Educators, students grow frustrated with government book ban bills

Apr. 10—Senate Bill 12 took an unexpected twist this past week.

SB12 was a bill that looked to charge librarians and teachers with a felony for giving "content considered harmful to minors."

Language from the bill became an amendment to Senate Bill 380 and was discussed during an Indiana House Education Committee session in Indianapolis Wednesday, April 5.

Parts of the amendment were focused on public and school libraries creating a process that allowed parents and community members to challenge books. Libraries already have a system for book challenges in place. Libraries would also have to make their collection catalog available online and be prepared to move books to an age appropriate section.

If prosecuted for allowing a minor access to a book considered "harmful," librarians and teachers cannot use the educational value of the book in question as a defense.

Librarians and teachers face a level 6 felony if prosecuted.

The amendment also includes text that targets a person or business selling, renting, or displaying "for sale or rent to any person matter that is harmful to minors within (500) feet of the nearest property line of a school or church" and "engages in or conducts a performance before minors that is harmful to minors."

SB12 passed the Indiana Senate last month. The amendment was crafted by Sen. Becky Cash (R-Zionsville). Senate Bill 380 focuses on graduation issues, dress codes and various other education matters. It was co-written by Stacey Donato (R-Logansport). Donato voted in favor of SB12.

Educators feel threatened

The educators are frustrated.

It's been a difficult four years for teachers all over the country, beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic and followed by national school shootings, multiple controversial education legislation, and now understanding bills like SB12/ SB380.

Prior to the SB380 amendment, Logansport High School teachers and students discussed their thoughts on Senate Bill 12.

"The law, if it becomes a law, seems to be intentionally vague in what it considers obscene material," said Bryan Looker, a history teacher. "I think the potential punishment towards librarians and teachers is off the charts, considering the first drunk driving offense—if you don't harm someone—even a second drunk driving defense is a misdemeanor without bodily injury. And this particular bill is talking about making it a level 6 felony."

"I don't think it's intended to be legally binding," said Nathan Hedrick, an English teacher. "I think it's intended to scare teachers."

Tammy Minks, the Logansport High School librarian and department chair, agreed that the bill felt more like a threat than an actual law meant to pass. Even if that is the case, she said it was infuriating.

Minks said that Donato has never reached out to her to learn about how a school library operates or what books may or may not be inside the Logansport High School library.

English teacher Chris Pearcy said most students are exposed to "harmful content" through social media apps like TikTok, films and television, not books.

"If you ban everything that could be slightly controversial, all you are doing is putting it off until (students) are 18 and out in the world," he said. "You as a parent and we as teachers have no say in what happens when they are exposed to it then."

A system to select books for the school library exists and is very similar to what the Logansport Cass County Library uses, as explained by its director David Ivey. Both libraries look to trusted national reviewers. In the case of the high school, Minks preferred the "Kirkus Review." She also has started attending a national conference focused on young adult literature and buys books that are featured there.

Both libraries have similar challenge procedures already in place, too. If someone is unhappy with a book, they tell a librarian and explain their reasoning. From there, there are steps that lead all the way to the library board or school board, who make the final decision to remove a book.

Minks has never had a book challenge at the Logansport High School library.

Cash claimed Wednesday at the committee hearing in Indianapolis that thousands of parents had complained to schools across the state about books.

"I really love our community," she said, explaining that most parents, when a problem with materials arise, will work to remedy the situation for their child in a way that doesn't take away an opportunity for the other students. "So, it's just shocking that our government wants to impose one parent's views on an entire school."

Looker explained that the school already has guardrails in case there is an objection from parents. Students need to have permission slips signed by parents to view a film during the school day. If it's a certain book that they know might be objectionable to some, a parent will have a chance to say that they don't want their child reading the book and that student will receive an alternate assignment.

He said the bill punishes the 19 students in a classroom who don't have an objection to learning material, however, because one person does, a book is removed.

Hedrick said there is no better way to get students interested in a book than saying it was banned.

"There are certain times where there will be a book that I teach that is very tame and has been for a long time that I will make sound like the scariest—like 'nobody wants you to read this' kind of thing," he said. "I use it as a tool for engagement. If you mention anything about banned books, I feel like that is one of a library's greatest advertisements."

"But we won't be able to use that anymore if we are in jail," said Minks. "I know that banned books are the most attractive, but if I can't have them in the library without going to jail then I am out."

Why now?

The students are frustrated.

"I wish we were focusing on bigger world problems than what our children are reading," said Layla Powell, a junior. "Books have been approved by multiple school corporations and there is so much that is wrong with the world right now and we are focusing on children's books."

"There are bigger problems in schools besides books like the vaping and drugs," said Jacob Patty, a senior.

Junior Charles Zimmerman said in an email that legislators could do more by focusing on issues such as drugs, incarceration, infrastructure and teacher funding.

"Indiana has been a Republican state for the last 30 some years and the Republican government in Indiana is just now bringing book banning to the table," Sam Fultz, a junior, said. "Why didn't they do it 20-25 years ago. Why now is it such a big problem?"

A common shared word when talking about SB12: ridiculous.

Especially since, as the students admitted, if they want information, they are going to go online first before consulting a book.

"Banning a book is nothing compared to the world wide web," said Fultz. "You go home and you get on your own device, nothing is restricted. You can find out or see anything. So, banning a book I feel is symbolic more of the hatred, the disagreement about a certain topic. Instead of tackling a problem they are just doing it to instigate things further."

They also felt high schoolers hear more graphic and lurid details walking through a school hallway than they would ever read in a book.

"Instead of rewriting education maybe focus on getting more prominent problems out of school," said Fultz. "For example: the fentanyl crisis, drugs, everything like that."

"Books are made for us to learn from and be educated by," Powell said. "It's really crazy to think that they are trying to ban something that is going to help us learn. I've noticed recently, the world, we are traveling back in time and we are going back to when people didn't have rights and freedom of speech. And this is the 21st century. We need to stop focusing on problems that happened hundreds of years ago and focus on what is happening now, how to improve the world, how to get better."

"Not only is it freedom of speech, you are putting things out there, your own ideas, your own words and in no way should those be constricted," Fultz said. "The first word that came to mind when (book banning) was brought up was 'fascist.' The divide, and the racism and the bigotry and everything that comes with this book banning is in no way going to positively impact people. It is only going to pull people apart more and create more problems within our society."

The students understood that LGBTQ books were commonly challenged books. They blamed a generation gap for that, seeing book challenges as a way for older adults to stall progressive momentum. Fultz said those challenging such reading material were showing their insecurity.

"I don't see many positives because I feel like as we grow, we need to learn to accept new things," said junior Payton Mucker. "LGTBQ books I feel are one of the more targeted ones by parents just because they weren't raised with that. With change, we need to have something out there that lets students know that it is ok and anything is possible. And I feel that it's not up to the parents to decide that."

Is bill too much?

Junior Casen Lake said he supported the bill, but not in its entirety.

"I read through the entire bill and its very vague," he said. "If the vagueness gets to the point where they say 'we're going to ban LGTBQ materials or Trans materials or any sexual type books, that starts to build a chain reaction. I support the idea of it, but not the vagueness."

Lake said he felt that any book that includes sex should be available in public libraries but not elementary or high school libraries.

"The punishments are a little harsh," he said. "I don't believe teachers should be punished that way. It doesn't even lay out a minor punishment. There's no starting level. It's a little strict. I'm not in favor of the punishment."

Carissa Dawson, a junior, agreed with Lake that books could be restricted for those below high school, but felt high school students were old enough to choose what they want to read. She also said the punishment was ridiculous.

Both Lake and Dawson said their parents don't monitor their reading material. Dawson added her parents know what she is reading because she talks with them about books.

"Literature is something you learn from and grow from as a person," she said. "There's no reason it should be restricted. At the end of the day, you are going to learn about things anyway and it doesn't hurt learning it from an educated author who is published and has gone through all the steps to get it where it is."

Lake said he believed that public libraries should restrict books from minors if they contain pornography or illicit sex. However, he said he felt that books that feature LGTBQ characters and relationships that don't include sex should not be restricted.

Dawson felt restricting books was an appropriate middle ground.

"I completely understand that there are some books that aren't appropriate for children," she said. "I don't feel like we have any books like that in (the Logansport High School library). But in the public library, I'm sure they have books like that. That's just a good middle ground because it doesn't take literature away from people, it just puts it in the group that it was aimed towards."

Lake suggested a rating system similar to what is used in the film industry—or a parental advisory like when it comes to music, Dawson added—that would inform parents about the content of a book.

"Personally, I think if someone is going to witness something, or have something in their lifestyle, they will probably discover it on their own, anyway, without a book," Lake said.

"I mean, they would discover it in a movie," added Dawson. "Which we aren't arguing about banning right now."