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Comment by joenot443 | Hacker News Reader

The whole book banning thing is a little weird in 2026, IMO. It's exciting to think about, we all liked Fahrenheit 451, but a book not being bought for elementary schools doesn't really make it "banned" IMO.

There are a lot of books which probably shouldn't be in schools. I don't think children should be given copies of Mein Kampf or Camp of Saints, nor the random dark fantasy novels which are so popular today.

It feels disingenuous to pretend that school-book-choice is anything comparable to government level "book banning" when literally any of the books written about in that article can be freely checked out from any public library in the country.

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As a parent, I believe there is no book that should be banned from being used by a teacher for instruction. I have the responsibility of ensuring that the school my child attends employs teachers who I trust to make effective and age-appropriate curriculum decisions.

> I believe there is no book that should be banned from being used by a teacher for instruction

This is an insane opinion. In the same way, I care about what movies, music, YouTube videos my children consume because they all can have a massive impact on a child's development.

OP posted a super short 2 sentence post and yet you managed to take that out of context and twist it into the exact opposite of what they meant. Incredible. I don't think OP is the one with the insane opinions.

OP posted a comment that said they don't think there's anything off limit, which is the natural conclusion.

Some things should not be shown to children. this should not be a controversial topic.

Find a book in a public school library that should not be shown to children, that’s so horrible it will warp minds.

Is it conceivable that some librarian went off their meds and put a pornographic manga title on the shelf? Yea. But what we are talking about are books that are selected by educators getting banned because they represent ideas that small minds are threatened by.

When we talk about books in school we are talking about books from mainstream publishers, distributed by educational distributors, and purchased by career librarians.

There are zero such books that can be compared to the lot of things you are trying to compare them to.

So you're saying if a teacher decides to use a book in class that's wholly inappropriate for the age group they're teaching we should ban the teacher, not the book?

I suppose that makes sense. But if the book in question is still available in the school library for any 7 year old to read or check out isn't that still a potential problem?

Is it? Just because it's inappropriate for one age group at a school doesn't mean it's inappropriate for all age groups.

You can generally categorize the age groups present in a school by... looking at the grades served in the school. shocker.

I'm not entirely sure what this is supposed to mean. Like... yes? But my point was, a school may have a very wide range of age groups. A K-12 school will have students from ages ~4 to ~18. Even a regular primary school will have 7 year olds along with 14 year olds. Point being, a book that is inappropriate for the younger students at a school may not be for the older students; and I don't see why the older students shouldn't have access to those books.

Books are already made available to different age groups in different ways. Libraries that serve different ages put different books on different shelves. There are books on shelves young kids can’t reach, and there are books behind the counter.

How do we ensure schools employ only teachers we trust? Whats the criteria and initial/review process?

Also, teachers are human. They change views and opinions like the rest of us. What guarantees they don't break that trust?

I’m active in local government - that’s how you make sure the school board is strong and the superintendent is the best candidate. But also voting is effective.

But there are no guarantees - except that those who wish to ban access to books are never to be trusted.

I feel like you're making a silly distinction. I mean, we ban cigarette use for minors because it's bad for them.. are you against that too? You're admitting that you think certain books are inappropriate for kids, but saying that we shouldn't do anything about preventing their use in schools.. why?

Not every kid goes to a school with wonderful teachers. I think banning books for use in schools is justifiable.

> I don't think children should be given copies

Disingenuous framing. Book bans remove books from school libraries. A book sitting on a shelf is not giving a book to someone.

> of Mein Kampf or Camp of Saints

Why not? Genuinely, why not? What will happen if children have access to words on a printed page? Most of them have access to a supercomputer in their pocket.

To make my stance clear in case it’s not: there is no such thing as “age appropriate literature.” A free society depends on intellectual freedom. Restricting school libraries from holding certain books is a tactic to raise children to be closed minded adults.

> there is no such thing as “age appropriate literature.”

Would you be comfortable with a 5 year old reading "Morning Glory, Milking Farm"?

Another disingenuous framing. We’re talking about banning books from school libraries, not my personal comfort with an individual child reading an individual book.

How about letting the professional educators figure it out instead of emotionally-charged propaganda-fueled activists and their cynical politicians?

What's wrong with "dark fantasy novels"?

Context:

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/29/nx-s1-5428227/readers-flock-t...

https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a61623350/s...

https://www.statsignificant.com/p/how-romance-romantasy-and-...

E.g., not child appropriate.

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