It's NOT Working, Part 2. THE BOOK BANNING LIE! Sexually explicit and pornographic books in Polk County Public Schools

This is Part 2 of an ongoing series about the continuing saga of age-inappropriate books in Polk County Public Schools. Please read Part 1 if you have not read it yet.

No doubt you've heard the term "BOOK BANNERS" in the propaganda media lately. You might have heard it from activists fighting to keep extremely sexually explicit material in public school libraries for minor children to read.

It is true that throughout history, many dictators banned or burned books. We'll discuss that in Part 3. However, when you hear it in relation to removing a book with graphic sex from a public school library, the term "BOOK BANNING" is a LIE. It is PROPAGANDA. Joseph Goebbels, the minister of propaganda for the Nazi German government of the Third Reich, understood the power of repeating falsehoods.

Goebbels  asserted:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

This phenomenon, pervasive in contemporary politics, advertising, and social media, is known in cognitive psychology as the “Illusory Truth Effect.”

You may have heard a similar quote “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”.  This is also referred to as "The Illusion of Truth".

This is where we are at today, and the "BOOK BANNER" LIE is no exception.   This LIE, this PROPAGANDA, is casually thrown around by the mainstream media (fake news), teacher's unions, and activists.

It is psychological warfare.

The TRUTH is that NO ONE has suggested that these books should be "BANNED". All of them are readily available at Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, eBay, Thriftbooks, and on Amazon. If content is readily available, it's NOT BANNED! It's just not age-appropriate. It's really that simple. The next post in this series will show what "BOOK BANNING" really looked like throughout history.

But for now, let's compare the challenged book scenario to movies, or even music. QUESTION 1 : Can you show movies like "The Exorcist", "American Beauty", "Eyes Wide Shut", "Boogie Nights", "Basic Instinct", or "The Hangover" in school classrooms? ANSWER: NO! Why not? Because they are not age-appropriate. Are these movies BANNED? NO, they are not.  They are readily available at stores, on Amazon, and on streaming services.

QUESTION 2 : If a 13-year old went to a movie theater to see any of the following movies, which are currently in theaters at this time, could they purchase a ticket? "Suitable Flesh", "Expend4bles", "The Nun II", or "The Equalizer 3"? ANSWER: NO! They can't buy a ticket. You will find this quote on the Cinépolis website,

"Cinépolis and Moviehouse Require Adult Supervision For Guests Under 17 in R-Rated Movies: Guests under 17 must be accompanied by a guardian who is 21 years or older. Please be prepared to show ID at the theatre. Cinépolis and M&E reserve the right to remove unaccompanied minors from the theater without a refund." Why? Because these movies are not age-appropriate! Are these movies BANNED? NO, you can go see them right now!

Did you catch that? Guests under 17 must be accompanied by a guardian who is 21 years or older. This means if you choose to allow your 13-year old child to see an R-Rated movie, you MUST SIT IN THE THEATER WITH THEM during the film.

QUESTION 3 : Can you play the unedited version of Cardi B's "W.A.P.", or Khia's "My Neck, My Back" over the loudspeaker in a high school? ANSWER: NO! Why? Because the unedited versions of these songs are DEFINITELY  not age-appropriate. One could argue the edited versions aren't appropriate either. Are these songs BANNED? NO, they are not.  I could, but won't, stream them on Apple music, Amazon Music, or Spotify or even buy them from iTunes.  They are readily available to purchase or stream. Trust me, minor kids have heard the unedited versions of these songs as well. But the point is that it is inappropriate for them to be available in a public school.

So, when you hear the term "BOOK BANNING" in regard to school library books, you are hearing a LIE.

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”

Those calling others "BOOK BANNERS" are spreading PROPAGANDA. They may or may not be KNOWINGLY spreading the LIE. So why the LIE? Is it okay to have books in public school libraries that contain age-inappropriate content? We will provide many examples in later posts.

The LAW says NO! If a book contains pornographic, violent, or other content harmful to minors, it is in violation of Florida Statute 847.012.

Some examples of content in the libraries of the public school system where I live, Polk County Florida, are: graphic rape, sodomy pedophilia, incest, bestiality, violence, and pornographic content. This includes text, and even explicit graphic novels.

The REAL QUESTIONS we need to be asking are:

"How did these books get into public school libraries in the first place?”

“What does the Selection Policy Plan” look like?

“Why are more coming into the libraries all the time?”

“Who is approving these books?”

“Who is responsible to read this content and allocate your tax dollars to purchase them?”

“Why did the Polk County School Board and Superintendent and School Board approve the purchase of thousands of library books on October 24, 2023 and refuse to give the public any time to review?” Six members of the seven member board voted to allow the purchase with no public review. Only Rick Nolte was willing to give us time to review.

• This previously happened in February of 2023 when the board purchased over 30,000 new books. We asked for more time then, and were given 30 days to review 30,000 books.

“Why do review committees, after reading a challenged book and acknowledging the content is sexual, violent or graphic, vote to keep them in the school libraries?” There will be much more on this later.

“Why does the Polk County Book Challenge Procedure conflict with the actual Policy?” See the differences below.

“Why are there no school board members on the review committees when the policy CLEARLY states that they should be?”

“Why are their multiple minor children on the review committees when that is not what is stated in the policy?”

“Who decides what people will be on a review committee?”

“Why do the Polk County Book Review committees not following policy or procedure?”

“Why has the PCPS Superintendent done NOTHING?”

“Why have the Polk County Public School Board Members done NOTHING?” It is within their authority to do so. In fact, ALL content accessible to our minor children is the LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY of the Polk County Public School Board! Will they take that RESPONSIBILITY seriously? FS 1006.28(2)(a)1 and (a)2

I KNOW FOR A FACT we have some good school board Members, but... “Who, or what, is stopping the Board and/or Superintendent from protecting our children?”

We only need four board members. FOUR people willing to stand up and protect our children.

Inquiring minds want to know. The current policies and procedures are NOT working. To date, Polk County Public Schools have not removed ANY challenged books, including those featuring content that includes graphic rape, pedophilia, bestiality, and school violence from ANY of our schools.

ZIP.

ZERO.

CERO.

NADA.

零 (LING.)

NONE.

Next Post: What does ACTUAL "BOOK BANNING" look like?