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I'm just going to side step the ethics of withholding easy access to certain books, just focusing on the pragmatic and functional. > However if a kid can get t

I'm just going to side step the ethics of withholding easy access to certain books, just focusing on the pragmatic and functional. > However if a kid can get the book from online store with relative ease […] They can't because they don't have the means: no money and no credit card. And they won't: a lot of children have very low internal motivation for reading so any barrier to entry will make them read less.

PurpleRamen 4y ago
> They can't because they don't have the means: no money and no credit card. It's a High School, kids at that age generally are able to buy something from Amazon or a Bookshop.
spacephysics 4y ago
Then at this point it’s on the parents to either foster their interest, or to withhold it. This specific book aside, parents should have the final say what their kids are exposed to. Yeah as they hit adolescent that becomes harder/more futile, but the core of it, in my eyes, is parenting.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  > parents should have the final say what their kids are exposed to What do we do when a religious fundamentalist objects to learning about evolution in biology class, or a neo-Nazi parent objects to teaching about slavery?
  - spacephysics 4y ago
    Straw man aside, that’s the cost of freedom. To think freedom has no price, that it’s a utopia, is a mistake as old as time. Because when the “other” is in power, and uses the force that you’ve granted them, then it’s authoritarianism. And let’s be honest, kids aren’t a blank slate. That’s been proved incorrect time and time again. Yes such influences you mentioned are heinous, obviously. But humans aren’t robots, as has happened with many in religious groups, once the kid is exposed to the outside world their views typically change. And with the internet and technology, it’s harder than ever to withhold information, especially from adolescent youth.
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yucky 4y ago
This isn't true in the US thanks to the vast public library system, coupled with interlibrary loans. Any child can get access to any book for free. School libraries aren't required to carry every book.

PurpleRamen 4y ago

> They can't because they don't have the means: no money and no credit card. It's a High School, kids at that age generally are able to buy something from Amazon or a Bookshop.

spacephysics 4y ago

Then at this point it’s on the parents to either foster their interest, or to withhold it. This specific book aside, parents should have the final say what their kids are exposed to. Yeah as they hit adolescent that becomes harder/more futile, but the core of it, in my eyes, is parenting.

ceejayoz 4y ago
> parents should have the final say what their kids are exposed to What do we do when a religious fundamentalist objects to learning about evolution in biology class, or a neo-Nazi parent objects to teaching about slavery?
- spacephysics 4y ago
  Straw man aside, that’s the cost of freedom. To think freedom has no price, that it’s a utopia, is a mistake as old as time. Because when the “other” is in power, and uses the force that you’ve granted them, then it’s authoritarianism. And let’s be honest, kids aren’t a blank slate. That’s been proved incorrect time and time again. Yes such influences you mentioned are heinous, obviously. But humans aren’t robots, as has happened with many in religious groups, once the kid is exposed to the outside world their views typically change. And with the internet and technology, it’s harder than ever to withhold information, especially from adolescent youth.

deleted 4y ago

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yucky 4y ago

This isn't true in the US thanks to the vast public library system, coupled with interlibrary loans. Any child can get access to any book for free. School libraries aren't required to carry every book.