Nearly twenty years ago in one of his HBO ‘comedy
specials/diatribes,’ Bill Maher went on another one of those white male rage
rants that he was infamous for even then. Another one of his key gripes the
idea that ‘children are more important than people.”
Then, as now, I considered just another one
of the personal grievances Maher puts forth that was consistent with his misanthropic,
anti-family views that he has had for more than thirty years. However, like the
proverbial broken clock, Maher was right about in regard to much of today’s
activities. So much of our political discourse is revolved around doing ‘what
is best for our children”. One of the current battles where this is being waged
is in public schools and what books our children should be able to read.
This series, as the title has indicated, is
about an opinion I have held essentially my whole life: any form of censorship,
restriction of free speech, or freedom of expression is universally wrong and anyone
who tries to do so is automatically my enemy. So I am opposed to the idea of
restricting whatever our children should be able to read in public school and
libraries.
That, however, is not the subject of
this article. The point of this article is that no matter what side of the
issue you are on, the loudest voices are at their core only interested in this
to preserve their own agendas and their own values. Neither side has any interest
in the children’s point of view at all, and the fact that this is subject to
debate fundamentally illustrates the lack of comprehension of the average child’s
mindset. This is something I am very aware of.
As you know doubt have reasoned by my
columns, I have been a constant reader practically since the age of six. I was
one of those students who was reading a book under his desk during school throughout
my formative years. I would go to the school library every lunch period and
free period well into my college years. The library and the book stores are
practically shrines to me. And something that I became aware of very early on
was how much of a rarity that was among children.
The reason I find this debate about which
books children should read more of a political talking point than an actual
issue is a simple one: Most children don’t want to read at all. I don’t mean the
problems with literacy; I mean it’s something they’d rather not do given their
options. This was true thirty years ago when you only had cable TV as a
distraction; in an era where every child has a cell phone when they get into
grade school, streaming services are everywhere, and everybody cares about how
many followers that they have on Instagram, I believe it’s only gotten harder. Teaching
a child to read is far easier than getting them to enjoy reading. It can
be pushed by teacher or parents, but it fundamentally has to be something the
child gets to on their own early and most of them are resistant to it.
Everyone gets up an arms when they see pictures
of school libraries where the shelves are completely empty; I absolutely
guarantee those photos are taken by teachers. I’m relatively certain that the
average student in most school may go there for months, if not years, without
even knowing what floor the library is on and if they do go there, it is only
because their teacher told them that a book they need is on the shelves. Hell,
I imagine the few students who went in there may have gone to study and barely
noticed the shelves were empty.
And to be clear that’s recreational
reading. Assigned reading: the average student will approach this as eagerly as
they would dissecting a frog in biology. I almost think that if these ‘outraged
parents’ really wanted to ensure that their children never read these books they
find offensive, they should demand they be part of the curriculum. I
guarantee you; these kids would look for summaries on Wikipedia and call it
done. I speak from experience as someone who loves reading: throughout my
entire life, it’s always been easier for me to read books of my own volition
than ones that I’m supposed too. This is human nature, something that none of
these parents seem to remember. Better still, upset parents: recommend these
books to your children and say that you loved them growing up even if you’ve
never read them (I’m going to get this in a moment.) They will throw them under
the beds the second you leave the room.
Now I’m going to address every parent in
the world, red state or blue state, every race, religion or gender. If you can
take an honest look at just how messed up the world is today, and you truly
think that the biggest danger to your children is them reading, say, Catcher
in the Rye or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, then you’re beautiful.
I truly want to meet you and wonder what world you live in. It isn’t the one
your children live in, because to be clear none of this is about your children
at all.
And by the way to those same parents: all
these years I’ve misunderstood the secrets to the universe. All this time I
thought that wisdom and knowledge were things learned in books or higher
education or life experience. But apparently I’ve been wrong. When the
quarterback knocks up the head cheerleader on prom night, you automatically
know not just what is best for your child but all children.
Oh, and all of you smug blue staters out
there who no doubt automatically think that of so many of the schools where
these battles or happening, this obvious doesn’t assume that the cheerleader is
a straight A-Student and that the quarterback was hoping to go to college on a
scholarship but both had to drop out to raise their kid.
See, the thing that all children pick up on
very young is that their parents don’t know everything. They will deflect your
questions with things like: “Because I said so” or worse, “You’ll understand
when you’re older.” At some point we learn our parents are not gods, merely
mortals. And all parents understand at some level that they have to protect
their children. The divide has always been “from what.” It also leaves out the
fact that they are afraid. Of the world not being the same that they lived in
when they were children, whether the children will be happy, and most
importantly, how different their children will be when they grow up.
All parents know that they have relinquish
control of their children at some point. I imagine that is what much of the
fighting over education has always been: loss of control. So they fight against
it. The problem is almost always manifests itself in horrible ways. The worst
is actual abuse, emotional or physical. In this case, it is trying to control
what their children learn. At a certain level, all parents see their children
as extensions of themselves. And many do not like even the idea that their
children will grow up with views that don’t reflect theirs.
To be clear this is wrong when done as one family,
it’s horrible done as a group. Yet as horrific as it is, it is at least
understandable and admirable than the counterreaction from so many on the left
to this.
Because I’ve spent enough time on these
websites to know that in most of the states where these outrages are going, the
commentators are fundamentally detached from it. Most of them are ruby red
states, and they have long since denounced all of the adults with them as
gun-loving, Bible thumping, Fox News viewing idiots who aren’t worthy of their
time, even every two or four years. In their mind, they keep elected all of the
officials who are making the progressive agenda harder to get through. They don’t
understand why they keep electing Republicans who will never vote in their
economic interests and in the same breath, they will crap on every cultural or social value they
have as misguided and not see the irony.
They speak with haughtiness because they
would never deign to visit these states, much less let their own
children go to a public school there. In fact, I’m relatively sure that a hefty
percentage of them, assuming they even have children, would not yet theirs go
anywhere near a public school, even if it were in a ‘good neighborhood.’
This is another example in their minds as to how ‘out of touch’ these parents
are because they won’t even let their schools put these books on shelves. That
their own children would just as likely not go to the library anyway doesn’t
enter their thinking at all.
For years, progressives have moaned about
why politicians will always speak about children but never do anything to help
them. You want to know why? Children don’t vote and they don’t have a lobby. They
have no political or economic value. And for that reason they have become what
amounts to props. And I should make it clear both sides are perfectly fine with
that.
Yes, I know the left will hem and haw about
much this banning of books hurts children but this is posturing. They have
given up on the grownups in these states as lost. The only reason they care about
these children is potential. In their minds, if the children receive the education
of the values that they share, they will become good progressive Democrats, and
when they are eighteen they will begin voting Democrat in their local elections
to turn their state their blue. Better still, they will leave their horrid red
state with their blind backwards parents and go to a nice safe blue state where
they learn their liberals and push the evil Republicans out of existence.
The idea that any of these children might
read these books, see these movies, get a good education and still come away
with the values of their red state parents doesn’t even enter their thinking. Because,
like the parents who are banning books in these states, they can’t understand
why their children would not share their values. I have a feeling that
these same parents would be more outraged if they came home and found their son
watching Newsmax than pornography. Or if their daughter wanted to go to BYU instead
of Sarah Lawrence. Or the first time they voted, registered as a Republican.
No one cares what children think. I know
because in all of these school board meetings, the parents are doing all the
talking. No media network will ever do a focus group of eleven year olds. But I
also know that these so called ‘good people’ berating how these children are
being deprived, would never deign to go down and ask what they think because
they don’t care anymore than their parents. If they said they agreed with their
parents, they would dismiss it with that old trope that has existed since time
immemorial: “they’ll understand when they’re older.” Then they would just go
home and rage against how utterly intolerant ‘these people’ are and not think
twice.
They’ll rage against the governors and the
school board officials and the angry parents who are keeping their children
from getting the education they need. That these kids will almost certainly
never go to the library of their own volition is not relevant. Some of these
children might ask questions to the adults, might have points of view that
their parents, the media and politicians on both sides mind find relevant. They will end up being dismissed by everybody.
Because they’re not adults and they have no rights. That some of them might
actually be smarter than all of these people will not even be considered. That
some of them might be savvier than both sides will not be entertained. Because for
all these people, children are merely props. They may be ‘more important than
people’ but their opinions aren’t.
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