CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Alberta has announced that pornographic and sexually explicit books will be removed from school libraries this fall.
In a July 10 press release, the Government of Alberta released its new standards for books in school libraries, which bans pornographic books from schools, after the province was made aware that children have access to sexually graphic content in schools.
“Our actions to ensure that materials in school libraries don’t expose children to sexual content were never about banning books,” Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides said.
“These new standards are to ensure that school boards have clear guidance to ensure age-appropriate access to school library materials, while reflecting the values and priorities of Albertans,” he continued.
According to the press release, schools have begun implementing their own standards regarding what content is appropriate for children to view. However, many parents have voiced concerns over sexually explicit content being available to their young children.
The books in question, found at multiple school locations, are Gender Queer, an LGBT-themed graphic novel by Maia Kobabe; Flamer, a homosexual graphic novel by Mike Curato; Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson; and Fun Home, an LGBT graphic novel by Alison Bechdel.
As a result, Alberta is enforcing a new set of standards to “set clear expectations for school library materials with regard to sexual content and require school boards to implement policies to support these standards.”
Under the new regulations, school libraries must not contain any books or content which contained explicit sexual content. Age-appropriate non-explicit sexual content is permitted for students in Grade 10 and above.
School boards are required to periodically evaluate their library collections, make a complete list of all materials publicly available, and ensure staff oversight of students’ access to these resources. Schools must eliminate any materials containing explicit sexual content from school libraries by October 1.
Alberta’s new legislation follows a provincial poll that found overwhelming support of protecting children from pornographic content in schools.
While 61 percent of respondents said that they had never previously been concerned about children viewing sexually explicit content in libraries, most were opposed to young children viewing it. Thirty-four percent said children should never be able to access sexually explicit content in school libraries, while 23 percent believed it should be restricted to those aged 15 and up.
Similarly, 44 percent of parents of school-aged children were supportive of government regulations to control content in school libraries. Additionally, 62 percent of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that “parents and guardians should play a role in reporting or challenging the availability of materials with sexually explicit content in school libraries.”
