Alberta Returns to 17th Century Puritanism for Its School Libraries

17th Century puritanism has come back to life in the Alberta Government. Last week, its Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides signed a Ministerial Order that is jaw-dropping.

Concerned that some Alberta school libraries have books that are too sexually explicit, he decided to solve the problem. 

He issued a Ministerial Order that bans for libraries in all schools (elementary and secondary, public and private) all books that contain anything “sexually explicit.” His order defines that as “a detailed and clear depiction of a sexual act.”  To ensure that nothing sexual slips in, his order makes clear that “depiction” is not just photos or illustrations but also any “written passage.”

My immediate reaction is that would exclude the Bible, but I discovered Nicolaides had thought of that. As I learned reading further in his order, he specifically excludes “any depiction of any nature contained in religious texts or scriptures.”

Having cleared the shelves of “sexually explicit” material, his order goes further – banning any books and other library materials for those who are not in Grade 10 or above (typically 15-16 years olds) “containing non-explicit sexual content.”

His order clarifies that means a written description, drawing or image depicting a sexual act “that is not detailed or clear.” So, if you are 15 (Grade 10) you’re entitled to have books with fuzzy pictures or badly written, unclear text, but not if you are a teen in Grade 9.

To try to assure Albertans that he is not fully a Puritan, his order allows library materials with depictions of “kissing or handholding.” It also allows those with depictions of “any biological function or process that is for information and is not narrative, such as a depiction contained in technical or reference materials such as dictionaries or encyclopedias.” Too bad that most of the best sex education books for kids, such as Robie H. Harris’s awarding-winning It’s Perfectly Normal or Cory Silverberg’s Sex Is a Funny Word  will be excluded because they are not “technical or reference materials” but engagingly written and illustrated books that have won many awards for their excellence.

In his press conference and elsewhere, Minister Nicolaides repeatedly stresses that “this is not censorship” and that his new standards “were never about banning books.” This is simply not true.

The first directive in his order could not be a clearer act of censorship: “The school authority must not select for inclusion in a school library, or make available to any children or students in a school library, materials containing explicit sexual content.”

Judgments about what materials are suitable for school libraries and appropriate for different age groups within a school should be made by educators and librarians, not by politicians trying to create a wedge issue that feeds their diehard base. It is sad that the Minister of Education does not understand this. 

Kids learn about sex one way or another. It is a shame that Alberta’s Education Minister is trying to ensure that they don’t learn from the best books available -- which are sexually explicit in age appropriate ways.