To the Editor:

Three graphic novels containing realistic drawings along with graphic text of two young people engaged in oral sex, a boy in camp being bullied to ejaculate into a bottle or else he’ll be forced to drink others’ ejaculate, a young teen being asked if he’s “sucked any good dicks lately,” a young man and woman in bed together half-naked with the young man about to put his lips around the young woman’s nipple — these books, Flamer, Blankets and Fun Home were found to be in the Newtown High School library collection, and parents have asked for their removal.

Some have said removing a book from a school library would amount to book banning.

No, removing inappropriate material from school libraries is not “banning”— it’s called “using good judgment” to remove a book that should not have been there in the first place. Sexually explicit material is NOT appropriate for a school library.

When parents send their children to school, they are entrusting their children to the good judgment of the school staff. I’m sure parents would never imagine that their children would have access to Playboy magazines at a school library.

Likewise, these sexually explicit books have no place in a school library, and should be removed immediately. Then a review should be performed to determine how they got there in the first place, and whether there is more sexually explicit material that should be removed.

Our schools should not be in the business of sexualizing our children ... behind their parents’ backs … using our tax dollars to do so, no less.

Cathy Reiss

Newtown