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Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

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Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#151

Post by jeffbee »

OrvalWintermute wrote: post #28

The problem is that some of the libraries are hosting sexually explicit material that is accessible to younger children that some parents claim is sexually grooming the children. Some of these books have been included on reading lists. The book that is the poster child for this is the cartoon book Gender Queer https://www.westernjournal.com/book-depicting-child-pornogra...

You know, sexually explicit material can be pretty beneficial for teens. The book that your ridiculous panic-mongering "news" outlet—and I am truly sorry that you have been exposed to a publication as rotten as this one—uses graphic depiction of a sex act to show how an adult couple—not "child pornography" as your Western Journal bozos claim—work out that one person wants to try a sex act that the other person does not enjoy. That's an important thing for teens to learn!

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#152

Post by dmje »

mabbo wrote: post #3

Hey America, is everything okay down there? Y'all have some truly dystopian stuff going on there. Felony prosecution for showing kids books that the Governor didn't approve of? Yikes.

It really does look truly weird from out here. I mean, I'm living in the UK, where some seriously bad shit is going down, but even given all o that, stuff in the US looks pretty dark...!

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#153

Post by CydeWeys »

hooverd wrote: post #139
notch656c wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very much against this law but I think "present in school" is much different than "curated." I couldn't give a shit if kids were bringing Anarchist Cookbook and images of the tortures at Abu Dhabi prison to school. What the kid and his family obtain on their own through private means and choose to read in a public venue like a school IMO is none of my business. If the teachers are curating books that disproporti…

No one has yet to name any books.

They know that the second they name any specific books that were actually present in classrooms, we'll all realize how ridiculous the outrage over such innocuous books actually is.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#154

Post by NovemberWhiskey »

Pulcinella wrote: post #10

In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. Prepare for “route around the damage” moment whe…

A quick search suggests that other third-degree felonies in Florida are things like: felony battery, aggravated assault, carrying a concealed firearm without a license and resisting a law enforcement officer with violence.

All rather mind-blowing to be honest.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#155

Post by efitz »

crooked-v wrote: post #43
efitz wrote: post #20

We live in a world of “sanctuary this” and “Do not comply with that” and “I will not enforce the other”. In other words, we live in a world where a nontrivial percentage of the population, especially many in influential positions, have decided that they don’t need to obey laws they disagree with. How else are you going to get people to comply with the law? Note that I am not asserting that any law is “good” or “bad”.…

The kinds of "using public sentiment" that actually get things often done tend to involve willfully and intentionally breaking the law, as wildcat strikers, civil rights marchers, and sit-in protestors can attest.

And that still works. But in recent times it’s very overused.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#156

Post by radu_floricica »

Regular reminder that: - WFH is a thing now - school from home was tried and found to be shitty if pretending they're still in school except by Zoom - but functional enough to be a point on the Overton window. - ChatGPT is a thing.

I wouldn't even attempt to save the current educational system. At all. Just lobby for legislation that facilitates getting diplomas by exams, then wait at most a year for completely new alternatives to appear.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#157

Post by agloeregrets »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #32
wyldfire wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is weird. I guess we can agree to that principle but do we need to be draconian about it? Do we need laws to make teachers focus on curriculum? Didn't you ever read a book that wasn't prescribed by the curriculum?

I don't think so but it's Florida. I don't live in Florida. The majority in Florida must somehow be OK with this and it's their teachers and children. Don't take my nuance to mean that I approve of this or think it's a good idea.

Conceptually, if the government defines the teaching, at what point do the people run the government and at what point does the government run the people?

Also, politics in America are way more messy than that. The choice becomes "People you agree 50% with or people you agree 20% with?". I would bet that if this were put to a statewide vote, it would not pass.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#159

Post by mcv »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #21
yamtaddle wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classroom libraries are a big deal. Every step taken that makes a teacher's job riskier, less pleasant, or less like what they want to be doing (teaching kids, without having to worry about whether some plainly-positive action is legal), drives good teachers out of the profession.

It also drives families with kids out of Florida to more sane educational operating environments. Florida already has the worst teacher shortage in the nation: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/01/22/our-child...

So they already have the worst teacher shortage, and they're determined to make it even worse by making it a crime to encourage children to read.

This is completely insane. How can this be even remotely constitutional? Please tell me at least the current Florida legislature is deeply unpopular because of their commitment to censorship and opposition to education.

Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools

#160

Post by gusmd »

alexb_ wrote: post #68
deugtniet wrote: post #4

If anybody thinks this is a good idea, I'm looking forward to reading your opinions.

Let me be clear that I do not agree at all, in any way with this argument, I'm just answering your question as to what the opinion of people who like this think. There are books which contain explicit depictions of sex between teenagers. Why do you want teenagers thinking that having sex before you are 18 is normal? Kids shouldn't be reading stuff about sex (gay, straight, or otherwise) before they are adults. The on…

Most people in the world are sexually active before 18. Your teenage years are you prime years of curiosity. Now, yes, they shouldn't be engaging in sexual activities with older, more mature people. But there's zero problem in late teens just being teens and discovering themselves. The more information they have on how to do that safely, the better. This law (and your puritan line of thinking) does the exact opposite. Expect to see a rise in teenage STDs and pregnancy.
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