Mullally and Ringel

In Mullally’s article, I was shocked by the statistic that an estimated 82-97 percent of book challenges go unreported (2).  If Drama is publicly controversial for an extremely mild reference to homosexual relationships, I can not even imagine the triggers that quietly pull other books off the shelf. 

I was also extremely impressed with Pico for organizing a student-led opposition to their school board's decision. I was partially impressed because I was not intellectually mature or motivated enough to do so when I was seventeen. I also realized that in the time frame of him going to court and the multiple appeals, he likely turned eighteen and was considered a legal adult. He could vote in a presidential election, serve on a jury, or get drafted but could not read a book that mentions homosexual relationships. Out of curiosity, I looked up the age of consent in New York. In 2017 the age of consent in New York was lifted from fourteen to seventeen. Therefore, in 1975 when Pico argued in court, he was legally allowed to engage in sexual behavior but denied the opportunity to read about sexual behavior. It baffles my mind that the state viewed fourteen-year-olds old enough to consent to sex but not old enough to read about sex, race, or magic. It continues to show that the children are not the ones offended by the material, and the ones banning these books are not the ones reading them. 

My summer job throughout high school and college is in the home owner’s association that has a recreational department over the summer for the families to send their kids. It is essentially a summer camp but I have to interact with the parents too. I interact daily with kids of all ages and maturity levels. I can confidently say that anything they ingest online is far worse than anything we have read this semester or I have read in my lifetime. There is a clique of three girls who are now thirteen, but I have known them since they were six. I have watched them grow and realized that the one that is the most sheltered is the one I fear for the most. She knows way more at 13 than I do at 22. The kids that are exposed to more mature ideas safely, for instance, the ones with older siblings or less conservative parents, understand how to navigate mature situations.


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