Alberta Minister of Education says that the explicit sexual content must disappear from the shelves of the school library as of October 1, but says that the announcement is not about prohibiting the book.
Demetrios Nicolaides says that the measure is about establishing rules for schools that have so far had standard to select appropriate books for age for their libraries.
“This was never trying to erase private narratives from school libraries,” Nicolaides said at a press conference in Calgary on Thursday.
“It is simply to ensure that young students are not exposed to the content that represents oral sex, child abuse or other very inappropriate content.”
As part of the announcement, Nicolaides issued a list of specific sexual acts that cannot be explicitly described in the books of the library along with new rules for what students can read.
Students in grade 10 or higher can read about kisses, hugs and manual support, since they are not explicitly considered a sexual nature.
Students in 9 and minors will not be able to read about puberty, menstruation and breastfeeding.
Religious texts will be allowed, such as the Bible, on the shelves.
School boards must review the library materials, and school officials will have the task of supervising students to make sure they are reading the appropriate material.
Additional funds will not be assigned for this work.
Other deadlines will follow.
By January 1, the new policies of the school board must be in place dictating how the books are selected and reviewed. School divisions must also publish a complete list of available materials.
The new policy comes from an announcement that Nioclaides made in May that four inappropriate graphic novels of the age of age were found in school libraries in Edmonton and Calgary.
He said that each of the books contains graphic sexual material, as well as representations of sexual abuse and drug and alcohol consumption.
The government launched an online survey before Thursday’s announcement. The survey found that the majority of respondents throughout the demography do not support the government that establishes new standards for school library books.
Critics have said that the province seems more concerned with participating in the cultural war policy than students’ well -being, since most of the books Nicolaides said he was looking to remove the shelves with the 2SLGBTQ+treatment.
Nicole Buchanan, president of the Public Schools of Red Deer, who was also in the announcement, supported the new rules and said it is important to know that the content and resources are appropriate for age.
“Take substances such as alcohol and tobacco, for example. Some students in our schools can be from the provincial era to consume them,” Buchanan said.
“But that does not mean that we put them in our vending machines.”
