Careful, Hamilton County parents – actually, parents anywhere these days. Pretty soon your school boards may be prying to see what books you have on the shelves at home lest little Johnny and Jane pull one out and start reading it age-inappropriately.
You could be in trouble if you have the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird,” for instance, because – well, you may remember from your own 10- or 12-year-old read of that book how Scout and Dill loved to shock people by saying “damn.”
It’s OK, of course, for your youngsters to have wildly graphic and cursing pop, rock and rap music on their phones and iPods, and apparently it’s OK that they read and post far worse than what Scout said on their Facebook and TikTok pages. But heaven help your school librarians if they check out award-winning books that might make your kids really think.
Now the Hamilton County Board of Education’s special committee to address content concerns in school reading materials is having its own struggle with thinking. The 18-member group and its chair, school board member Rhonda Thurman, had a first meeting Tuesday and had difficulty agreeing on the group’s mission.
Would they address only library books or would they consider books in classroom libraries as well?