I’m completely comfortable not taking my moral or ethical leadership from anyone who’d vote in the ucp.
Yet again, in her Stepford Wives role, Mrs Moretta leads us backward only to appease the 42,000 members of her base. No fear of engaging and listening to the other 4.95 million of us and muddying those waters.
I’m 70 this week. I recall without much affection the dismal lack of leadership on behalf of the parents of my youth. There was no talk of sex education, no talk(for sure) of different life styles unless it was to disgrace them and incest wasn’t exposed till much later in some of those lives to tremendous damage. So minister and Mrs Moretta open up the libraries stop your diversions and do the actual work this province needs done
The worst day of my now 40 something daughter’s public school days was when her mother, a local public health nurse, showed up at her high school to lead the sexual education class. There are only so many corners to go to!
You may not want your kid to be informed by a neutral party, and that’s your right, but I sure as hell wanted my kids to have all the tools for a good life. And that Mrs Moretta includes your banned books.
I find it hard to believe we have come to this. What is it about (particularly Evangelical) Christians that makes them trust their children so little, and persuades them that they can control all access to information they disapprove of. It isn’t just information about heterosexual relations — or even how male and female bodies function — but the denial of who their children may be. Imagine teaching children that God only loves them within certain, narrowly defined, guidelines and anyone outside those guidelines is condemned for eternity. No wonder teenage suicide is a growing problem. I was raised in a Christian household and always taught that God was Love, pure and simple. Our reading was not censored, we always had lots to read and learn from, including two sets of encyclopedias. To this day I learn as much about people from stories as I do from the news. My heart breaks for them and for us.
Catholic elementary school, 1963, in grade 8 we had a single class which dealt with sex and was taught by the parish priest rather than the nun who was our Principal and teacher. He talked about how sex wasn't dirty; it depended upon the stained glass window through which it was viewed. I kid you not. It thoroughly confused me. There was a question on the final religion exam which asked if sex was dirty. I answered with much about stained glass windows or some such architectural element. I got a good mark, so I proudly showed it to my parents My Father took a look at the exam answers and hit the roof about the one about sex. I was pulled out of class and apparently was a great disappointment to him for the rest of my life. The public library saved my sanity.
Thanks, Deirdre, but I'm far more concerned about the students of today not having access to all the best information about any topic they require in order to live the fulfilling life to which they are entitled and which should be lived on their own terms.
I have always been a voracious reader and my two daughters grew up with books surrounding them (they are in their 50's now). Do these politicians understand the value of books? Why is the focus sex.....we all participate in one way or another.......what are they afraid of or it is simply fear mongering to please their base in hopes of scaring others? It also offends me that no thought is given to the bright young minds out there that are generally more intelligent than those who apparently "lead" us.
All of that, and religion, a desire to move society backwards, and a petty thrill they get from making an example of government overreach in “public schools” determinedly staying out of separate/independent/private.
Appreciate your thoughts on this subject. I remember finding out that the evangelical M.D. wife of a pastor was directing what our elementary school kids were learning in sex education classes, in our public school in Edmonton in the early 2000s. There were many evangelical parents in that school and they seemed to run the show, with the school principal in thrall.
I know it’s very anecdotal but even if it was just my groups of friends and my kids’ groups, and my mom’s, etc., we were “learning” so much outside of the classroom that it makes no sense at all to deny them resources.
Gov. Smith, our very own Libertarian book banner. Well, let’s just turn the gaslights down a little on that hypocrisy.
As David Climenhaga points out the people who initiated the complaints to the government about the books in public school libraries seem to also be advocates of private religious and home schooling. Why are they suddenly calling the shots for Public Schools in Alberta?
Perhaps we should set up little free libraries with all the banned books for kids to take. We could set ourselves up like Block Parents, except connecting kids to information about sexual exploration and safety.
I agree completely. We are stuck with a regressive government that has been setting in place many harms that have long-term consequences for safety and security.
Our neighbourhood in Edmonton has 3 mini-library boxes - people just love these little libraries here. You can take a book and add some of your own. Know this is not the same as what the insane UCP are doing by restricting books and creating a theocracy for their insufferable base.
I have a long response but, it explains the degree to which i absolutely HATE societies willfully going back to Dark Ages ignorance.
When i was in Grades 1-3 (early 1970s) i got into science and my parents indulged me with books of all kinds (How and Why Wonder Books come to mind). My mother was a nurse. She had nursing textbooks, which i went through because i got into anatomy. In Grade 4, my mother was correcting my pronunciation of various parts, a little uncomfortably to be sure, but nonjudgmentally. My father had also invested in Encyclopaedia Britannica. You can find out a ton, especially using the index volumes. My parents, bless them, bought me an anatomy model, something called The Visible Woman which was transparent and had snap out front so i could build a skeleton inside and then place the internal organs. The neat thing about the woman was, there was a different set of abdomenal organs for pregnancy: womb, and baby with umbilical cord and placenta inside; also given that, there was a separate snap-on cover for the pregnancy state. My Grade 4 teacher actually called the principal once to see some of the stuff i had brought to school to show off. They were beside themselves with bemusement. But, again, i got only positive feedback for my enthusiasm in "how it works". My parents never gave me "the talk". So, i knew the proper names for various aspects of sexual anatomy outside and in. I knew the mechanics.
At that time, school didn't cover the social, emotional, and respsonsibility aspects of romance and sexuality to an extent that i remember. My parents went overboard to provide me with reputable sources of information. They are long dead and like us all, they weren't perfect; but, i have literally cried thinking about how grateful i am for the opportunity they provided. Many kids don't get those opportunities. That's what libraries are about. That's what Health and Sexuality classes are about.
We talked to our kids about it when they were young in an age appropriate manner and updated when asked. I insisted to my wife that we always used proper terms for parts and never be euphemistic. Our biggest problem was reminding them to not talk openly with everyone about it. :) I'm not complaining about our kids being willing to be open about sexuality with us. The irony is that i had to say, "okay too much information" a few times. I'll find a way to cope.
It feels nanny-state light. Nevermind that many of these kids are accessing content on the internet no one should see (I highly recommend watching the documentary "Social Studies" for example)!
Do the four graphic YA novels (which are all LGBTQ-themed) that were targeted even include depictions of sexual activity, though?
In the original UCP press release (which flags all of the supposedly problematic contents and is worth reading) one section of one of the books was flagged because of the word "naked" -- in reference to a character's joke about some other character licking the breasts on a naked ceramic figurine.
Overall, it's all a heck of a lot tamer than the language I remember us using back when I was in junior high.
They do contain depictions, yes, but I’ll also note the stories that go along with them are important. While someone might just grab them for the visual, if they read the story it would be worthwhile. The one I saw referenced consent and open communication between two people. I thought its message was far more powerful than the brief visual.
Two thoughts:
1) this is a way to eliminate sex-ed from the calm curriculum?
2) murder in all its blood smeared glory is not likely to be banned.
We censor sexual expression of love while promoting violence.
Something wrong here.
I think they’re pressuring the public system, absolutely; like using their government overreach to show how government overreach is bad.
I’m completely comfortable not taking my moral or ethical leadership from anyone who’d vote in the ucp.
Yet again, in her Stepford Wives role, Mrs Moretta leads us backward only to appease the 42,000 members of her base. No fear of engaging and listening to the other 4.95 million of us and muddying those waters.
I’m 70 this week. I recall without much affection the dismal lack of leadership on behalf of the parents of my youth. There was no talk of sex education, no talk(for sure) of different life styles unless it was to disgrace them and incest wasn’t exposed till much later in some of those lives to tremendous damage. So minister and Mrs Moretta open up the libraries stop your diversions and do the actual work this province needs done
The worst day of my now 40 something daughter’s public school days was when her mother, a local public health nurse, showed up at her high school to lead the sexual education class. There are only so many corners to go to!
You may not want your kid to be informed by a neutral party, and that’s your right, but I sure as hell wanted my kids to have all the tools for a good life. And that Mrs Moretta includes your banned books.
Thank you, Bill 🙏
I find it hard to believe we have come to this. What is it about (particularly Evangelical) Christians that makes them trust their children so little, and persuades them that they can control all access to information they disapprove of. It isn’t just information about heterosexual relations — or even how male and female bodies function — but the denial of who their children may be. Imagine teaching children that God only loves them within certain, narrowly defined, guidelines and anyone outside those guidelines is condemned for eternity. No wonder teenage suicide is a growing problem. I was raised in a Christian household and always taught that God was Love, pure and simple. Our reading was not censored, we always had lots to read and learn from, including two sets of encyclopedias. To this day I learn as much about people from stories as I do from the news. My heart breaks for them and for us.
<3
Catholic elementary school, 1963, in grade 8 we had a single class which dealt with sex and was taught by the parish priest rather than the nun who was our Principal and teacher. He talked about how sex wasn't dirty; it depended upon the stained glass window through which it was viewed. I kid you not. It thoroughly confused me. There was a question on the final religion exam which asked if sex was dirty. I answered with much about stained glass windows or some such architectural element. I got a good mark, so I proudly showed it to my parents My Father took a look at the exam answers and hit the roof about the one about sex. I was pulled out of class and apparently was a great disappointment to him for the rest of my life. The public library saved my sanity.
I was happy to read about the class experience and then sad about the parental. So sorry to hear Jean.
Thanks, Deirdre, but I'm far more concerned about the students of today not having access to all the best information about any topic they require in order to live the fulfilling life to which they are entitled and which should be lived on their own terms.
I have always been a voracious reader and my two daughters grew up with books surrounding them (they are in their 50's now). Do these politicians understand the value of books? Why is the focus sex.....we all participate in one way or another.......what are they afraid of or it is simply fear mongering to please their base in hopes of scaring others? It also offends me that no thought is given to the bright young minds out there that are generally more intelligent than those who apparently "lead" us.
All of that, and religion, a desire to move society backwards, and a petty thrill they get from making an example of government overreach in “public schools” determinedly staying out of separate/independent/private.
Appreciate your thoughts on this subject. I remember finding out that the evangelical M.D. wife of a pastor was directing what our elementary school kids were learning in sex education classes, in our public school in Edmonton in the early 2000s. There were many evangelical parents in that school and they seemed to run the show, with the school principal in thrall.
I know it’s very anecdotal but even if it was just my groups of friends and my kids’ groups, and my mom’s, etc., we were “learning” so much outside of the classroom that it makes no sense at all to deny them resources.
It’s ALL about control, we need her and this corrupt government out of power, because she’s out of control.
Gov. Smith, our very own Libertarian book banner. Well, let’s just turn the gaslights down a little on that hypocrisy.
As David Climenhaga points out the people who initiated the complaints to the government about the books in public school libraries seem to also be advocates of private religious and home schooling. Why are they suddenly calling the shots for Public Schools in Alberta?
Perhaps we should set up little free libraries with all the banned books for kids to take. We could set ourselves up like Block Parents, except connecting kids to information about sexual exploration and safety.
I thought of that as well but it seems cringey when random people do it. School library; not so much.
I agree completely. We are stuck with a regressive government that has been setting in place many harms that have long-term consequences for safety and security.
Our neighbourhood in Edmonton has 3 mini-library boxes - people just love these little libraries here. You can take a book and add some of your own. Know this is not the same as what the insane UCP are doing by restricting books and creating a theocracy for their insufferable base.
May I call it a squeaky wheel theocracy? Their belief system seems to be based on whomever is whispering loudest in their ears at the moment.
Yup, without question.
Absolutely great idea!!!
I have a long response but, it explains the degree to which i absolutely HATE societies willfully going back to Dark Ages ignorance.
When i was in Grades 1-3 (early 1970s) i got into science and my parents indulged me with books of all kinds (How and Why Wonder Books come to mind). My mother was a nurse. She had nursing textbooks, which i went through because i got into anatomy. In Grade 4, my mother was correcting my pronunciation of various parts, a little uncomfortably to be sure, but nonjudgmentally. My father had also invested in Encyclopaedia Britannica. You can find out a ton, especially using the index volumes. My parents, bless them, bought me an anatomy model, something called The Visible Woman which was transparent and had snap out front so i could build a skeleton inside and then place the internal organs. The neat thing about the woman was, there was a different set of abdomenal organs for pregnancy: womb, and baby with umbilical cord and placenta inside; also given that, there was a separate snap-on cover for the pregnancy state. My Grade 4 teacher actually called the principal once to see some of the stuff i had brought to school to show off. They were beside themselves with bemusement. But, again, i got only positive feedback for my enthusiasm in "how it works". My parents never gave me "the talk". So, i knew the proper names for various aspects of sexual anatomy outside and in. I knew the mechanics.
At that time, school didn't cover the social, emotional, and respsonsibility aspects of romance and sexuality to an extent that i remember. My parents went overboard to provide me with reputable sources of information. They are long dead and like us all, they weren't perfect; but, i have literally cried thinking about how grateful i am for the opportunity they provided. Many kids don't get those opportunities. That's what libraries are about. That's what Health and Sexuality classes are about.
We talked to our kids about it when they were young in an age appropriate manner and updated when asked. I insisted to my wife that we always used proper terms for parts and never be euphemistic. Our biggest problem was reminding them to not talk openly with everyone about it. :) I'm not complaining about our kids being willing to be open about sexuality with us. The irony is that i had to say, "okay too much information" a few times. I'll find a way to cope.
Knowledge is empowering!
It feels nanny-state light. Nevermind that many of these kids are accessing content on the internet no one should see (I highly recommend watching the documentary "Social Studies" for example)!
Now we know why the Social Credit Party got obliterated in 1971.
Do the four graphic YA novels (which are all LGBTQ-themed) that were targeted even include depictions of sexual activity, though?
In the original UCP press release (which flags all of the supposedly problematic contents and is worth reading) one section of one of the books was flagged because of the word "naked" -- in reference to a character's joke about some other character licking the breasts on a naked ceramic figurine.
Overall, it's all a heck of a lot tamer than the language I remember us using back when I was in junior high.
They do contain depictions, yes, but I’ll also note the stories that go along with them are important. While someone might just grab them for the visual, if they read the story it would be worthwhile. The one I saw referenced consent and open communication between two people. I thought its message was far more powerful than the brief visual.