Letter to the editor: Hempfield book complaints are about responsibility

Regarding the recent reporting on the challenged books in the Hempfield Area School District (“Hempfield is latest district to face book ban challenge”): This is not an issue of censorship or banning. The media and those few individuals who oppose policy change for resource selection in the school have made this something it’s not.

When a public school teacher chooses one book over another for classroom curriculum, we don’t say that the other book was censored. This is about responsible resource selection. Materials in a school library must be appropriate for a general audience of students. In this case, the general audience includes 14- to 18-year-old minor children. State laws have restrictions in place for the safety of this age group.

The purchase and use of alcohol, tobacco and pornography are prohibited. Certainly, our public schools should also safeguard our resource selections to protect these developing minds. It’s important what we eat for our physical health, and what we take into our mind is important to our emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.

Also, resource materials should align with community values, and a selection process should include an accurate sampling of the community. The sexually explicit content in the challenged book does not meet that criteria.

Paula Cinti

South Huntingdon