You’re Right, Books Are Dangerous

Blue paper covers shelves of books that students are being denied access to.

This just breaks my heart.

In a classroom–a classroom–books are being kept away from students. Students want to read, to learn, to feed their curiosity, to enlarge their sense of the world, to simply have fun, and they’re being told NO. Are being told that’s not what school is for. Are being told that curiosity and openness of mind and heart must be controlled. Are being told that THEY must be controlled, that they and their teachers cannot be trusted to make choices about their own reading. About their own minds.

The people who made these laws are right about one thing–books are dangerous. They tell facts. They explain ideas. They make change. They are change.

And if that scares you–you might do something like this to children.

But it’s about your weakness and your fears, not about the books. And not about the students. The only thing on display here is the cowardice of lawmakers who don’t deserve the title, don’t deserve their jobs, and who are cowering in fear of chapter books.

Shame, shame, shame.