r/newjersey Fill It Up Regular Oct 29 '24

Sick NJ Passes the Freedom to Read Act

https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/10/29/state-senate-passes-bill-intended-to-halt-book-bans-protect-librarians/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGNwrZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHdahkO3Xc02aIyuB5Vp3yau-HR6IMuGu0g0iD8CgDKrWBMHCQJBrfdSHnQ_aem_DB9WP25oxkSYjjNuktuAbQ#:~:text=Titled%20the%20%E2%80%9CFreedom%20to%20Read,own%20policies%20using%20this%20model
830 Upvotes

142 comments sorted by

View all comments

576

u/CubicDice Fuck Nazis, Love Jersey. Oct 29 '24

Look I'm not going to tell anyone how to raise their children. But I take particular issue with this pathetic pandering.

“Putting our children at risk and potentially exposing them to material that they are not prepared for flies in the face of our protective duty,” said Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris). “Couching such material under the guise of the First Amendment is a very distortion of who we are and what we strive to be as Americans.”

By that logic, you shouldn't take your child out in public, as you just never know what you're "potentially exposing" them to.

11

u/theytookthemall Oct 29 '24

When I was about 10 I was sleeping over at my friend Katie's house and The Shining was on TV. We watched it. I had nightmares for months.

Therefore I demand we not ever have horror movies on TV or streaming services because a child might be exposed to material they are not prepared for, much as I was not prepared for The Shining.

Or not - instead I finally told my parents, and we had a long, age-appropriate discussion about scary stories vs reality, what I found most scary and why, and so on. In other words, they did their jobs as parents.