christian and my husband is a Greek and Hebrew scholar. Therefore, I feel
that I could talk with the above-described parents easily. Although not all
Christians see everything the same way (in fact they rarely do, LOL), I do
understand the above-mentioned concerns and I admit that I feel similarly.
I sympathize with their fears about parenting in the coming generations.
That being said, I would encourage them to check out the books in question,
take them home and read them with their children, and then discuss their own
beliefs with their child based on the Bible and their relationship with God.
It seems that facing this subject head-on would be better than hiding it
from children. Trust me, their children will be hearing about it at school
regardless of what books are on the shelves. Do they want their young
children's education to come from another student at school, who might be
name-calling, or from them? If they have this opportunity to share with
their child, then they can also share the Godly perspective about loving
others even if they don't agree with their actions-which I deem as the most
important lesson for a child to learn when dealing with such an issue.
Thank you for allowing yet another perspective. It's just a (very) general
overview of one side and my .02 on one possible way to address this
positions. (I inserted * and 0 in some words as I understand the need for
filters. At work we were getting hundreds of spam e-mails daily asking us
if we wanted to view porn and such. There was no way to block them so they
did the next best thing-added filters.)
Shannon Miller
Previous K-2nd Teacher
Currently completing MLS degree
DFW, Texas
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation.
LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/
LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-
LM_NET
Mailing List Home