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When did book banning become acceptable, as in Hermon? I thought that kind of conduct was behind us. Surely we are more advanced and mature about our personal fears, than we were years ago in the dark ages and when puritanism was the norm?
Banning something expresses one’s own discomfort with one’s personal conflicts over an issue. And, to ban books is absurd, particularly with the internet access which does not require any kind of direct human interaction, other than to type in an url. In the 1950s, libraries removed “questionable” literature on topics such as sex, menstruation, pregnancy, and had them in locked shelves, requiring requests from the young to access them. Do we really want to return to that, where girls wore crinolines and girdles, contraception was unavailable, boys were called sissies if not athletic, and discussion of sex was only whispered?
Who and what is behind this effort in Hermon? Where are the parents who talk to their children, educate their young with openness and love, generate trust and confidence in their choices? What happened to the 1960s generation who broke barriers and welcomed change? Perhaps it’s the internet, which publishes bigotry, gives credence to irrational positions, and empowers small outlier factions to believe they are justified in their positions.
Nancy Nadzo
Eastbrook
