The following letter has been received for publication in The Newtown Bee.

To Board of Education Chair Deborra Zukowski and Board of Education members:

I don’t watch football; it is my strong belief that football players are in danger of damaging their brains. However, I would not impose this belief on others. I can turn off my TV, and you are free to watch football.

I respect other people’s beliefs and their right to express those beliefs. This is one of the foundations of our democracy. The very first amendment to our constitution protects freedom of religion, speech and the press. Now, a minority of very vocal parents are trying to impose their values and prejudices on the rest of us, calling it “parents’ rights.” They are doing this by asking school and community libraries to remove books that they find offensive to their personal religious beliefs. They don’t want their own children to read these books, but instead of just instructing their children on what to read, they want the libraries to remove these books and prevent all children from reading them. Why should the rights of a few parents prevail over the rights of all other parents, who might prefer that their children be exposed to a diversity of ideas and ways of thinking?

Banning books is dangerous for democracy. We’re better than that! If we cater to those few parents who want to impose their own beliefs on everyone else, we will be failing our children and our community. Please don’t let this happen! Tell parents who want to ban books that they are free to make their own choice for their family, but that they can’t choose for anyone else.

Thank you.

Betsy Litt

Newtown