Censorship

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-10-16/washington-library-respo...

http://kotaku.com/5952432/man-shocked-to-discover-rather-violent-gay-man...

So a lot of you know that I work in a library, so these kind of stories really scratch that special interest itch when I see them. Basically, an uncle finds out his 10 year old niece checked out a yaoi manga that had gay sex in it. Sorta shocking, sure.

What amuses me is that the guy isn't even the girl's father. Maybe the parents are totally cool with this. I mean, it's not necessarily the uncle's place to raise his niece in place of the parents.

But let's ignore that. Let's suppose this guy was her father and he wasn't okay with this. It does strike me as weird that he would consider it the library's duty to decide what is okay and not okay for his daughter. That's not how libraries work. We can't throw out Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey just because you find it unfit for your kid's reading consumption.

TLDR: There's no substitution for the parent. It's the parent's job to decide what is okay for their kids to see on TV, on the Internet, or in their books. Either be an active parent in your kid's life, or don't complain when society and the media raise the kid for you.

From the Kotaku article:
"What also sickens me is that people are going to the library to read this kind of content?" added De Nevers. "An anime comic book section is where people go to read porn? Around kids? There is no good coming from this being in our library."

This quote bothers me because it's pretty judgmental. A lot of people like different things. That doesn't mean their deviants or whatever. Besides, people who read the articles know the manga in particular was shelved in the adult section. So while I'm sure the "Won't somebody please think of the children?!" will stir up some attention, it's sort of unfounded sensationalist shit.

I mean, who was with the girl? They said they dropped off the girl at the library. Was she by herself? 10 years old is almost teenage age, but that's still too young for a kid to be alone in a public place by themself. What's the law say about this? Who was watching over the girl and making sure she picked up materials acceptable in her household? The real problem here sounds like there's a lack of parental oversight in this household. The uncle and grandmother are mentioned, but there's nothing about the parents.

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